Fontainebleau Agreement

Margaret Thatcher obtained the "British Rebate" at Fontainebleau (Photo: thesetides.com)

Fontainebleau Agreement

At the summit in June 1984 at Fontainebleau outside Paris, the UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher obtained the famous “rebate" for the UK on its contribution to the EU budget.

The reduction in the British contribution was to compensate for the structural inequalities in the EU budgetary system, which meant that the UK benefited less from the Common Agricultural Policy.

Notes

• Tony Blair's government refused to reduce the rebate, when the question was raised by France, before the final negotiations on enlargement in 2002.
• The British accepted a limited reduction in their rebate in the budget agreement in 2005.

Links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisda....../21/newsid_2546000/2546127.stm