The Netherlands may be able to keep around 50% of its current €1bn rebate on its European Union contributions under new EU budgetary plans, news agency ANP reports on Thursday.

But the proposal to introduce a new EU-wide tax was rejected by finance minister Jan Kees de Jager. He is quoted as saying that the Netherlands wants to keep its entire rebate and that taxation is a matter for individual nation states.
The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled its plans to amend the complex rebate scheme, boost its own income through EU taxes and shift more resources from farming to research and innovation.
Rebates
The proposals include an increase in spending by 5% for the period 2014 to 2020 – a move which will generate strong resistance from a number of countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and France.
They have all already made it clear they want the EU budget to be frozen, or rise no more than inflation. In June, a majority of MPs told prime minister Mark Rutte he must go for an absolute freeze in EU spending.
Rutte had said earlier that Dutch backing for a rise in line with inflation would make it easier to negotiate a new rebate on Dutch contributions to the EU.
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