EC BUDGET MINISTERS SET TO REFUSE PLEA FOR CASH
A plea for extra cash to bail the
European Community (EC) out of its latest financial crisis was
likely to be rejected at a meeting today of EC budget
ministers, diplomats said.
    The ministers were meeting for the first time since the EC
Executive Commission unveiled an emergency budget for 1987
aimed at plugging a deficit caused by soaring farm spending and
falling revenues.
    The emergency package includes a demand for member states
to pay an extra 1.5 billion European currency units (Ecus) to
help meet the deficit.
    Officials said Britain and West Germany were expected to
lead opposition to contributing any extra cash, with the U.K
insisting instead on a clampdown on runaway farm spending.
    The Commission says there will be a shortfall of at least
five billion Ecus this year, more than 1/8 of total spending.
    It hopes to make up much of the shortfall in a one-time
accounting exercise by paying member states in arrears rather
than in advance for their spending on Community farm policies.
    But if member states do not make up the rest of the gap,
the Commission has warned that spending on regional and social
projects could be slashed by half.
 Reuter
