Britain should play "its full role" in the financing of an enlarged European Union, President Jacques Chirac told his Cabinet on Wednesday, according to government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope. The comment came a day after the French president met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has threatened to veto the EU's budget plans for 2007 to 2013 if Britain is pressed to give up its multibillion-euro annual rebate, according to a report of The Associated Press. "Everybody must contribute to the European effort in proportion to his means, and the United Kingdom must play its full role in the financing of the enlarged Europe," Cope quoted Chirac as telling government ministers. He reaffirmed his wish to see the British rebate of around ¤4.6 billion (US$5.5 billion) a year progressively disappear. Chirac said he wants EU leaders to come up with a "reasonable and equitable accord" on the 25-member bloc's budget for 2007-2013 at the summit in Brussels.
