Under the previous draft of the EU proposals on the British rebate -- secured by Margaret Thatcher in 1984 -- the rebate would be "fixed" in 2007 and "set on a downward path from the following year."
That formula was rejected as "unacceptable" by the British government, which has called for a new look at the EU farm subsidies program -- of which France is the biggest beneficiary -- if its rebate is called into question.
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