Brussels surcharge looks accurate at first sight, Dutch finance minister says
Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem has told parliament the European statistics office appears to have correctly restated the size of the country’s economy – leading to a €642m surcharge.
The minister said in a briefing for MPs that ‘based on an initial analysis of the calculations, our preliminary conclusion is that they are correct.’ He said earlier that if the figures were accurate, the Netherlands would pay the surcharge.
Dijsselbloem said he will give more details on Thursday when his officials have been able to take a better look. On Wednesday, officials from Eurostat, the Dutch statistics office CBS and external experts will be questioned by MPs.
Britain has successfully fought to have its €2.1bn surcharge halved. Other countries, such as France and Germany, are to get money back.
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