P.M. Cameron refuses to pay $2.7 billion extra for EU membership

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, wasn't at all pleased with the bill sent to him by Brussels. It's not unusual for member countries to receive a little extra - or pay a little more - than they estimated. For Britain, however, the bill turned out to be the equivalent of going on a huge bender one night and finding out that you spent $200 on drinks on a Saturday night. Not that Britain went on a bender, but you know what I mean.

In any event, Britain is asked to pay no less than $2.7 billion before 1 December. Britain, which already pays  $13.8 billion annually for their EU membership, has received the claim with... disgust, is probably the word to describe it.

"It is an unacceptable way for this organisation to work - to suddenly present a bill like this for such a vast sum of money with so little time to pay it," Mr Cameron said, according to the BBC.

The unexpected bill will hardly do much to diminish the demands of far right political fractions in Britain - like Ukip - which already believe that membership of the organization is too expensive. Whether it will actually lead Britain closer to an EU exit we will just have to wait and see.

Read more at The New York Times and The BBC.

Drifting away from the continent that truly matters?

Will England's influence in the EU and in the world dwindle after Prime Minister Cameron's veto of the European attempt to stabilize the euro like some suggest? One might be inclined to think that England's influence on the world's political scene will soon resemble that on the soccer pitch: vastly overexagerrated.

Maybe it's for the better? England has never really seen itself as being part of Europe anyway. 'Europe', when used by English politicians, more often than not means continental Europe and not, God forbid, the British Isles.