FRANKFURT, Germany, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The Court of Auditors of the European Union has announced, for the 13th year in a row, that it will not sign off on the accounts of the EU's $190 billion budget, since it is again riddled with fraud, fiddles and dubious or unaccountable spending.

This unsavory news was circulating as the British Parliament was weighing the European Communities (Finance) Bill. This gives legal force to the deal that Prime Minister Tony Blair reached two years ago on Britain's future contributions to the EU budget. It also comes as Prime Minister Gordon Brown last Friday signed the new European Treaty, to intense outrage in much of Britain.

"We shall never surrender," declared the front-page headline of the Sun, Britain's top-selling tabloid. More than 50 members of Parliament from Brown's own party are threatening to rebel over his refusal to put the issue to a referendum as Brown's predecessor, Blair, had pledged. This anger is likely to be increased by the new EU budget provisions.

The bottom line is that for the budget period of 2007-2013, Britain will be paying very much more for the privilege of being a member of the EU -- $21 billion this year, with more rises to come. To put this into perspective, the entire cost of the 2012 London Olympic Games could be covered just by this year's payment. Or the government could cut corporation tax to less than 20 percent.

The EU has never been wildly popular in Britain, but these steep new bills are becoming a political problem, because Britain now gets less back per capita from the EU budget than any other member state. Britain gets back just over $1,100 a head, while France gets $2,300 per head, and Ireland $4,600. Bizarrely, the richest country in the EU, tiny Luxembourg, gets back a whopping $33,000 a head because of all the EU offices and agencies that are located there.

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