France, Germany against EU budget boost - minister

BERLIN Aug 24 (Reuters) - Germany and France have formed a united front against an increase to the European Union's funding, France's budget minister said on Tuesday, joining Britain in opposition to a proposed EU-wide tax to fund the bloc's growing budget.

After meeting German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in Berlin, Francois Baroin said the two agreed Brussels' proposal for a budgetary increase was out of line at a time when its member states were enacting austerity measures.

"We can't ask for deficit reduction on the one hand, to adhere to the logic of the stability pact, and on the other hand make demands for increases which are objectively inadmissible. We confirmed this point."

A senior EU official said this month the European Commission is preparing proposals for an EU-wide tax that could fall on bank transactions or air travel to help finance the 140 billion euro budget. For more see [ID:nLDE6781D5].

With European governments under financial pressure, officials in Brussels are looking for alternatives to finance the EU budget, the vast majority of which goes to subsidising farming and funding structural projects such as road building, while 4 percent pays for the EU's civil service in Brussels.

The Commission, the EU's executive body, is due to propose the size and shape of the 27-country bloc's overall budget for 2014-2020 around the middle of next year.

Baroin said the demands for an increase made "little sense," adding he would address the issue during an upcoming visit to Britain.

"My colleague Schaeuble and I wanted to confirm this objective, regardless of the evolution of the debate at the European Parliament over this essential question. I will take the same steps with my British colleagues in a few days so that the largest (budget) contributors are heard."

British Prime Minister David Cameron went a step further this month, saying he wanted to see the EU's budget reduced. [ID:nLDE67B1HO] (Reporting by Brian Rohan; Editing by James Dalgleish)