Where The Money Goes!

How Brussels spends its money

Britain is losing out to other nations in European funding, here is how it spends its money.

* The EU is spending £1.4 million on an "interactive volcano theme park" near an extinct peak in western Hungary. The park in Celldomolk is planned around Sag mountain – a 900-foot basalt volcano which has not erupted for six million years. The town's mayor, Laszlo Feher, says it will be one of Europe's most modern theme parks, showing "the natural treasures of our volcano".

* A company that rents out snakes, elephants and miniature ponies for private parties, carnivals and TV advertisements in southern Spain received £34,900 of EU money from the Andalucia regional government under the European Regional Development Fund last year. Animales Rompeolas used the cash to launch camel trekking for tourists.

* A former Miss Seville was awarded £6,165 to kick-start her event organising company. Angela Cristina Canas Duran, 22, who won the beauty pageant in 2006, applied for the grant under a scheme to help local businesswomen develop their companies. She used the money to buy computer equipment, draw up a marketing plan and develop the website of her company, Ganas.

*A Danish businessman received more than £87,000 from the EU to help finance a ski-slope on Bornholm – an island without high hills or regular snowfall. He used the cash to mark out a run, and buy a snowblower and skis. In its first winter of operation, it was open for just one day.

*'Intertango' is described by the European Commission as a project which, among other things, will permit an exchange of young tango musicians and the 'internationalisation of Finnish tango'. The Helsinki-based project has received at least £87,000 from the EU to foster tango talent in Finland.

*The Estonian State Puppet Theatre received more than £92,000 from the EU "to develop the use of puppet theatre among the young people, disadvantaged groups and refugees within the community; to create new and innovative means of using puppet theatre".

* Around £21 million of EU funding was made available over seven years for hotels on the French Caribbean island of Guadaloupe to be used in renovation and improvement work, including the construction of swimming pools.

*An EU grant of £108,000 was given to the International Federation of Actors to investigate why older women only get "stereotypical" roles. The funding paid for a survey of film and TV producers as well as actresses in all EU-member states.

*In Tampere, Finland, the "Creative Tampere" programme, aimed at boosting business, gave £17,000 of EU funds to "city clowns", whose purpose is to contribute to the wellbeing of the town.

*The European Commission spends £4.6 million annually on its two central libraries, one in Brussels and another in Luxembourg. Each book loan is estimated to cost euro-taxpayers £570, and each visit £580.

IT MAKES YOU THINK!!!!!!!!