The British press has been alive over the past couple of days, juxtaposing the remarkable success of Eurosceptic parties both in the UK and on the continent with the revelation of a fresh fiscal demand by the European Commission.

Funds totalling £3.8bn are being requested from nations across Europe with £500m – nearly an eighth of the total – falling on the United Kingdom. Although the Commission cites ostensibly worthy projects such as intervention and support in Ukraine, youth projects, and regional spending, this is just another in a long line of overspends that have left ordinary taxpayers picking up the bill.

As recently as March this year the European Commission was pleading for another £20bn to help prop up its projects supporting the economies of Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. That came only three months after a £10bn bung to plug an overspend budget hole.

Despite living in an age of austerity, the EU remains an organisation that haemorrhages money. Worse still, it shows little willingness to follow the democratically-elected governments of its member states and trim spending.

The latest demand for cash should therefore be seen in context. It is not only a snub to the Eurosceptic parties and those millions of voters across the EU bloc who call for less spending, but also a symptom of a bizarre bureaucracy that is of such overwhelming size and momentum that it is incapable of timely judgement.

In many respects the EU bureaucracy is like a vast ocean-going container ship; it is slow, guzzles fuel, and takes many miles to stop or change direction.

Following the success of UKIP, David Cameron has belatedly come round to the view that the EU is “too big, too bossy, and too interfering”. It is essential that Eurosceptics of all shades, from the reformists to the disestablishmentists work together to rein in Brussels-directed spending.

If nothing else, come ‘Brexit’ it will leave the EU in better shape to survive without the enormous subsidy of the British taxpayer.

Oliver Lane is a Researcher for Get Britain Out