The top EU court's adviser has rejected Britain's legal challenges to a cap on banking bonuses, dealing a blow to Prime Minister David Cameron's government.
The ruling is the latest setback to ties between London and Brussels, with Cameron pledging a referendum on leaving the European Union in 2017 under pressure from eurosceptic rivals.
The EU set the rules in a bid to curb excessive risk-taking after the financial crisis, saying that bonuses cannot exceed a banker's fixed salary, or twice that if shareholders approve.
But banking is a pillar of the British economy and Cameron's government fiercely resisted the cap, fearing it could harm London's status as Europe's leading financial centre.
Britain took the case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
The court's Advocate General Niilo Jaaskinen gave a legal opinion saying that the limits were valid, and although the decision is not binding the European Union's top court mostly follows such recommendations.
"In his Opinion today, Advocate General Niilo Jaaskinen suggests that all the UK's pleas should be rejected and that the Court of Justice dismiss the action," the court said in a statement.
The opinion comes the same day as Cameron faces a local election defeat against the anti-EU UK Independence party led by Nigel Farage.
UKIP is looking to gain a second seat in the British parliament and the courtroom setback will be further ammunition for the party's arguments that Brussels encroaches on national sovereignty.
The ECJ is Europe's top court on questions of EU law and regularly publishes opinions by its senior lawyers on pending cases.
AFP
source: newshub archive
