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Van Rompuy commits EU summit to disputed budget

17 January 2013, 19:30 CET
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(BRUSSELS) - Next month's scheduled summit of EU leaders will be devoted to the bloc's divisive 2014-20 budget, with EU head Herman Van Rompuy confident of a deal after failure in November, EU sources said Thursday.

After canvassing member states, Van Rompuy is convinced that the summit "can deliver an accord," one of the sources said.

The president of the European Council will largely present the same case as to the failed special November summit but will "improve and complete" proposals made then, the source added.

The November talks collapsed amid sharp differences, with hardliners such as Britain leading calls for a sharp reduction in the trillion-euro-plus multi-year budget and rejecting outright a proposed 5.0 percent increase.

Other states, especially new members and weaker economies, pushed for spending, especially on social and infrastructure, to be protected at all costs as essential to promoting growth and jobs.

In an effort to bridge the differences, Van Rompuy suggested the budget be cut by about 75 billion euros, well short of the hardliners' demands but still enough to get the budget down below one trillion euros and near one percent of EU Gross Domestic Product.

Neither side could accept that plan and the bad-tempered November talks closed much earlier than expected.

European Council meeting


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