EU budget cut for the first time

EU leaders today agreed to the framework of a new long-term budget after 15 hours of night-long negotiations, clearing the way for € 960-billion spending on agriculture, aid and scientific research in the years ahead.

The agreement, which EU officials said would only be finalised later today, struck a tight balance between the demands of northern European countries such as the UK and the Netherlands that had been pushing for a belt-tightening budget, and countries in the south and east such as France and Poland that wanted spending on farming subsidies and much-needed infrastructure.

Reuters quoted an unnamed EU official speaking on condition of anonymity that they felt confident that a framework for a deal was on hand. He added the deal was not completely finalised but they felt sure it would be done today.

According to Reuters, several diplomats and other senior officials from a number of EU member states confirmed the framework agreement.

According to the officials around €12 billion would be cut from the last budget proposal, made at a summit in November when agreement could not be reached between the leaders, bringing the headline ceiling for spending down to €960 billion over the full 2014-2020 plan.

Proposals tabled today for Brussels budgets over the period 2014 to 2020 would cut the EU spend by £30 billion between 2014 and 2020 as against current levels of spending.