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EU leaders agree budget cut deal in Brussels | EU leaders agree budget cut deal in Brussels |
(35 minutes later) | |
EU leaders have reached an agreement on the budget for 2014-20 after marathon talks in Brussels. | |
The deal was announced by European Council President Herman van Rompuy, who said it was "worth waiting for". | The deal was announced by European Council President Herman van Rompuy, who said it was "worth waiting for". |
The new budget amounts to 908bn euros (£768bn; $1.2tn) in forecast payments. It is the first-ever reduction in the EU's multi-annual budget. | |
UK Prime Minister David Cameron - who had been pressing for cuts - hailed it as a "good deal for Britain". | |
"I think the British public can be proud that we have cut the seven-year credit card limit for the EU for the first time ever," Mr Cameron said. | |
French President Francois Hollande - who had argued against big spending cuts - said it was a "good compromise". | |
The agreement came after almost 24 hours of negotiations, as countries such as France and Italy sought to protect spending. | |
The budget amounts to about 1% of the EU's overall GDP - it is dwarfed by the combined national budgets. | The budget amounts to about 1% of the EU's overall GDP - it is dwarfed by the combined national budgets. |
It must still be approved by the European Parliament, and MEPs had previously said they were prepared to block anything that amounted to an "austerity" budget. | |
Mr Van Rompuy said the deal amounted to a cut of roughly 34bn euro in both commitments and payments. |