EU leaders haggle over budget tightening - by Joshua Chaffin and Alex Barker

European Council Budget Meeting

EU leaders bargained deep into the early hours of Friday morning as they tried to reach agreement over how deeply to cut the bloc’s seven-year, trillion-euro budget.

More than 12 hours after the summit meeting was to have formally begun, the 27 heads of government were still waiting for Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council president, to present a formal proposal.

Instead, the leaders peeled off into various meetings – some with Mr Van Rompuy – to bargain.
At the heart of the dispute was a clash between British demands for a budget freeze compatible with the austerity sweeping national capitals and a French and Italian defence of more robust spending to counter the effects of recession.

Before the meeting, Mr Van Rompuy was planning to cut about €15bn from his most recent proposal, bringing it to €957bn for the period from 2014 to 2020.

Read more: EU leaders haggle over budget tightening - FT.com