No agreement at EU budget summit

BRUSSELS. November 24. KAZINFORM European leaders face a grinding round of negotiations over the next three months to agree a new seven-year budget after the EU summit collapsed in Brussels amid a clash between rich and poor nations.
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Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European council, threw in the towel after an alliance of the EU's richest countries, led by Britain and Germany, declined to accept a €971bn (£786bn) budget for 2014-2020.

The decision to abandon the talks, which will lead to another emergency budget summit early in the New Year, will transform the position of David Cameron who arrived in Brussels amid criticism that he is wholly isolated in the EU.

The prime minister joined forces with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, and Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister, to say the proposed budget was too large.

Merkel was understood to have been furious with Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, for an attempt to try and isolate Britain, Kazinform quotes the Guardian.

Speaking after the summit broke up the prime minister said: "It has been very heartening that, as well as myself arguing for significant reductions and being on the side of taxpayers the Swedes and the Dutch have made very strong representations too.

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