Belgium: EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels yesterday evening for closed-door negotiations over the union's next budget, but with little hope of agreement.
The tone of the meeting was set by Britain earlier yesterday when chancellor Gordon Brown told the BBC that London would not hesitate to use its veto to make sure it kept its yearly rebate from the budget - something other member states want to see abolished.
Freezing the rebate and then gradually reducing it after 2007 was one of the key proposals of an overall compromise package put forward by the Luxembourg EU presidency last week. Other member states have also taken a public stand. Spain and Portugal have promised to form a united front and not accept cuts to EU aid levels - under the Luxembourg proposals the regional aid budget would be cut by €40 billion. The European Commission is also unhappy as sharp cuts in research spending are proposed, hitting a key part of its agenda to increase competitiveness. Member states are aiming to agree the 2007-2013 budget by mid-June, but the chances of this are slim.