France & Italy: Deal on EU budget needs more work

The latest EU summit will start this Thursday in Brussels..and the EU’s budget plan will be one hot topic on the agenda. On Sunday, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti held a news conference on the budget.

In the conference, Hollande said France was keen to agree to the EU’s 2014-2020 budget at the summit, but adds there’s still much to be done for a consensus to be reached. Monti agreed with Hollande’s comments, and wanted reform for the EU system of rebates, arguing that Italy’s contribution to the budget is out of proportion to its real wealth. At a meeting in November last year, the 27-nation bloc failed to agree on a one trillion euro budget.

We recommend:
Wind power now No.3 energy resource	Blackberry maker changes name, unveils new phones	China caps first 3G nuclear plant
New Zealand moves to restore trust	Lenovo ready to challenge mobile industry leaders	Airbus has big hopes for big plane