European Union leaders have agreed to a long-term budget after Britain offered to reduce its annual rebate.
The leaders reached a final deal in Brussels early Saturday after British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed to cut his country's rebate by nearly $13 billion.
Mr. Blair described negotiations as extraordinarily difficult. German Chancellor Angela Merkel played a key role in the talks and praised the deal. Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said the budget was reached in the spirit of solidarity.
The six-year plan begins in 2007. It includes billions of dollars of development aid to new member states from Eastern Europe, and caps overall spending at $1 trillion dollars for the six-year period.
The final deal calls for a review of all EU budget revenue and spending, including farm subsidies.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
