 [Washington Post] Following two days of divisive talks, leaders from 27 European Union nations on Friday failed to reach an agreement on their trillion-dollar budget."Boodle!" "My boodle!" "No, my boodle!" The leaders met in Brussels to try to hammer out a strategic seven-year budget that aims, among other things, to spur economic activity in Europe's poorer regions. "Boodle for Greece!" "No! Boodle for Spain!" "Boodle for Slovenia!" The summit collapsed in failure following unresolved tensions in the bloc, largely between richer countries that are net contributors to the EU budget, and poorer ones that receive more cash than they pitch in. Unanimity is required for approval. "Thhhhhp! No boodle for you!" The EU Commission, the EU's executive arm, originally proposed a $1.3 trillion budget for 2014-2020 period, nearly a 5 percent increase compared with 2007-2013 budget. British Prime Minister David Cameron was the most prominent leader to argue for a smaller budget, saying that a rise was unacceptable at a time when countries were rolling out austerity cuts back home. Posted by: Fred 2012-11-24 |
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