Negotiators from the European Parliament and EU member states agreed to just over a two-percent rise in the Union’s budget for 2012 - a victory for those countries that have argued that at a time of national austerity, the bloc itself must tighten its belt as well.
Early Saturday morning (19 November), after 15 hours of talks, the negotiators finally backed an increase of 2.02 percent to €129 billion for next year.
The European Parliament had been pushing for a rise in spending of...
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