The European summit on 15-16 December will focus discussions on the "financial perspectives", the EU budget for 2007-2013.
What spending areas does it cover, how do the positions and proposals differ and why is it such a contentious issue?
This is the seven-year framework which provides a legal basis for the annual EU budgets.
It sets out the limits for the block's expenditure.
The plan spells out five main spen...
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