EU budget talks pitch rich against poorer member states

Poorer eastern member states have accused their richer counterparts of wanting to have it all their way on the EU's next longterm budget by cutting spending on policies that do not greatly affect them and upping the policing on how the money is spent.

With an agreement on the seven-year budget to be wrapped up by the end of the year, Tuesday's (24 April) talks on the issue for the first time went into the most controversial aspects of how much and where EU money ought to be spent.