EU Parliament head warns 'no deal' at summit
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European Parliament President Martin Schulz speaks to open the EP session on Jan 15, 2013, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Mr Schulz warned today of a possible "no deal" at a February summit intended to fix a seven-year budget of around a trillion euros (S$1.7 trillion). -- PHOTO: AFP
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The head of the European Parliament warned today of a possible "no deal" at a February summit intended to fix a seven-year budget of around a trillion euros (S$1.7 trillion).
German Socialist Martin Schulz said at a press conference that the positions among the 27 EU member states remain "very far apart" ahead of the Feb 7-8 talks.
He said that if this new bid to get agreement on the 2014-2020 budget fails, the European Union could live with annual budgets.
Under this fallback system, which critics say undermines longterm projects and planning, the year's budget is automatically renewed accounting for inflation for a further 12 months.
