EU foreign ministers sparred on Sunday over who pays and gets what from the EU budget as the prospects of an early general election in Germany injected fresh uncertainty into the talks, already dogged by Britain's vow to hold onto its budget rebate.
The ministers met here over dinner to sound each other out over their positions on the long-term budget before getting down to bargaining at an official gathering yesterday.
Luxembourg, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, was aiming to broker a deal between the EU's 25 members that can be signed at a summit in Brussels on June 16 and June 17 but the negotiations were being held up by Britain's refusal to reconsider the rebate on budget contributions that former prime minister Margaret Thatcher won in 1984.
The announcement on Sunday of early elections in Germany raised new questions about the negotiating position of the biggest contributor to the budget.
"It's an important point that should not automatically make things easy, but that's up to Germany to decide," Nicolas Schmidt, Luxembourg's deputy foreign minister, said.
Luxembourg was trying to bring minds together with a proposal of a suggestion to freeze and then reduce the British rebate.
However, that proposition raised the ire of Britain who, through the voice of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, insisted that his government aimed to keep the rebate, which is supposed to compensate for the fact Britain receives less from EU agricultural funds than other nations.
In the face of growing opposition to the rebate by other countries, Straw said, "It was justified in 1984 when it was agreed, it is justified today and we will not hesitate to use our veto if it is necessary."
Luxembourg wants an agreement before Britain takes over the presidency for six months in July, during which the budget issue is likely to languish if there is no deal beforehand.
With that aim, Luxembourg was to sound out EU leaders on their positions in order to make progress at a foreign-ministers meeting planned for June 13.
The battle lines over the budget for the period from 2007 to 2013 were roughly drawn between the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, which wants to have as much money available as possible, and the six biggest net contributors -- Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands, which want to limit the budget.
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