European Union leaders agree to slash 2014-2020 budget

The Europeans brace themselves for more austerity measures after their leaders agreed to slash the European Union’s (EU) budget over a seven-year period from 2014 to 2020.

The EU leaders reached the deal on the bloc’s spending plans on Friday. The agreement was made following 24 hours of negotiations in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

The deal sets a ceiling of USD1.3 trillion for the EU’s budget. The budget still needs to be ratified by the European Parliament.

Reports say that several countries including Britain and the Netherlands had been pressing for cuts while France, Italy and some other eurozone states were seeking to protect spending. This is the first decrease in EU’s budget in the history of the bloc. The deal means more spending cuts and austerity measures for European people.

Europe plunged into financial crisis in early 2008. Insolvency now threatens heavily debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Portugal, and Spain.

The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.