EU heads meet for summit as austerity takes hold
Baku, October 28 (AZERTAC). European leaders are gathering in Brussels amid pressure to rein in the EU budget and plan action to avert future debt crises.
While next year`s EU budget is not formally on the agenda, the UK has been pressing other states to reject a 5.9% rise voted for by MEPs.
At a time of austerity, a rise closer to 2.9% is likely to be agreed.
But a row is brewing over a proposal to temporarily strip repeat over-spenders such as Greece of voting rights.
This Franco-German suggestion for a crisis resolution mechanism would mean rewriting the EU`s Lisbon Treaty, which was itself only adopted after tortuous negotiations.
The so-called Deauville Deal (named after the venue for recent Franco-German talks) was reached independently of other EU leaders, who are formally due to discuss a report by a European Council task force on measures to strengthen economic governance in the EU.
The measures are intended to avoid the domino-like collapse of successive European economies should there be another major debt crisis in one of the weaker members.
"There will be a hot discussion on treaty change," one unnamed senior EU diplomat told Reuters news agency.
Other news in this section
