Cameron hails EU budget cut 'first'

Feb 8 2013

David Cameron has hailed a real-terms cut in the European Union's next seven-year budget.

The Prime Minister said the British public "can be proud" that the credit limit for Brussels spending had been brought down for the first time in the history of the EU.

After hours of tortuous negotiations, the latest EU summit broke up with an agreement that spending for 2014/2020 would be 908 billion euro (£773 billion).

Mr Cameron said spending for 2014-2020 would be 24 billion euro lower than during the last seven-year period.

"I think the British public can be proud that we have cut the seven-year credit card limit for the European Union for the first time ever," he told an end-of-summit press conference.

Summit chairman Herman Van Rompuy earlier took to Twitter to declare a budget deal done.

"Deal done! European Council has agreed on MFF (Multi-annual Financial Framework) for the rest of the decade. Worth waiting for," he tweeted.