Deal reached on €960bn EU budget

Getting final agreement on the EU’s seven-year €960bn budget took just two hours in the end, after months of negotiations and compromises between all the bloc’s institutions.

The deal-maker after the European Parliament threatened to vote down the budget was having the member states agree to pay the outstanding money for this year’s budget — the last in the cycle.

The Taoiseach, who presented the final deal to his fellow EU leaders at the summit in Brussels last night said, “This is an important day for Europe. Our political agreement is an example of the EU rising to a challenge. Where there is belief, cooperation and conviction, Europe can deliver”.