€2.1bn all that stands in way of deal to clinch EU expansion

THE small matter of about €2.1 billion was last night all that stood in the way of a deal to clinch the expansion of the EU to 25 nations.

It came down to money and not much else in the last round of talks in Brussels before EU leaders meet in Copenhagen later this week to secure a slice of history by unifying the European continent. There were intense negotiations yesterday between the current member States and the 10 newcomers Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus.

The Danes, holding the EU presidency and therefore leading the negotiations, have already cleared away many sticky problems including special arrangements for the Baltic states to catch tiny herrings, for Malta to carry on catching finches and for Lithuania to hunt bears. Now EU leaders are left with some work to do on the "big picture" issues, including how much more money to pay out before a deal is done.