Irish minister says EU budget deal still possible 'by Christmas'

Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, said EU countries had moved “closer together” in their efforts to reach an agreement on the bloc’s long-term budget. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Despite tensions at the latest European Council meeting, Byrne believes EU leaders will manage to reach an agreement on the long-term budget by Christmas, as they had originally committed to do. However, divisions remain between countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and the Nordic states, which are pushing for deeper cuts, and a group of southern and eastern European countries, including Spain and the Baltic states, which want to preserve traditional funding programmes for the EU’s poorest regions.