Oproep aan Brits voorzitterschap om impasse EU-budget te doorbreken (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Germany and the Czech Republic have called on London to step up efforts to solve the current impasse over the future EU budget.

Following a meeting on Thursday (25 August) finance ministers from both countries - Hans Eichel and Bohuslav Sobotka - told journalists that they expect the UK EU presidency to come forward with a possible solution to the problem.

Both politicians said the goal must be that the 2007-2013 budget, which EU leaders fell out over at a summit in June, be agreed as soon as possible, reports Reuters Germany.

German finance minister Mr Eichel said it would not be right if London were to leave the issue to the Austrian presidency, beginning next January, without having made an intensive effort to see if the problem can be solved.

Mr Sobotka spoke on a "moral duty" on the part of London.

Their comments come as London indicated that it may leave the issue to be dealt with by Vienna next year, with major talks in its presidency to concentrate on the future of the European social model.

Britain has also had to contend with a massive change in its domestic agenda after the terrorist bombings on the London underground in July.

However, several member states view Britain as being one of the main reasons why the talks failed in June.

At the summit, UK prime minister Tony Blair insisted he would not agree a deal and a reduction in his country's annual rebate from the budget unless there was a change to the EU's farm subsidies - the levels of which have been set until 2013.

This proved unacceptable to France's president Chirac, who pointed out that Britain had agreed to the agricultural deal in 2002.

Afterwards, the clash was presented by some, particularly the leaders of Luxembourg and Germany, as an ideological split between those who want more European integration and those who want just a free market zone for the EU.

At the beginning of his country's EU presidency in July, Mr Blair laid out a vision for a modern and reformist European Union.

He insisted that it was time to spend more money on issues such as research and development which would help the bloc grow economically, rather than on farm subsidies.

The prime minister won grudging support for his view, even from some of the new member states that stand to lose the most from a delay in a deal on the next budget round.

However, there is likely to be renewed anger if Britain is perceived as not thoroughly dealing with the issue during the remaining four months of its presidency.