EU leaders failed to agree on the next long term budget after a two-day meeting, November 22 to 23. Leaders went into the meeting bitterly divided on whether the 2014 to 2020 budget should be cut or raised, with 11 leaders threatening to veto the talks.
Much of the European press focused on Britain’s isolation in the talks. Britain’s Parliament gave Prime Minister David Cameron an almost impossible target of cutting the budget, while most other leaders wanted it raised. European Parliament leaders singled Britain out for condemnation ahead of the talks, portraying them as greedy and selfish, unwilling to stand with the rest of Europe in a time of trouble.
