EU: Europe must agree a budget deal if it is to emerge from the "paralysis" caused by the No vote in recent referendums on the European constitution and the failure of budget talks between the member states last June, British prime minister Tony Blair has told the European Parliament.
Securing the budget was a priority area for the future of the EU and it was particularly vital to the 10 new member states, Mr Blair said yesterday.
He would do his "level best" to ensure that the agreement was reached by December when the British presidency of the EU came to an end. However he said member states must be certain that the "right deal" was done on the European budget.
"We need to get Europe moving and we need to get it moving in the right direction."
Budget negotiations broke down last June following British demands for the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy if Britain was to lose the budget rebate, which compensates for its small farming sector.
France, with its large agricultural sector, opposed reform of the Cap, leaving the budget talks deadlocked.
Fianna Fáil MEP Brian Crowley told Mr Blair that the Cap agreement should not be turned into a drive against one sector of society for the benefit of another.
Mr Blair said he was not looking for Cap reforms to be immediate. "We're not saying we can change the whole system overnight. What we are saying is we should in the future have a different perspective for reform."
In a press conference following the parliament session, Mr Blair was asked if he had toned down his demands on the Cap.
He repeated that he was not calling for overnight change but "my position has not changed on Cap and the budget". He added that the budget needed to be more aligned with the priorities of people in Europe.
Consideration of a globalisation fund was also high on the agenda for the last few months of the British presidency, Mr Blair told the parliament.
The proposed multibillion-euro fund would help to cushion the effect of globalisation on workers in industrial sectors exposed to competition.
However Mr Blair said it must be used in a proper way to help workers meet the challenge of globalisation and assist with retraining. It should not be used to protect a failing company or "bail out a company that isn't succeeding".
He said that he hoped it was still possible to agree the services directive, which allows the free movement of services and workers within the EU, despite concerns from socialist members that it could lead to wage exploitation.
Mr Blair's arrival at the European Parliament in Strasbourg was greeted by protests from several dozen MEPs seeking to end the secrecy of the EU ministerial decision-making process.
MEPs, including North-West Independent Marian Harkin, held banners saying "make law in public" and chanted "open council meetings" - a reference to the closed-door nature of the law-adoption process at EU level.
Mr Blair was attending the parliament in Strasbourg ahead of today's summit of European leaders in London.