The European Commission signalled flexibility in negotiations on the EU's contested long-term budget today when it backed a compromise proposal by the European Parliament.
The EU assembly proposed this week to set the European Union's 2007-2013 budget at 1.07 per cent of Gross National Income, compared with 1.14 per cent envisaged by the commission.
The six biggest paymasters - Austria, Britain, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden - want to cap the budget at the current level of about 1 per cent.
"We strongly welcome the report agreed by (parliament's) committee on the financial perspectives. The proposal is very much on the scale the commission would like to see," a commission spokeswoman told a news briefing.
EU leaders hope to reach agreement on the budget in June, but many diplomats say divisions between the 25 members are so deep that a deal may be found only in late 2006.