BRUSSELS, Dec 12: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw cast doubt on Monday over Europe’s chances of ending a row over its long-term budget, warning there was little room for manoeuvre to clinch a deal.
Setting the tone for brinkmanship likely to be tested to the limit at a crunch summit this week, Straw even suggested the British EU presidency might not make any changes to a proposal already flatly rejected last week.
“These are difficult negotiations. The margin for manoeuvre is narrow. All of us would prefer agreement to no agreement but there cannot be agreement at any price,” he said, arriving to chair a meeting of EU foreign ministers.—AFP
