German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, walks in with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, center, and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, during the EU Budget summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday. European Union leaders drew hard lines Thursday ahead of a struggle over EU spending for the next seven years that reflects deep divisions about the role of their union. — AP BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel says a proposed trans-Atlantic trade agreement between the European Union and the United States has Germany's strong backing, and would have global impact. The proposal has garnered support on both continents, with President Barack Obama saying earlier this month that the U.S. believes "trade that is free and fair across the Atlantic supports millions of good-paying American jobs." Merkel told Parliament Thursday that she hoped negotiations this year would produce an agreement that would not only help commerce, but also create such a powerful trade zone that the US and EU together could set industry standards and norms. She says "if we don't, then others in the world will do it according to their work and production standards, which are at times far removed from our values." Also on Thursday, Merkel urged the European Parliament to give its green light to a hard-fought seven-year EU budget, amid concerns the reduced pot does too little to boost jobs and growth. Briefing the Bundestag lower house of parliament on the results of the last EU summit earlier this month, Merkel said the deal struck on the 2014-2020 budget "could not be praised highly enough". Following talks that went through the night and lasted a full 24 hours in all, EU leaders at a February 7 and 8 summit in Brussels agreed the first-ever cut in the bloc's spending for its seven-year budget. The deal has yet to pass a significant hurdle, however, in the shape of the European Parliament, which must give its final say. The heads of the four largest groups in the European Parliament, which is to vote on the budget in July, have said they could not accept it in its current form as it would not help boost the struggling EU economy. Merkel said: "I know there will be hard discussions with the parliament. That is natural." "However, I think we would be well advised not to focus on what divides us, but to concentrate on what brings the council and parliament together," she added, referring to the European Council of EU leaders. Under the accord, 2014-20 actual spending, or "payments" in EU jargon, was set at 908.4 billion euros ($1.2 trillion), with an absolute ceiling of 960 billion euros for spending "commitments" to the budget. — Agencies
