Austria, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden -- want the budget capped at 1.0 percent of EU gross national income, while the Commission says a rise to 1.14 percent is needed to pay for its policies. EU law requires unanimity on the budget and failure to agree in June could delay a deal until late 2006, after Britain's presidency and a German general election in September 2006. The Commission says this could leave the EU unable to undertake any major new spending in 2007 and well into 2008. But Germany said on Saturday that meeting its demands was more important than any self-imposed deadline. "If we don't get our two core goals ... there won't be a deal in June," said Deputy Finance Minister Caio Koch-Weser. Europe's largest economy argues the EU's roughly 100 billion euros a year budget must be curbed at a time when Berlin and many other governments are struggling with high budget deficits amid sluggish economic growth. It also wants a mechanism to correct its own burden. --More 2333 Local Time 2033 GMT
