Germany is ready to compromise on its hard line on future European Union spending in order to strike a long-term EU budget deal if others move too, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Friday. "We are ready to move towards a constructive compromise but it must be clear that this cannot be a one sided process," Schroeder said at a joint news conference with French President Jacques Chirac after talks in Paris. Schroeder said also the European Union must not give up its goals of unity and enlargement despite current problems caused by rejection of its constitution by voters in France and the Netherlands, Reuters reported.
