A European Union summit this week could agree a new budget for the bloc if Britain agrees deeper cuts in its annual rebate from Brussels, Luxembourg's prime minister was quoted on Sunday as saying, Reuters reported. Jean-Claude Juncker told German newspapers that Britain, holder of the EU presidency, must improve its offer on EU finances if the Brussels summit, due to start on Thursday, is to end in success and avoid plunging the bloc deeper into crisis. "I still think an agreement this week is possible," Juncker was quoted as saying in an interview with the newspaper Handelsblatt. "An agreement is urgently needed. Otherwise it will look like we're letting Europe sink deeper into crisis. The dispute over the budget is not the cause of this crisis, just a symptom," he added. Juncker told Handelsblatt Britain had to improve a proposal it made last week on the 2007-13 budget, plans which were rejected by most other EU countries. Britain's proposal foresaw capping the budget at 847 billion euros ($997 billion) from 2007 to 2013 by cutting aid to east European countries and rural development funds. London said its annual rebate would fall by 8 billion euros over the period, but the EU executive and other states doubt its sums.
