saturday)s crucial budget deal has been welcomed by european leaders, with both old and new member states hailing it as a positive move for the future of 25-nation bloc, dpa reported. in an interview saturday with deutsche presse-agentur dpa, german commissioner gunther verheugen said the settlement freed up the e.u. to concentrate on future expenditure. 'that opens the possibility for us to better focus the e.u. budget on future outgoings and to gradually correct the traditionally top- heaviness of the agriculture subsidies,' he said. he said germany was relieved by the outcome, which he said had been strongly influenced by new chancellor angela merkel. merkel had earlier hailed the accord as a 'signal of hope for further european development'. verheugen said he was confident the budget agreement would get the necessary approval from the european parliament. spanish foreign minister angel moratinos said the result was optimal with a view to spain)s aims. finance minister pedro solbes said the agreement was good for europe and good for spain, noting that his country would remain a net recipient of e.u. funds until 2013. 'the agreement puts the e.u. back on the path and lets us look confidentally to the future,' he said. czech prime minister jiri paroubek described the agreement as 'extraordinarily good'. 'we have managed to improve on the constructive suggestions proposed by the british council presidency at the beginning of the summit,' paroubek said. he conceded that while the solution would bring significant e.u. funds to the czech republic not all prague)s wishes had been met, but he added: 'this is a flaw that we must come to terms with.' polish foreign minister stefan meller said the agreement demonstrated the e.u.)s social-minded spirit and its sense of solidarity with the poorer, ten new member states. hungarian prime minister ferenc gyurcsany described the budget agreement as a 'big success for hungary'. 'now it is decided,' he said, 'that - contrary to all earlier decisions - 85 per cent of hungarian cohesion investment can be financed with e.u. funds.' --more
