European Union leaders agreed yesterday to a seven-year budget worth €959 billion (Dh4.71 trillion), the first decrease in a budget in the union's history.
The prior seven-year budget was for €975bn.
The European Council president, Herman Van Rompuy, said that the agreement had been reached after two days of negotiations.
The €959bn is about 7 per cent less than the €1.03tn that the EU's executive arm, the EU Commission, had originally proposed.
The heated debate over what the EU pledged to spend on everything from infrastructure to development aid laid bare divisions over what the role of the union should be.
"It's done!" a spokesman for the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, tweeted. "The 27 EU members have agreed on a budgetary framework for 2014-2020. Europe has shown itself to be capable of acting."
"The effort was worth it," Ms Merkel said. "The agreement is good and important."
The European parliament must still approve the deal - and legislators there suggested that drastic cuts would be unacceptable.
"This agreement will not strengthen the competitiveness of the European economy but weaken it," said a statement by the leaders of the four largest political groups in the parliament. "It is not in the prime interest of our European citizens."
The deal that emerged leaned towards the position of countries led by Britain, which insisted that the EU could not look for more money at a time of belt-tightening across Europe.
But it seemed a loss for many of the newer - and generally poorer - members. That group, led by Poland and France, argued that Europe meant nothing if the budget were not used to bridge the gap between rich and poor members and help restart growth.
Both sides had threatened to walk away from the table if they did not get what they wanted. The first summit to negotiate a budget collapsed in November.
Mr Van Rompuy noted, however, that the budget did put aside €6bn to alleviate youth unemployment, which has skyrocketed because of the economic crisis over the past few years, notably in Greece and Spain.
The budget also includes items meant to generate economic growth in the future, such as research and development, increasing digitalisation and a new, more accurate satellite navigation system.
* Associated Press
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
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Sara Suleri, with an introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Penguin
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Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
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The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
The%20Specs
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Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
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The biog
Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people