Barroso roept leiders op tot akkoord over begroting: "Europa bevindt zich op kruispunt van wegen" (en)

On the eve of a crucial meeting of EU leaders, commission president Jose Manuel Barroso i has said that the 25-nation bloc is at a "crossroads in the construction of Europe" and urged governments to make a success of the event.

The commission president said the union had been "plunged into doubt" by the recent rejections of the constitution in both France and the Netherlands.

"We need to dissipate this doubt", he said.

Referring to the attempt by leaders to agree on how much should be paid into EU coffers between 2007-2013, the president said that no agreement would be "far worse" than accepting an agreement that was not perfect.

His words follow days of tit for tat public statements, particularly between Paris and London, as governments try and out-manouevre each other on the budget.

"This is not the time to play the national card", said the president, indicating that the commission had done its bit towards getting a compromise by accepting the current proposal put forward by the Luxembourg presidency "although there are some points [the commission] does not like".

Elaborating, he said that around 30 research projects would be jeopardised by the proposed cuts and said that the Brussels executive would be forced to "make some very difficult choices".

Review in 2008?

As a way of coming back to the issue and perhaps getting more money to help the EU become more competitive - the leitmotiv of this commission - Mr Barroso suggested that the budget be reviewed in 2008.

He said it would be "imprudent" to block it until 2013.

Just as current EU head and Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker before him, the commission president also piled the political pressure on the UK, which is seen as one of the primary reasons why the budget talks might fail.

"There are ten new members who are much much poor than Britain", he said, referring to the fact that they also would have to contribute to the country's annual rebate from the EU.

But he ruled out opening the bloc's agreement on agricultural subsidies as a way of forging a compromise on the multi-annual budget.

Reminding his listeners that any change to the 2002 agreement, which fixes subsidies to 2013, would have to be approved unanimously, Mr Barroso said "I am not going to add to the problems we already have".

He said "intellectually" everyone may have a different opinion on the merits of the common agricultural policy but for the commission to start speculating on whether to open this issue "would be disruptive for the European Union".

Instead he suggested that accepting Bulgaria and Romania into the current agriculture budget and not increasing it at EU level could be a "reasonable" compromise.

On enlargement, Mr Barroso said the union must keep its commitments. The principle of "good faith is fundamental in international life" he said.