NO NEW PRESIDENCY COMPROMISE ON THE BUDGET BEFORE SUMMER.

The UK Presidency of the European Union has said it will not present a new compromise deal on the 2007-13 financing framework before the summer break. Briefing journalists on July 11, the UK ambassador to the EU, Sir John Grant, said that the Presidencys next step on the financial perspective would be to hold bilateral consultations with the other 24 member states. These would take until September, he said, and the Presidency would continue its work based on the results of those meetings, implying that the earliest the UK might try and draft a new compromise would be September or October. Sir John stressed, however, that the UK would do oall it couldo to get a deal by the end of its Presidency.

During a press briefing in London on July 1, the first day of the UK...