Even by the low standards of Brussels, last week's EU summit was a bad-tempered affair. European leaders hurled epithets at each other ranging from tragic and pathetic to shameful and egotistical. The outgoing president of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, concluded that the EU was not in crisis: it was "in deep crisis". Most people agreed; yet the conclusion is worth a moment's reflection. After all, these comments came after the summit's failure, in a marathon session lasting until midnight, to settle the EU budget for 2007-13. Yet no multi-annual budget has ever been agreed until the spring before it came into force- meaning, in this case, March or April 2006. And every budget negotiation for 25 years has featured blazing Franco-British rows over the common agricultural policy (CAP) and the British budget rebate. In historical terms, the Brussels meeting was just business as usual-hardly a crisis.
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