Hopes of a European Union deal this week on a long-term budget faded today, raising the prospect of financial gridlock on top of the political crisis sparked by two "No" votes to the EU constitution.
With time running out before a June 16th-17th summit to give the floundering bloc some political direction, EU leaders appeared equally at a loss over how to deal with the stinging rejections of the charter by French and Dutch voters.
Franco-British squabbling over the British EU rebate and farm subsidies dominated budget talks among foreign ministers on Sunday night, leading some to lower expectations of an early solution and focus instead on limiting the damage.
"It's up to the (EU) presidency to decide how realistic an attempt to reach agreement is at this stage, or whether we stick with an interim result the British presidency can take forward," German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said.
Britain is due to take over the rotating EU presidency from Luxembourg for six months from July 1st. Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini raised the same idea in separate talks with his French and British counterparts, an Italian Foreign Ministry source said.
Mr Fini argued it might be wiser to freeze negotiations where they stood and lock in agreement in budget areas where there was common ground. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the bloc's presidency and is mediating between those who want budget cuts and others who insist on higher spending, insisted a budget deal "would do Europe a lot of good". Yet the Netherlands, determined no longer to be the EU's biggest per capita net contributor, seemed in no hurry.
Asked whether the absence of a summit deal would strengthen the hand of the budget disciplinarians, Foreign Minister Bernard Bot replied: "Absolutely. I couldn't agree more with you."