EU budget approved by the member states

It appears as if though the EU budget for 2015 has been given the green light. The member states have agreed to the budget proposals and it will now await the formality of European Parliament acceptance, as read in an IAR release. The budget for 2015 amounts to €141.2 billion. "I'm happy that we were able to reach a compromise," said Pier Carlo Padoan, Italy's Finance Minister, who is currently leading European negotiations. Part of the deal was a promise to lower the €4.8 billion budget deficit of the EU with unused funds. Countries will not need to increase their input into the common treasury.