EU leaders seek seven-year budget deal EU leaders will this week embark on a final, frantic round of bartering in an effort to close a deal on the bloc's long-term budget at a Thursday summit in Brussels. The budget, covering roughly €1tn in spending from 2014 to 2020, has been put on the agenda by Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council president, after a previous attempt to agree a deal in November ended in failure. IN Brussels The key question in this second attempt, is how far France and Italy will be willing to stretch to accommodate demands from the UK for a further €30bn in reductions, from a Van Rompuy proposal that totalled €973bn - not including off-budget items. Several diplomats and EU officials express confidence that a compromise is in sight. Another failure would not only dent the bloc's confidence but would probably cause interruptions in EU programmes next year because of the lengthy lead time needed to pass more than 60 pieces of authorising legislation. This week's summit also presents an opportunity before political events, such as Italian and German elections, intrude and make negotiations more challenging. With that in mind, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has stepped up efforts to forge a compromise. "People understand that if we don't get a deal this time then it will be many, many months before we can come back to it, and that this will have real implications," one diplomat says. Nonetheless, there are a number of thorny issues for Mr Van Rompuy to clear away - any of which could snag negotiations since all 27 member states must agree a deal. France and Italy are both thought to be seeking additional funds for agriculture and rural development subsidies as the price for accepting the UK's multibillion-euro budget rebate. Denmark, one of the biggest per-capita contributors, has threatened to veto a deal if it is not granted a rebate, while Austria will be fighting to retain its own. Several of the poorer countries from central and eastern Europe, such as Hungary and Slovenia, have expressed deep discontent with their allotment of the cohesion funds that form the second-largest chunk of EU spending. Looming over the talks is also the worry that the European Parliament, which must grant its approval, could thwart a deal. Martin Schulz, the parliament president, has already warned that the more the budget is reduced, the greater the risk that MEPs will oppose it. Finally, there is the uncertainty presented by David Cameron, the UK prime minister. Mr Cameron was seen as the most extreme of the budget hawks last time around, and the biggest impediment to a deal. But some diplomats now believe that he may be inclined to sooth fellow leaders after ruffling relations by promising British voters a referendum on the UK's future in the EU. "[Mr] Cameron, having set out his stall over the medium term, will not want a bust up over [the budget]," one diplomat predicts, noting that the UK has already won big reductions to a proposal submitted by the European Commission, the EU executive arm. But others speculate that fellow leaders may have little appetite to make allowances for Mr Cameron when he has now raised the possibility - however distant - that the UK might leave the EU. One point on which all parties seem to agree is that the funding for activities that have been touted as most likely to generate sorely needed economic growth - such as research and development - are now likely to face the axe. That is because while European politicians talk obsessively of the need to stimulate growth, each country has a separate priority that is even more politically urgent - be it France's agricultural funding, the UK rebate or Poland's cohesion money. Mr Van Rompuy's aim is to make further cuts to growth funds from his latest proposal while still keeping them above the levels in the current long-term budget, according to people briefed on his plans. The president is also seeking to head off the bazaar-like atmosphere that typically prevails at such summits, in which countries seek to extract last-minute favours as the price of their support. In order to limit such bargaining, Mr Van Rompuy is not expected to present a new proposal until the day of the summit itself. "He is keeping his cards very close to his chest," an EU official says.