Janusz Lewandowski, the EU budget commissioner, told TVN24 that the European Parliament cannot be satisfied with the proposed EU budget for 2014-2020 that the bloc's 27 leaders agreed on last week.

“[The agreed budget proposal] is far worse than the proposal made by the European Commission,” Mr Lewandowski said.

The EC's proposal had put the budget at some €1.025 trillion, while the one agreed upon by EU leaders comes to €960 billion. The EC's proposal would have meant a 4.8 percent increase on the current 2007-2013 budget. The new proposal would represent a 3.3 percent cut.

Mr Lewandowski said that he expects the European parliament to oppose the new budget deal. “It is necessary to start negotiations and fix what is necessary,” he said. When the negotiations start, the European Commission will mediate talks between the parliament and the 27 governments.

The budget must be approved by the European Parliament before it can come into effect. The vote is scheduled for July. European Parliament President Martin Schulz has already warned that the EP will not approve the budget if it contains major cuts.

In total, the current proposal for the 2014-2020 budget is about €34 billion lower than the 2007-2013 budget.

Marta Mardosz