Some EU leaders have been calling for greater spending controls in their home countries. They wanted the EU to show that it is willing to cut costs.

British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the agreement. Before the two-day meeting, he had threatened to veto the budget if there were no steps toward cutting spending.

“So I think the British public can be proud that we have cut the seven-year credit card limit for the European Union for the first time ever. And as a result the EU’s seven-year budget will cost less than one percent of Europe’s gross national income. That is also for the first time ever.”

The European parliament still must approve the measure. But some parliament members say it fails to deal with problems like the sharp wealth differences between rich and poor. Guy Verhofstadt from Belgium is a member of the European parliament. He does not think the measure will pass.

“I don't think that we shall have a majority in the parliament to approve this proposal…we are creating a big deficit of more than 50 billion euros and that is not acceptable.”

If approved, the measure will affect 28 European Union countries. The EU says Croatia is expected to join the group in July.