Many public- and private-sector workers in Belgium are threatening a 24-hour strike designed to shut the country's transportation network and close the main airports on the day of the EU summit, Belgian news media reported.

Belgians are striking because their government has made it harder for them to retire early and has cut back on unemployment benefits, as part of an austerity budget aimed at bringing its deficit within the EU limit of 3% this year.

As part of the strike, planes will also likely to be grounded at Belgium's main airport, Brussels Airport, after pilots agreed to take part in the stoppages, trade unions said.

According to the Belga agency, Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo has asked the defence ministry to prepare a contingency plan for using the military airport of Beauvechain, 30 kilometers east of the capital.

BRUSSELS - The EU's famed diversity was on show on Friday (27 January) during first concrete discussions on the European Union's next long term budget, a debate that threw up as many points of view as there are member states.

Trying to start what is normally a fraught debate on a constructive note, the Danish EU presidency asked ministers to indicate whether they agreed with the budget priorities and the overall sum - a five percent increase to €1.025 billion for the 2014-2020 period - as proposed by the European Commission last June.

Even the question itself caused some grumbling. A whole series of countries asked whether it was useful to be talking about the overall sum when money for specific policies has yet to be decided.

The biggest issues concern whether the size of the budget is appropriate and, if cuts are to be made to it, which policy areas they should hit - concerns that have become more acute as countries across Europe implement austerity measures in response to the eurozone debt crisis.