BRUSSELS - EU negotiators are on the brink of formally concluding a €960 billion deal on the next seven year EU budget, after a tentative deal between national ministers and MEPs.

Irish deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, who led the talks in Brussels on Wednesday (19 June), told reporters that he and Alain Lamassoure, the French centre-right deputy leading the parliament team, agreed compromises on the four main EU parliament concerns.