STOCKHOLM, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The newly reached agreement on the Europe Union's (EU) new 2014-2020 multi-annual budget means that Sweden has managed to keep its yearly contribution below the level the European Commission had suggested, Swedish EU Minister Birgitta Ohlsson said Friday.
Sweden had maintained its yearly contribution to the EU at around 32 billion Swedish kronor (about 5 billion U.S. dollars), less than the 40 billion Swedish kronor suggested by the European Commission, said Ohlsson who described the development as a "victory."
"For the first time the EU budget has been cut down. EU has got a smaller but a more modern budget," said Ohlsson in a statement.
"We had of course expected for more than that but that the agricultural subsidies had been reduced by 10 percent is a very clear signal,"said Ohlsson, adding that the category which included research budget had increased by 40 percent.
Top leaders of the European Union (EU) on Friday agreed on the bloc's seven-year financial framework that includes tens of billions of euros in budget cuts compared to the last period.
From 2014-2020, the maximum amount of member state commitments has been set at 960 billion euros (1.3 trillion U.S. dollars), or a three-percent decrease from the last seven-year framework, according to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
In addition, the actual payments have been sharply reduced by 34 billion euros to 908 billion euros for the rest of the decade for the 27-member bloc.
Amid the ongoing economic and debt crisis across Europe, the deal will be the first ever cut in the EU budget since its existence, provided that it can be approved by the European Parliament as required by EU law.
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