EU Leaders Reach Seven-Year Budget Deal

$1.3 trillion package agreed on by member states and the European Parliament

A political deal on the EU's hotly contested seven-year budget has been struck, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has announced.

The deal on the 2014-2020 960bn euro (£822bn; $1.3tn) budget was reached between member states and European Parliament leaders, he said.

Leaders of the 27 countries are gathering for a summit in Brussels.

They are expected to focus on Europe's record unemployment, and youth unemployment especially.

Nearly a quarter of people aged 18 to 25 in the EU have no job, while in Greece and Spain it is more than half.