Around the World: European Union

Budget deadline busted

The European Commission will miss a deadline for proposing a plan to overhaul the European Union budget this year because its president is still putting together his new leadership team, EU officials say. EU leaders agreed four years ago that the Commission, the 27-country bloc's executive, would by the end of 2009 present ideas for reforming the budget, addressing issues such as high farm spending and a rebate that Britain receives from EU coffers.