Brussels, 15/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EU Member States reached an agreement on Friday in Brussels on the adoption, at first reading, of a draft budget for 2006, reduced to EUR 1.14 billion in payment appropriations (PA) compared to the European Commission's initial proposal (EUROPE 8989). The European Commission disputed the reduction of EUR 428.75 million in research spending, while the Council notes that the amounts foreseen (EUR 4.61 billion in total PA) is a 12% rise compared to the...