EU agree to create eurozone budget as France compromise on original plans

The EU has decided to give the eurozone its own budget after calls for a single currency budget led by France this year. 

It was agreed at a summit on Friday that a ring-fenced eurozone budget would help reduce economic differences between member states and make the currency more competitive on a global scale, although the agreement is a scaled down version of Emmanuel Macron's vision. 

The member states' governments will decide on the key features of the budget by June. 

Macron led the call for a eurozone budget that would encompass 19 of the 28 member countries and allow them to work collectively on projects of infrastructure, transport and employment. 

“Many thought it was impossible,” Macron said after the summit talks. “We were able to obtain a compromise.”

It was a concept that has been fiercely opposed by some countries, particularly in the north of Europe but Macron has also had to compromise on his original plans. 

The size of the budget has yet to be decided but it will be smaller than Macron's original plan for a fund equal to several percentage points of gross domestic product.

Leaders also agreed on plans to strengthen its banking union and extend the lending options available to the EU's sovereign bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism