The European Parliament on Wednesday rejected an agreement on the European Union's (EU's ) 2007-13 budget reached by leaders in December.

A resolution against the budget plan was adopted 541-56 with 76 abstentions in Strasbourg, France, said the official website of the European Parliament.

After tough negotiations at the year-end summit, the EU leaders agreed on a 862-billion-euro (1.043-trillion-U.S. dollar) budget for 2007-13, far short of the 975 billion euros (1.18 trillion dollars) proposed by the parliament in June.

"MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) reject the European Council's common position in its current form, because it does not guarantee an EU budget enhancing prosperity, competitiveness, solidarity, cohesion and security in future, in compliance with policies already decided by the council itself," said the website.

The December agreement was not fair for new member states, MEPs believed.

Talks will continue on Monday in a trialogue between European Parliament President Borrell, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Wolfgang Schuessel.

The European Commission is expected to hand in its draft inter- institutional agreement on the budget in early February upon which parties will then negotiate.

While there is no deadline as such for the completion of the negotiations, there is a shared willingness to wrap it up by this spring in a bid to enable funding for projects that require pre- planning.

Source: Xinhua