EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to talk about the bloc's next seven-year budget, set to go on for the next six months. The European Commission proposed last July a two-trillion-euro seven-year spending plan for the 27-country bloc -- which so-called frugal countries immediately made clear was too high. In the opposing camp, France, long a supporter of common debt, is pushing for ambitious spending as the bloc strives for independence in the technology and defence fields.