Brussels Edition: Losing Sleep Over Nickels and Dimes

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The EU is no stranger to infighting, but its most tedious and bitter spats are almost always about money. So as its 27 leaders head to Brussels today to thrash out the bloc’s next long-term budget, aides are preparing their spreadsheets, packing clean shirts and stocking offices with snacks to get through a long night of negotiations — or maybe even two. With diplomats from all camps insisting that getting a good deal is more important than getting one quickly, it’s unlikely the summit will end up with white smoke, even as different sides are only fractions of a percentage point apart. That should allow leaders to tell voters back home that they put up a big fight, making the inevitable compromise just a bit more palatable.