European Union governments will on Friday propose to trim the bloc’s 2010 budget by more than €600m in an attempt to keep a tight grip on spending without hindering efforts at economic recovery.

At a meeting with European parliament delegates, the EU’s 27 governments will recommend that authorised expenditure for 2010 should total €137.9bn ($194bn, £118.4bn), about 0.4 per cent less than the European Commission proposed in a draft budget last April.