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Thu 12 Dec 2005Blair fights rearguard action to prevent new crisisEU: When EU leaders gather this evening to try to hammer out a deal on the bloc's 2007-2013 budget, all smiles for the photographers will do little to clear the tense atmosphere that grips Brussels.For almost a month politicians have traded insults over the new EU budget, with most of the criticism directed at the current EU president, Britain, first for delaying publication of a proposal and then for offering too little to new member states.