French President Jacques Chirac failed to reach agreement on Tuesday over the European Union (EU) budget for 2007-2013 with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The French president's spokesman Jerome Bonnafont quoted Chirac as saying that France wants "a reasonable and fair agreement" on the future EU budget at the incoming EU summit to be held in Brussels on June 16 and 17 aiming at a compromise over the EU budget.

Chirac's words came after Blair said there was "obviously" "sharp disagreement" in his meeting with the French president, although "immensely amicable".

"I think it is difficult to see these differences being bridged,but of course you know we continue to talk," he told reporter at anews conference at the British Embassy after 90-minute talks with Chirac.

According to the spokesman, Chirac did not specifically in their talks raise the issue of the some 5 billion-euro rebate Britain won from the EU budget in 1984 when it got little back from Brussels in farm subsidies which at the time made up 75 percent of the EU budget.

On the EU budget, Blair thought it wrong to spend 40 percent ofthe budget on agriculture, insisting on more expenses on research,technology, science and development.

While Chirac urged to avoid "financial difficulties" "in the current situation of political crisis that Europe is in", Blair said the budget dispute highlighted the European Union's need to make itself more relevant in the lives of ordinary people.

"If we want to reconnect people in Europe with the idea of the European Union, we've got to set a clear political direction," he said.

"If we were to set out some of that forward path and direction,then I think it would be a lot easier to persuade people why it's necessary also to have a new set of rules to govern Europe," he said. 

Editor: Yan