Weekend newspapers in Europe express some relief at the EU budget deal, but the overall response is broadly unenthusiastic.
French newspapers highlight the British "concessions" which they believe enabled leaders to reach an agreement.
"The European leaders wrung out a crucial agreement... thanks to the concessions made by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, notably on his country's rebate," Le Monde says.
In similar vein, Liberation believes that the "last-minute agreement" was achieved "thanks to concessions by British Prime Minister Tony Blair".
Another paper, Le Nouvel Observateur, takes a broader view and expresses relief at the outcome.
"This agreement on the first budget of the enlargement - delivered through a painful labour - makes it possible to break the deadlock in which the EU had found itself since the French and Dutch "No" to the Constitution and the failure of the June summit on the budget," it says.
Merkel's debut
"The summit showed that Blair is by far not the only reluctant European"In Germany, there is some satisfaction at Chancellor Angela Merkel's role in brokering the agreement.
"Newcomer Merkel successfully mediated between the two fighting cocks, Blair and Chirac, and is now seen as a new star in the EU firmament," the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports.
A commentary in Der Tagesspiegel echoes this view.
"Merkel can be satisfied with her European debut," it believes.
However, the article is less optimistic about the broader significance of the deal.
"There is little cause for celebration, because the summit showed that Blair is by far not the only reluctant European," it regrets.
"Nothing has changed Europe's fundamental malaise," it adds.
The Berliner Zeitung shares the suspicion that the agreement has failed to address more deep-rooted problems.
"The longed-for sign that the EU is still capable of action has come at a high price: EU leaders have again postponed the discussion of serious problems as well as important questions about the state of the disunited Union," it says.
'Scandal'
A commentary in the Welt am Sonntag is scathing in its criticism.
"Tony Blair began his EU Presidency as a tiger and has ended up a doormat""The fact that the nations of Europe will still have to subsidise rich farmers in France - and elsewhere - is not good: It's a scandal," it declares.
"Tony Blair began his EU Presidency as a tiger... and has ended up a doormat," it complains.
"His failure will disappoint all those European patriots who deplore the fact that the EU spends 40% of its budget on subsidising a mere 2% of its working population, instead of investing in the future," it adds.
Investing in the past?
In Austria - which is due to inherit the EU Presidency from Britain in the New Year - there is similar criticism of the Union's budgetary priorities.
A commentary in Der Kurier offers tongue-in-cheek congratulations to Mr Blair for maintaining the principle of the British rebate and for generally playing down expectations.
However, it regrets that the agreement is "to the detriment of the future, because the EU will continue to invest the bulk of its budget in the past".
"Research, education, employment, infrastructure, security, the EU's role in the world - all these projects are accorded a low priority by comparison with regional aid and farm subsidies," it complains.
An editorial in Die Presse has no time for those who invoke an ill-defined "European idea" to condemn the British attitude to the EU.
"What the British are currently doing... is not a European exception but a consistent reaction to the European reality," it continues.
It is time for the other members to accept that the present EU disputes are "a sometimes painful farewell to the dreams of a traumatised post-war generation, which have been overtaken by reality," it says.
"It remains to be seen whether Europe too has won at the Brussels summit"Scepticism about the budget deal is also expressed by Italy's Corriere della Sera.
It notes the individual achievements of the British, German and French leaders, but adds:
"Even if all this is true, it remains to be seen whether Europe too has won at the Brussels summit."
'Stubbornness'
Polish comment highlights the success of their country's "stubbornness" in the budget negotiations.
"Poland was stubborn in defending the principle of solidarity and stressed that the budget should be constructed so as to support development in all the new EU countries," the Gazeta Wyborcza writes.
Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz "waged his own offensive in the name of financial solidarity within the EU," it says.
And another Polish paper, Rzeczpospolita, believes that "the British were not offended by the Polish stubbornness".
BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaus abroad.
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