The Friends of Cohesion group of 17 eastern and Mediterranean countries, the European Union's poorer members, have reached a swift agreement on the bloc's next budget after the loss of Britain and its financial contribution. With Brexit, EU finances will lose Britain's contribution of 12-billion-euro.<br />'' <br />'' 15 countries have agreed to defend the Cohesion Fund while Italy and Croatia chose to remain neutral. The Cohesion Fund is for member state whose per-capita gross national income (GNI) is less than 90 percent of the EU average.<br />'' <br />'' Charles Michel, president of the European Council which represents the 27 member state governments, has called a special budget summit in three weeks' time to agree the bloc's budget for 2021-2027.   <br />''