Standard & Poor's lowered the sovereign ratings of the European Union from 'AAA' on Friday, citing deterioration in overall creditworthiness of member states amid contentious EU budgetary negotiations.

The rating agency noted that EU budgetary negotiations have become more contentious, signaling that there is rising risks to the support of the EU from some member states.

The long-term ratings were lowered to 'AA+', while it affirmed short-term credit rating at 'A-1+'. The 'stable' outlook reflects the assessment that the risks to the long-term rating on the EU are balanced, S&P said.

The rating partly relies on the capacity and willingness of its members to support it. S&P clarified that a rating change on the EU does not affect the sovereign ratings of individual member countries.

Since last year, the agency has downgraded the ratings of France, Italy, Spain, Malta, Slovenia, and Cyprus. The Netherlands' ratings were lowered in November 2013.

According to S&P, the financial arrangements of EU are complex. The agency expects the average maturity of the EU's loan portfolio to increase to 19.5 years, once it extends advances to Ireland and Portugal.

These two countries together represent 80 percent of EU loans outstanding. S&P sees probabilities for the EU to continue its back-to-back lending and that it will roll-over its debt to match any maturity extension.

S&P today affirmed the coveted 'AAA' ratings of the U.K as the government continues to benefit from its exceptional monetary flexibility. But, it maintained a 'negative' outlook indicating risks to the sustainability of growth.

It also affirmed Ireland's rating on the expectations that Ireland's general government burden will decline considerably in the coming few years on a widening recovery, budgetary consolidation and government asset sales. The outlook on ratings was 'positive.'

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