BUDGET ADJUSTMENT FOR 2004 TO TAKE ACCOUNT NEW MEMBER ACCESSION.

• Position: Brief Article

The European Commission approved on February 3 a Preliminary Draft Amending Budget for 2004. This aims at securing the budgetary procedure which had been placed in two distinct accounts for the effective accession of new Member States taking place this year: one for the EU-15 until May 1, the other for the EU-25 after this date. The overall account for 2004 has no surprises, reflecting largely the European Parliament's second reading of the 2004 Budget and the agreement reached with the...