BUDGET: MEMBER STATES SOLVE LEGAL RIDDLE OVER POST-ECSC EPOCH.

The EU Member States have in the end managed to solve the tricky legal issue the failure to ratify the Treaty of Nice raised for managing European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) assets after it is wound up this Summer. Thanks to an inter-governmental agreement, they have cleared the legal hurdle by adopting a Decision on February 8 to allow the European Commission to look after the kitty until the ECSC's transferral to the EU as an entity following the expiry of the Treaty of Paris on July 23, 2002. The Council document (5650/02) includes annexes on the financial and technical guidelines, which are not affected by this Decision. It is seconded with an addendum presenting...