EU BUDGET: MINISTERS TO TRY AND REACH DEAL ON 2005 PACKAGE.

EU Finance Ministers meet in Brussels on November 25 to try and agree their position on the Draft EU Budget for 2005 ahead of difficult talks with the European Parliament.

The major issues in the stand-off with the Parliament are the size of the overall Budget with MEPs seeking an 11.5% increase for payment appropriations compared to 2004. The Commission initially proposed an increase of 9.8% (to Euro 109,568 million for payments) while the Council, in its first reading, called for the rise to be limited to 5.4% (Euro 105,221 million). A substantial rise in the Budget is expected because the EU is nearing the end of its six-year financial programming period and there are major efforts to spend money committed to major Structural Funds projects.

MEPs also want to ensure that funding for reconstruction in Iraq (a total of Euro 1 billion over five years) to be partly funded from the Euro 200 million...