INSTITUTIONS PLEDGE TO STEP UP PACE OF TALKS ON 2007-13 FINANCES.

• Position: Economic development - Brief Article

Representatives of the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission have agreed to increase the pace of negotiations on the 2007-13 finances after a two-hour session failed to yield any substantial results. Following a trialogue meeting of the three institutions on February 21, the three parties issued a joint statement saying that they needed to continue to work in a "higher gear" in order to build on the "better mutual understanding" they had achieved from the meeting. They reaffirmed their goal of reaching a final agreement in April but commented that this would require "an intensification of contacts" at official level.

However, the meeting did not advance the discussions. One participant likened the session to a "Viennese waltz" where the three parties danced around each other without engaging in genuine negotiations. The Council and MEPs did concede that the...