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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Condor who wrote (54520)	10/24/2002 7:36:55 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Here is a rundown on the deal cut today by Germany and France on the EU expansion. I have bolded the budget and the amount that goes to farm aid. Absolutely astounding. France and Germany Clinch Landmark Deal to Enlarge E.U. By FT.COM STAFF France and Germany on Thursday night surprised their European partners when they clinched an unexpected agreement to limit agricultural spending in the European Union after 2006 - breaking a deadlock that threatened to jeopardise the enlargement of the union and cause the collapse of this week's Brussels summit. The deal, which caught diplomats by surprise, was made during a short meeting in Brussels between President Jacques Chirac of France and Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor. The deal is expected to cap future agricultural expenditure at current levels, taking inflation into account. It should now pave the way for all 15 EU countries to agree a common line on how to finance plans to take in 10 new members by 2004. Tony Blair, Britain's prime minister, was caught off balance by the deal, which could raise questions over the UK's annual budget rebate of ?3.2bn, up for renegotiation in 2006. The deal also marks a significant thaw in the previously troubled relationship between the leaders of France and Germany, traditionally seen as the motor of European integration. In recent years, Mr Chirac and Mr Schröder rarely agreed on many issues, particularly on agriculture which still accounts for nearly half of all the EU's ?92bn annual budget. On Thursday night both leaders, standing side by side, appeared united over enlargement. "We believe enlargement is an historic opportunity that should not be lost," Mr Schröder said. EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to hammer out a deal over how to finance enlargement. The key area of dispute is how much direct farm aid should be paid to farmers in the new member states, mostly former communist countries from eastern and central Europe. Mr Schröder said: "We will both take the position that phasing in [of direct farm aid] to acceding countries will start in 2004. From 2007, spending will be capped and will not increase beyond the rate of inflation up to 2013." Mr Chirac said it was "our joint will to control expenditure in all areas", including Britain's rebate. British diplomats insisted that the rebate, secured in 1984 by Margaret Thatcher, was non-negotiable but would be one of the issues on the table in 2006. The current EU budget, agreed in 1999 in Berlin, takes into account the costs of enlargement up until 2006, the end of the current budget. However, Germany, the EU's paymaster, supported by Sweden, Britain and the Netherlands, wanted some assurances that spending would be capped for the next budget period - from 2007-2013. nytimes.com