Brussels, 21/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - Alongside the discussions at the ECOFIN Council this Tuesday about the situation in Argentina, the launch of a bank for Mediterranean countries and the Lamfalussy report (see EUROPE of 19 January, p.8), a handful of Member States (including France and Germany) will be asking the European Commission for permission to examine "in detail" the document it will be adopting on 30 January 2002 on the funding of enlargement. The countries want to carry out an "expert study" of the report to use as a basis for discussions before the text is turned into draft common positions. France and Germany are particularly concerned because 1) going by the Commission's note, the contents of the draft common positions would put both the Commission and the Member States in a delicate situation where there would be nothing left to negotiate; and 2) with the pressure of negotiations speeding up, the Commission would miss out on the real issues. The ECOFIN Council would like to get access to the document in order to check whether it is compatible with the Berlin financial perspectives agreement.