Brussels, 15/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, Ministers adopted, without debate, the decisions on the adjustment and revision of the financial perspectives for 2004-2006 for the accommodation of the ten new Member States in May 2004. Only Belgium has voted against these papers, which consist of the agreement obtained with difficulty between the Council and the Parliament on the problem of the inclusion in the budgetary decisions adopted during the European Council of Copenhagen (see details in EUROPE 10 April 2003, p 4 and 9 April p 9). A gradual increase of loans are planned in a section three on internal policies (EUR 50 million in 2004, EUR 190 in 2005 and EUR 240 million in 2006 according to 1999 rates). Aid to Turkey, as a candidate country, will be funded in the future, the same for assistance to Romania and Bulgaria via loans in section seven on financial perspectives, entitled "Pre-accession Strategy".
The Council has approved a declaration in which it indicates that the amounts figuring in the annex of the accession treaty will not harm the interests of the EP or the interinstitutional agreement of May 1999 on discipline and budgetary procedures.