Brussels, 09/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - Ahead of the Conclave of foreign affairs ministers to be held next Sunday, and of the General Affairs Council to prepare for the European Council of 16 and 17 June, the United Kingdom is sticking to its guns on the forthcoming financial perspectives (it is worth noting that Jean-Claude Juncker, who will not make new proposals until the summit, is to meet Tony Blair on 14 June: see also A Look Behind The News). "It will be very difficult, but not impossible, to reach agreement", said a British diplomat on Wednesday, who insisted that the rebate enjoyed by his country should be kept without either being frozen or reduced, and that the financial perspectives should be reduced to 1% of Union GDP. "The British rebate is justified. As it is justified, people should not make it into an issu ", he said. Do we need agreement on the financial perspectives next week, in order to show that the EU is working as usual, despite the French and Dutch no votes on the Constitution? "It is important that we reach agreement, but no more so than two weeks ago, and just because it is important, we will not make concessions for the sole purpose of reaching agreement", the diplomat continued. The United Kingdom feels that in order to reach a budget capped at 1%, the cohesion and structural funds should be reduced, and "focused on the poorest Member States". The General Affairs Council will pave the way for the summit, but will not go into detail on the most difficult points, said the British diplomat, who does not believe that Sunday's Conclave will move things of very far forward either.
Speaking at a meeting held by the Centre for European policy studies (CEPS), Danish Permanent Representative Claus Grube said this week that the latest proposal from the Luxembourg Presidency struck him as "the best possible". If we have the political goodwill we need, we should be able to reach agreement at the European Council, which "would send out a very positive signal after the referendums" on the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands, he said. He feels that the priority should be given to "investments in the future, by which I mean research and education".