Vienna, 09/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Austrian Presidency is planning to have its first contact with the European Parliament over the EU Financial Perspectives for 2007-2013 in January, explained Chancellor Schussel at a press conference with Jose Manuel Barroso in Vienna on 9 January (see other article). Schussel said he didn't want to wait a long time. Asked by reporters about the outcome of the British Presidency, Wolfgang Schussel said it had had ended very well and without the personal commitment of Tony Blair and his courage to face criticism at home, there would probably not have been any Financial Perspectives.
The day before, at a press conference in Vienna with a group of European reporters, Austrian finance minister Karl-Heinz Grasser said the talks between the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission should be finalised in the next two or three months, by April at the latest. The European Parliament wants to see improvements to the 16 December European Council's budget deal, but Grasser said there was some space for negotiations but it was very limited.