11/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 12 April, the European Commission is due to adopt a draft amending budget for money not spent in 2005 and which has to be repaid to Member States through reductions in their contributions to the 2006 budget. According to the draft, the 2005 surplus is only 2.4 billion euro, compared with 2.7 billion euro in 2005 (and this was the lowest budget surplus since 1997). The two branches of the budgetary authority are expected quickly to adopt the draft amending budget (No. 2/2006), which shows the improvement in budget management since the new financial regulation came into force in 2003.