Brussels, 21/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Finance Ministers of EU Member States continued their work until late on Tuesday 21 November with a view to finalising the second reading of the draft budget for 2007. During the evening, the Ecofin Council sought to convince the EP delegation that it should accept an ambitious allocation for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) by way of €160 million (commitment appropriations) and €120 million (payment appropriations), given, in particular, the EU's mission foreseen in Kosovo (EUROPE 9310). In parallel to these discussions, the EP spared no effort to conclude an agreement with the Council on amending the financial regulation. On the subject of payment appropriations, the EP had every hope of obtaining an amount that would just exceed 1% of EU GNI, i.e. around €116 billion. The Council showed greater rigour (0.98% of GNI, i.e. €114.3 billion). We recall that the Commission had proposed 0.99%. Finally, the Finnish Council Presidency put back on the table its proposal backed by a number of Member States aimed at doing away with some officials' posts, especially at the Commission. This strategy was highly criticised by the Commission and did not receive much support from the EP. (lc)