The Ministers held an exchange of views at an informal meeting ("conclave") on 12 June on a negotiating box drawn up by the Presidency with a view to the establishment of a financial perspective for the European Union for the period 2007-13.
The third version of the document, which was circulated on 2 June, gives more precise indications of amounts by category of expenditure and an outline of a proposal concerning the EU's own resources. The Presidency's intention is to reach agreement on the new financial framework at the European Council meeting on 16 and 17 June 2005.
In order to do so, the Presidency is holding bilateral talks with the Member States, at Head of State or Government level, which will go on until 14 June. It proposes to make the final adjustments to the negotiating box in the light of those talks.