2006 budget: Section III, Commission

The Council held a conciliation meeting with a delegation from the European Parliament to examine the EU's draft general budget for 2006. Despite major progress in bringing positions closer together, representatives of the two institutions were unable to reach total agreement at this stage, and the Council postponed its second reading of the draft budget. The presidency indicated that it would reflect on how to take work forward with a view to bringing the conciliation to a successful conclusion and also enabling the Council to approve its second reading as soon as possible.