Paying for an Enlarged European Union

After the launch of the euro, the European Union is facing critical decisions about its future budget: how it raises the money it spends, what to spend it on, and where to spend it. The negotiations are complex and highly controversial. This new report from the Federal Trust sets out the issues involved and proposes solutions. Charles Jenkins, the author of the report, is the distinguished European editor of the Economist Intelligence Unit. The essential contradictions in the assembled positions of the member states are exposeed, The report suggests that the prospects of enlarging the Union will be damaged if existing states do not show more flexibility. All must make concessions in the interest of the Union as a whole. Jenkins argues the the United Kingdom should show williongness to compromise on its rebate in exchange for concessions by other states, not least in agricultural reform. This report is a short but incisive guide to the Agenda 2000 debate, to the issues which will dominate the European Council in Berlin, and to the Union's prospects of further enlargement.