FOREWORD

On April 18th 2002, Notre Europe and the European Policy Centre organised a meeting in Brussels of around 20 experts to look at the current state of discussion on the budgetary perspectives of an enlarged Union.

Although rich in ideas, the debate was obviously not conclusive and the departure of its organisers led us to postpone the publication of the meeting report. The agreements of Brussels and Copenhagen at the end of 2002 brought a new dimension to these budgetary questions and may have made the material of the April seminar obsolete.

Marjorie Jouen agreed to study this material and bring it up to date in the light of the Brussels and Copenhagen European Council meetings. She comes to the strong conclusion that, in a context unsettled by the conclusion of the negotiations with the candidate countries, the modifications of the budgetary context create the conditions for what she calls a big bang. While this conclusion does not in any way engage the other participants of the seminar, it is sufficiently well argued to interest Notre Europe’s readers.

It is in this spirit that we publish today this discussion paper, along with the introductory note of the seminar, to which it refers, by Lluis Navarro.