” “"Winter is behind us. We are at a thaw". Taking inspiration from weather, Austrian Chancellor describes the overall state of the European Union in the light of the agreement on the Financial Prospects for 2007/2013. "I agree with you – explains the current president of the EU Council to Gianni Borsa, Sir’s correspondent to Strasbourg we have to really prove that Europe can go on with this budget, by responding to the challenges that await us, to the citizens’ expectations and by putting in place all these EU programs and policies. That’s the only way to make integration move along. However, I think this budget will be adequate if we manage to create some interaction between the actions of the EU and those of the member states. This applies to energy, agriculture, infrastructure, culture …". A far-ranging position is also the one of the president of the Commission, Barroso, who states: "This budget is definitely less than the one we had originally asked for, but some trade-off was essential between the three EU institutions and all member states had to be persuaded. And this is what we did". "I am sure adds Barroso to Sir it is a good agreement, partly because, compared with the earlier budget, we find an increase in all of the expense items. I was a bit worried about the plans for citizenship, those for the new member states and those for research and innovation. But we have made some significant steps forward".” “
