This booklet, published for the general public by the Commission in 2000, sets out the financing of the European Union, the use of the Community budget, the budgetary procedure and the way in which the EU ensures the proper and efficient management of expenditure.

Volume I of the European Commission Communication of 16 July 1997 entitled Agenda 2000: for a stronger and wider Union.

Volume II of the Communication Agenda 2000, presented on 16 July 1997 by the European Commission, relating to the reinforcement of the pre-accession strategy.

On 16 July 1997, the European Commission delivers its opinion on the applications for accession to the European Union in its Communication Agenda 2000, which gives the summaries and conclusions of these opinions.

On 17 July 1997, the Madrid-based daily newspaper El País fears that Agenda 2000 is too closely based on past European policies and does not correspond with the reality of Europe’s future.

On 18 July 1997, the French daily newspaper Le Monde criticises the lack of ambition in the European Commission’s work programme entitled ‘Agenda 2000’.

In September 1997, the journal Revue du Marché Commun et de l’Union Européenne examines the impact of the enlargement of the European Union on Agenda 2000.

On 30 October 1997, the Economic and Social Committee publishes its Opinion on the Communication from the Commission entitled ‘Agenda 2000’.

On 6 November 1997, on behalf of the Delegation of the French National Assembly to the European Union, which he heads, Henri Nallet, Socialist MP, submits to his fellow MPs a detailed report on Agenda 2000.

In November 1997, Pierluigi Castagnetti, MEP and Head of the Italian Delegation of the European People’s Party (PPE) in the European Parliament, considers the provisions of Agenda 2000.

On 10 December 1997, following an appeal by the French National Federation of Agricultural Workers’ Trade Unions (FNSEA) and National Centre for Young Farmers (CNJA), several thousand farmers take to the streets of Valence, Drôme, to protest against the proposed reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) included in Agenda 2000 (the ‘Santer Package’).

On 26 March 1999, at the Berlin European Council, the Fifteen adopt Agenda 2000, which establishes an action programme relating to the internal operation of the European Union, to the introduction of a new financial framework, to a reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and to the pre-accession process for the applicant countries before the enlargement of the EU.

In 1999, Hanel, German cartoonist, depicts Agenda 2000 as an obstacle to the continuation of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 10 February 1999, German farmers protest in front of the European Parliament buildings in Strasbourg in order to condemn the nature of Agenda 2000, which they judge to be too bureaucratic, and to protest against the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) being prepared by the European Commission. (Protest placards read: ‘Agenda 2000 — Not like this! Nothing in sight but bureaucracy.’)

On 26 February 1999, in Bonn, on the margins of the informal summit of Heads of State or Government of the Fifteen, German farmers protest against the agricultural reforms provided for by Agenda 2000.

On 24 March 1999, Peter Hartmann, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in Paris, comments on the issue of the financing of the European Union and emphasises the implications of Agenda 2000.

On 23 March 1999, commenting on the implications of the Berlin European Council of 24 and 25 March, the British daily newspaper The Guardian outlines the efforts of the German and British Governments to secure a political agreement on the rebate on the British contribution to the Community budget.

On 24 March 1999, at the height of the crisis in the European Commission, the French daily newspaper Libération considers the key issue at stake at the Berlin European Council, namely the adoption of Agenda 2000.

On 24 March 1999, on the margins of the Extraordinary European Council devoted to the financial framework for the common agricultural policy (CAP), thousands of German farmers demonstrate on the streets of Berlin against the agricultural reform measures set out in Agenda 2000.

At the end of the extraordinary meeting of the European Council held on 24 and 25 March 1999 in Berlin, the Heads of State or Government of the fifteen Member States of the European Union endorse the implementation of the new common agricultural policy (CAP) and the financial perspective relating to Agenda 2000.

On 26 March 1999, the Madrid-based daily newspaper El País reports on the negotiations between the 15 Member States of the European Union at the Berlin European Council on 24 and 25 March 1999. After lengthy, difficult discussions over Agenda 2000, the Fifteen reach an ‘overall compromise’.

On 26 March 1999, the British daily newspaper The Guardian comments on British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s fight at the Berlin European Council of 24 and 25 March to maintain the rebate granted to the United Kingdom in the financing of the Community budget.

On 26 March 1999, following the Extraordinary European Council held in Berlin, Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic, and Pierre Moscovici, French Minister for European Affairs, hold a press conference in which they review the negotiations between the Fifteen with particular regard to Agenda 2000.

On 27 March 1999, with reference to the Berlin Summit, the French daily newspaper Le Monde welcomes the Fifteen’s adoption of the proposals put forward by the European Commission for the implementation of Agenda 2000, which lays down the EU’s financial framework for 2000–2006.

In this interview, Pierre Moscovici, Minister for European Affairs in the French Foreign Ministry from 1997 to 2002, criticises the outcome of the Berlin European Council held on 24 and 25 March 1999 at which Agenda 2000 was adopted, an action programme relating to the internal operation of the European Union, the establishment of a new financial framework, the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and the pre-accession strategy for the applicant countries before the fifth enlargement of the EU.

Interinstitutionelle Vereinbarung vom 6. Mai 1999 zwischen dem Europäischen Parlament, dem Rat und der Kommission über die Haushaltsdisziplin und die Verbesserung des Haushaltsverfahrens.

On 26 November 2003, Noëlle Lenoir, French Minister for European Affairs, submits to the Senate in Paris the draft European Union budget for 2004 and outlines its impact on the French national budget.

On 25 October 2004, Claudie Haigneré, French Minister for European Affairs, submits to the National Assembly the proposal for France’s contribution to the European Union budget for 2005.