Kyösti Tapio Virrankoski (ALDE). – (FI) Madam President, first I would like to thank everyone for their amicable approach. The Council’s 2006 draft budget is based on payment appropriations amounting to 1.01% of the EU’s Gross National Income, which is to say approximately a billion euros above the 1% limit. This, moreover, was achieved by cutting expenditure by half a billion euros as a matter of course. As the new Member States are only just starting to become involved in the EU budget, the Council’s proposal shows that the 1% ceiling for expenditure, as suggested by certain states, will be impossible to put into effect. The 2006 budget will be the last to be drafted with reference to the current financial perspective. Unless a new financial perspective is established, the institutions will find themselves in a situation in which there is no agreement between them, and that would lead to total economic uncertainty and stagnation in the EU.