The mid-term review of Agenda 2000, enlargement and the World Trade Organisation negotiations loom large. Following the decision by the European Union Heads of Government at the European Council in Brussels on 24 and 25 October on the budgetary allocations in the enlarged Union, some of the major questions about the future of the common agricultural policy have been resolved satisfactorily. The European Council decided that in the short term, funding for the CAP in existing member states in the period to the end of 2006 will remain as agreed in Berlin under Agenda 2000. The costs of implementing the CAP in the new member states, including the costs of the phasing in of direct payments, will be provided separately as was also envisaged in Agenda 2000.