Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy

57.The European Council considers that the Commission's proposals constitute a basis for the continued reform envisaged at its meeting in Luxembourg in December 1997.It welcomes the progress made in the examination of the proposals.

58. In line with the overall timetable for Agenda 2000, the negotiations on key elements of the reform should take into account the need to achieve economically sound solutions and be based on the conclusions agreed by the Agriculture Council on 26 May 1998.

Reform of the Structural and Cohesion Funds

59.The European Council has taken note of the Council report on the progress made in examining the Commission's proposals for reforming the structural and cohesion funds in the light of experience and future needs.

Timetable

60.The European Council welcomes the readiness of the European Parliament and the Council to ensure a thorough consideration of the Agenda 2000 proposals in time to achieve their final adoption before the next European Parliamentary elections in June 1999.The Council for its part should now intensify its work.Substantial progress should be made at the Vienna European Council on the key elements of the package so that political agreement can be reached on the package as a whole no later than March 1999.

THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

61.The European Council held a wide-ranging discussion about the future development of the European Union, against the background of the important policy developments during the past year:

the Amsterdam Treaty, the launch of EMU and of the enlargement negotiations, economic reform and the Employment Action Plans, the intensified cooperation in the fight against organised crime.It agreed on the following points:

The first priority is the ratification of the Amsterdam Treaty,

Once the Treaty is ratified, an early decision will be required on how and when to tackle the institutional issues not resolved at Amsterdam,

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