Europa-Parlamentets betænkning om retningslinjerne for 1999-budgettet er udarbejdet i et diplomatisk sprog, hvor man forsøger at skjule de to vigtigste modsætninger, nemlig strukturfondene og den fælles mønt, for slet ikke at tale om udvidelsen, der vil komme senere.
The European Parliament report on the guidelines for the forthcoming 1999 budget is written in diplomatic language and is at pains to mask the two major contradictions which need to be addressed, that of the Structural Funds and that of the single currency, not to mention the question of enlargement which will come later.