Ved udarbejdelsen af budgetforslaget anlagde Rådet en overordnet synsvinkel, hvor man holdt fast i disse grundprincipper, men samtidig stræbte mod at sikre en tilstrækkelig og realistisk finansiering af EU 's forskellige budgetprioriteringer.
Secondly, Council gave particular attention to complying with the annual expenditure ceiling set by the current Financial Perspective and to leaving adequate margins below the ceilings – where possible – so that there is some room to finance unforeseen events during 2006.