MEPs considered the new-look British approach to EU affairs, when Tony Blair came to report on the outcome of the Cardiff Summit, and of the results of the British presidency.
Reform of the Common Agriculture Policy was also on the agenda, under pressure again from increased production, the imminent World Trade Organisation round, and the need to tailor EU policies to the future enlargement of the Union.
And Parliament elected an Irish Vice-President, Gerry Collins (UFE, Munster), the first for some years.