And it is making a mess of privatisation, one of the last big items in the reform programme.
Paper, currently the biggest item in the waste stream, will ultimately be replaced, too, in coming decades, Dr. Walsh said, by more economic digital technologies.
Discontent will fester and spread, perhaps even among some in the armed forces which, although the biggest item in the government's budget, are already facing cutbacks.
And few people, certainly not Mr Scharping, deny that, with debt-servicing now the second biggest item in the federal budget, the state badly needs to chop its spending.
The infamous CAP or Common Agricultural Policy, hated by the British but entrenched by the French as the key lever in EU spending long before the UK joined what became the union 40 years ago, is by far the biggest item in the budget, comprising just over one third of spending last year, or €49.3bn.
Mr Saakashvili hopes Georgia will receive a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the Bucharest summit in April 2008, thereby giving the country a roadmap for accession to the Atlantic Alliance.Defence has been a priority for Mr Saakashvili since coming to power in late 2003: it is the single biggest item in the state budget, accounting for 22% of spending and 7% of GDP.
With debt servicing now the biggest item in the budget after labour and social affairs, with few valuable state assets left to sell, and with the need to respect the toughish debt criteria for countries that have adopted Europe's single currency, the government faces overwhelming pressure to show thrift.Mr Eichel, for one, realises this cannot be a one-off effort.
Regional aid - known as "cohesion" funds - is the next biggest item in the EU budget, getting 47bn euros.
The CAP is the biggest item in the EU budget, followed by "Cohesion" spending - grants to develop the EU's poorest regions.
