Every year the timetable slipped by another year.
He said that if the timetable slipped the referendum would be delayed and could take place "later" than September.
Seeing that many foreign experts have been frightened away, engineers from Saddam Hussein's old army may, for instance, be the only people able to keep electricity plants running as the baking summer approaches.But this must not mean letting the timetable slip.
It includes another €11.5 billion of spending cuts, along with unpopular structural measures: pensions will shrink again and thousands of public-sector workers will become sackable.IMF officials have warned that if the reform timetable slips, Greece will not receive its next round of funding.
But the aircraft has already been delayed and few people would be surprised if that timetable slipped further.
For a start, agriculture is not the only issue on which the timetable has slipped.
If the new members are seen as spendthrifts, the timetable could slip.
But American officials cautioned that the timetable could slip if security remained poor or if the insurgents proved resilient.
With so much bargaining to be done, the timetable may slip, and a deal might not come till 2006.
