Belgium starts its six months in the chair of the European Union on 1 July. It has made clear it wants to speed up moves towards a federal Europe, with more of the features of a continental super-state.

Belgian officials say they will not use the EU presidency to impose their will on others. But their agenda would move the union much closer towards a true political union, despite objections from Britain and some other member-states.

The proposals include:

• A new EU-wide direct tax on citizens, to replace the present national cash contributions

• Common energy and environmental taxes, along the lines of those already raised in Germany, to be agreed among as many member-states as possible

• Setting up "Eurojust" - a permanent unit of judges with cross-border powers of investigation. It would in time evolve into a judicial equivalent of Europol, to fight international crime and harmonise European law-enforcement procedures

• Pressing ahead boldly with enlargement of the EU into eastern Europe at the same time as "deepening" integration in more areas, especially social protection - that is workers' rights and welfare standards

• Drawing up a "concrete and ambitious" agenda by December, to guide a new debate on the future of Europe.

The debate is due to climax in a treaty-changing Inter-governmental Conference (IGC) in 2004. Belgian goals include:

• Turning the EU-approved Charter of Fundamental Rights into a legally binding document or perhaps a "constitution" for the whole EU

• Strengthening the powers of the European Commission, the unelected bureaucracy which the Belgians want to spearhead a fresh drive towards integration

• Giving the European parliament full powers over the EU budget and other areas of legislation

• Giving a role to national parliaments in exercising "democratic control" of EU institutions, to answer worries about a democratic deficit

In Brussels, government spokesman Alain Gerlache announced that a high-ranking panel of advisers will help the Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, to draw up a Laeken Declaration at the planned EU summit in Laeken, near Brussels, in December.