Brussels, 10/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - Foreign ministers meeting in General Affairs/External Relations Council on 16/17 November in Brussels are expected to invite the European Commission to prepare its opinion on Albania's request for membership, submitted on 28 April 2009. Diplomatic sources have confirmed that a consensus on this question should be noted by member states' ambassadors (Coreper) on Wednesday or Thursday before being formally approved by the Council next week. The decision, to be taken unanimously, was postponed on several occasions at the request of Germany which wanted to await the new government's inauguration before taking a stance on the dossier. During the last European Council in October, Chancellor Angela Merkel had also told the press that, after the recent decision by the German constitutional court on the Lisbon Treaty, its government preferred to consult the parliament in Berlin before giving its go-ahead to this new (albeit technical) stage of the EU enlargement process. (H.B./transl.jl)