Brussels, 10/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - The agenda of the General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Monday 13 September under the chairmanship of Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere will comprise only two items, but they will be substantial.
1) Preparation of the European Council of 16 September (see article above). This one-day summit, beginning at 10.00am and scheduled to end at 4.30pm, will debate two specific issues. In the morning, and exceptionally with Catherine Ashton and foreign ministers present, European leaders will discuss EU relations with its seven strategic partners: the United States, Russia, China, India, Brazil, Canada and Japan. Discussion is likely, however, to focus on China. It will also address multilateralism and ways of increasing the EU's role in the G20 and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The European Council will also agree on guidelines for the preparation of the important summits taking place before the end of the year, with China, South Korea, the United States, India and Russia. Over lunch, the heads of state and government (unaccompanied this time) will take stock of progress made by the taskforce on economic governance which is chaired by Herman Van Rompuy.
2) Preparation of the European Council of 28-29 October. This summit will concentrate on economic governance (Van Rompuy's taskforce will submit its final report), regulation of financial services, definition of the EU's position for the G20 summit (in Seoul on 11-12 November), climate change (preparation of the Cancún conference which begins on 29 November) and relations with the United States (preparation of the 20 November summit). (H.B./transl.rt)