Brussels, 11/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU foreign ministers are not expected to take any decisions on extending sanctions against Russia when they meet on Monday 14 December.
“It's still possible but unlikely now”, said a top European official, who opined that the Council was coming “too soon”. Another diplomatic source said that the issue could be discussed at the meeting of national ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on Wednesday 16 December. The official did not rule out that the matter might be discussed at a ministerial meeting after the European Council on 17-18 December. Current EU sanctions run until 31 January. Several sources have indicated that the issue is not, for the moment at least, on the agenda for the European Council. Given the importance of the matter, Italy did not want the extension of sanctions simply to be rubber-stamped. In this, it received the support of Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Friday. “Automatically extending (the sanctions) without assessing how the Minsk agreements are being implemented is not the way I see it”, he said at a press conference.
Ministers will, however, discuss the situation in the eastern partners, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. This discussion was initially scheduled for the November Council but was postponed for lack of time.
Southern neighbourhood on Council agenda. The Council will then turn to combatting terrorism, an issue to be discussed at the European Council on 17-18 December. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini could take stock of European action in this area from a joint foreign policy point of view.
Ministers will be joined over lunch by their Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavusoglu. They will discuss Syria, Iraq, Libya and the fight against terrorism. “Lunch is about discussions on regional crises and not about bilateral relations. Anything to do with 29 November (EU-Turkey summit on migration, see EUROPE 11441) is not up for discussion”, warned a diplomatic source.
The new United Nations Special Representative for Libya, Martin Kobler, will then attend a discussion on the situation in that country. According to a diplomatic source, the nature of this discussion will be dependent on the outcome of the international conference on Libya, to be held in Rome on 13 December, the aim of which is to make progress on forming a government of national unity. If the direction of travel of the conference is sufficiently clear, the Council could adopt conclusions, according to this source, who also made clear that, for the time being, any decision adopting sanctions against Libyans acting to the detriment of political transition (“spoilers”) had been voluntarily suspended, though the technical work has been completed.
Ministers will conclude their discussions with an exchange on Iraq and are likely to adopt conclusions. The debate will cover the latest developments on the ground, how the EU can support the country's reform programme and national reconciliation, and combatting Islamic State.
Conclusions on the revised neighbourhood policy will be adopted. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)