Brussels, 15/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - As we reported earlier, after the official opening of the Intergovernmental Conference on EU institutional reform (see yesterday's EUROPE, pages 5 and 6), the Preparatory Group for the IGC chaired by Secretary of State for European Affairs Francisco Seixas da Costa held a first meeting on Tuesday evening in Brussels. The representatives of the ministers within the Group are largely Permanent Representatives of Member States in Brussels, except for those from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece and Ireland (see EUROPE of 11 February, p.4). Ireland this week chose as its representative to the Group Noel Dorr, who had already been one of the negotiators for the Amsterdam Treaty. Belgium, on the other hand, has not yet made its choice, although this is imminent. In the meantime, the role is carried out by its Permanent Representative Ambassador Frans van Daele.
We recall that European Commissioner Michel Barnier and MEPs Elmar Brok and Dimitri Tsatsos will also be taking part in the work of the Group.