Brussels, 21/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - As there was no quorum, the General Affairs Council (GAC) was not able to decide by qualified majority, on Monday, whether to proceed to the rationalisation of Council formations. The issue will be back on the GAC table during a later session. The lack of quorum noted by the Portuguese Presidency shows, of course, that there are persistent difficulties. Thus, the Netherlands recalled that the European Council had foreseen reducing the Council formations to 15, while the draft decision on the table was for 16. The Dutch delegation recommended that the question should again be put to the heads of state and government at the extraordinary summit of Lisbon. To this must be added the fact that some Member States encounter difficulties with the groupings foreseen, which do not always coincide with the breakdown of ministerial powers prevailing at national level. Finally, Sweden and Belgium pointed out that the new breakdown envisaged would pose certain problems for them in the organisation of their upcoming Council Presidencies, as the planning of ministerial sessions during the 1st and 2nd halves of 2001 are largely taken up. In order to circumvent Dutch objections, Mr Gama proposed a compromise whereby the 16 Council formations would be maintained, each future Presidency nonetheless pledging to convene no more than fifteen.