Brussels, 31/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - "The intention" of the Portuguese Presidency is, in its report for the European Council of Feira on institutional reform, to propose that closer cooperation be included in the agenda of the IGC, as this will be "essential" for the future, Portuguese State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fancisco Seixas da Costa told the press Tuesday evening on the occasion of the meeting of the Preparatory Group for the Intergovernmental Conference that he chairs (which was devoted to the size and composition of the European Commission and the weighting of votes in Council). "It will be an essential topic in Feira", he believes, adding that, "in our opinion", it may be taken for granted that the IGC will be broadened to the question of closer cooperation. Our exchanges of views on the subject have had "interesting results", Mr. Seixas da Costa remarked, while acknowledging that certain countries have difficulties in admitting the facilitation of closer cooperation in the first pillar (for fear of jeopardising the internal market), and others in the second (in particular due to their "specific culture regarding security"). But "there is already a movement that should allow us to make decisions in Feira", said Seixas da Costa, observing "a very clear evolution", among several Member States, and stressing that the prospect of the Union's "future diversity" was a "major reason justifying recourse to differentiated integration" (according to the term used by Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini: Ed.).
Mr. Seixas da Costa said that the report for the Feira Summit on the IGC would have two parts: - the first will be "a photo" of the positions present, with options; - the second will comprise concrete proposals for amendments in "almost all fields, except possibly today's" (Commission and weighting of votes). As for the extension of qualified majority voting, Seixas da Costa again stated that "none of the work accomplished by the IGC would have much sense" if there were no "substantial breakthrough" in that field. But no Member State is prepared to made "midway compromises", he stressed, recalling that that had also been the case during the Italian and Irish presidencies that had preceded the Dutch presidency that had ended negotiations in Amsterdam. The Presidency's report will take account of this situation "in its own reading", and the Presidency "will assume its responsibilities" and present a list in Feira of articles that could, it believes, move to qualified majority voting", Mr. Seixas da Costa stated. He then remarked: one has not to forget that "in people's heads", when they examine articles for which unanimity could be dropped, there are always other concerns, like that of the weighting of votes in Council. This will no doubt not please the European Parliament, but there are also countries that hesitate to broaden qualified majority voting in certain fields because they reject an automatic link with the introduction of co-decision in these fields, the Portuguese State Secretary added. In addition, he made a point of recalling that, in this exercise on qualified majority voting, the Presidency was trying introduce clarity on certain points where the treaty is ambiguous: we have made an effort regarding taxation, the social aspect and the environment, as well as regarding justice and home affairs, and Article 308 (former Article 235), he observed.
As for the subjects dealt with on Tuesday: - the Commission and the weighting in votes - Mr. Seixas da Costa acknowledged that the positions remain practically the same, and said that the Presidency had presented two documents on these issues (to which we shall return) trying to define the "political parameters". Stances are "very far apart", he repeated. And he announced that next week's meeting of the Preparatory Group (6 June: Ed.) would be discussing issues linked to external relations, especially the WTO. On that occasion, we shall also discuss the Belgian proposal of amending Article 7 of the Treaty, he added.
As to whether there had been a block on the IGC on the part of Austria, Mr. Seixas da Costa replied that so far there had been nothing to indicate "Austria's will to create problems": its participation in the IGC is "totally normal", and "the rule followed by the Presidency is not to create any problem for Austrian participation, in any of the working dimensions of the EU", stressed Seixas da Costa.
Finally, the Portuguese State Presidency, who on 5 June will brief the candidate countries on the unfolding of the IGC (this will be the first meeting of its type at ministerial level, he stipulated), said that on that occasion, he would also want to know the "feeling" of the latter, so that the Presidency's report for Feira can also "express this feeling in some way", even if the candidates are "outside the Conference".