Brussels / Strasbourg, 20/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - The three wise persons appointed by the European Court of Human Rights to assess the respect of the EU's "common values" by the Austrian Government, met for the first time in Helsinki on Thursday. The former Spanish Minister and European Commissioner Marcelino Oreja, the Director of the Institute of Comparative Public Law of Heidelburg, Jochen Frowein and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari met in the afternoon for an initial contact, Marcelino Oreja told the press, without setting out their agenda. Work will continue in August. The three wise persons responsible for drawing up a report that will serve to assess the lifting of the bilateral sanctions by 14 Member States (see EUROPE of 1 February), are not held to a specific deadline but could hand in an interim report in September, Professor Frowein declared to News magazine.