Brussels, 09/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - In addition to its debate on Serbia and the Middle East (see pages 5/6 of this bulletin), the General Affairs Council authorized the European Commission to negotiate with the third countries concerned the "first come, first served" formula for banana imports. EUROPE recalls that Ecuador has accepted this formula (under certain conditions) but the other Latin American countries have rejected it, as has the United States. The Council then adopted "conclusions" on the effectiveness of the EU external action and had an exchange of views on other topics. EUROPE will report on this tomorrow.