Brussels, 20/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The negotiations of the intergovernmental conference on reform of the institutions resumes on Monday, 23 October, at the level of the Vimont Group. After an initial examination of the dossier at the level of Heads of State and Government of the European Union, in Biarritz on 13 and 14 October (see Special Edition of 15 October on the informal summit), the personal representatives of the foreign ministers of the Fifteen will take up the task again, tackling essentially three subjects: extension of qualified majority vote to Council, enhanced cooperation between some Member States and reform of Article 7 (on violation of the EU's fundamental values by a Member State).
The French Presidency will submit to its partners a new document on qualified majority, mainly covering particularly tricky subjects such as: taxation (Article 93 of the Treaty), social policy (Articles 42 and 137) and measures against discrimination (Article 13). Common trade policy (Article 133) and provisions regarding visas, asylum and immigration (Title VI of the Treaty), which are also among the most sensitive subjects, will be tackled on 30 October. Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin have already pointed out, with a report to the National Assembly on the Biarritz Summit, that they did not wish to bring the date of 2004 forward, a date set out in the Treaty of Amsterdam for transition to qualified majority on matters of asylum and immigration, and that they would not give way on cultural exception for audiovisual policy.
The Vimont Group will, moreover, attempt to specify the conditions for implementing enhanced cooperation. The Presidency contemplates, on the basis of an Italian-German proposal (see EUROPE/Documents No 2215, annexed to the Special Edition) on this subject, a minimum of 8 Member States for implementation of such cooperation in the 1st pillar, and 3 or 4 States in the field of common foreign and security policy.
On Article 7, the delegations must finally specify their positions on the different stages of the procedure envisaged for noting risk of violation, then of violation itself, of the fundamental values of the Union by a Member State.