Brussels, 16/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The preparation of the Stockholm European Council and the meeting with the Russian President, Valdimir Putin, and his Minister for Foreign Affairs, Igor Ivanov, on the sidelines of the Summit, will take up a major part of the works of the General Affairs Council on Monday 19 March in Brussels, under the Presidency of Anna Lindh, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Ministers should also discuss the preparation of the European civilian intervention force, confirm their position concerning human rights in China and listen to the report by Anna Lindh on the results of the visit by the European Troika to the Middle East. The Troika should also meet, on the sidelines of the Council, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Sergjan Kerim (see below). Below are the main issue of the agenda:
Preparation of the Stockholm Summit: As co-ordinator for the works of the Summit, the General Affairs Council will carry out a final fine tuning of the follow-up works to the Lisbon, Feira and Nice Summits, and will examine the list of numerous reports that will be submitted to the Stockholm European Council. The Ministers will also specify the European positions over economic and trade issues that will be discussed during the meeting with Vladimir Putin, in particular issues of: 1) Russian accession to the WTO; 2) bilateral trade disputes; 3) possibilities of allowing the European Investment Bank to grant loans to Russia, for selected projects, in the environmental sector for one (see EUROPE of 8 March, p.11). The Council, on Monday, taking note of the "immediate reinforcement" of the EU monitoring mission (EUMM) in South Eastern Serbia, approved, this Friday, by the EU Political and Security Committee (COPS). The High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana, who had proposes such a reinforcement, said that he hoped that "this decision would contribute towards confidence building in the region, support the recently agreed cease-fire and assist in the creation of a climate for negotiation on a lasting political settlement".
European security and defence policy: In view of the report that should be submitted to the Gothenburg Summit, next June, on crisis management, the Ministers will discuss one of the four elements of crisis management: the mobilisation of police forces. The Swedish President sent a letter to the Member States inviting them to specify their undertakings: a conference of European police forces will meet on 10 May, and this will be the opportunity for the Member States to assess the progress accomplished until now and to being implementing the necessary follow-up to achieve the objectives, write the Swedish Ministers for Justice, Thomas Bodstrom and Foreign Affairs, Anna Lindh. The Presidency recalls that the targets set during the Feira summit are to deploy, as of 2003, 5,000 police officers for international missions, of which 1,000 within one month. The contributions are voluntary underlines the Presidency. The issue was already raised during the Justice/Home Affairs Council by the European Parliament (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.4).
Balkans: The Minister should adopt conclusions, following the recent events in the region. The High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana will present a interim report on the EU action in southern Serbia (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.6).
Middle East: Anna Lindh, Chris Patten and Miguel Angel Moratinos, will discuss their meeting with the President of the Palestinian Authority, Arafat, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres (see EUROPE of 15 March, p.13 and of yesterday, p.12). Javier Solana will explain the aims of his visit to the region from the 20 March, in the framework of the "Mitchell Committee" responsible for identifying the causes for the return of violence after the visit by Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount.
Human rights: The Ministers will specify their position for the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Commission that will begin its works on 19 March, in Geneva. The main issue, underline sources of the Swedish Presidency, will be to decide whether the European Union position concerning China should be made public. In fact the Council should confirm that it will not co-sponsor the resolution presented by the United States on human rights in China (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.6). The Ministers will also specify the European position concerning other issues on the UN agenda: human rights in Columbia, Burma, Chechnya, etc. The Council will also discuss the EU Conference on human rights in the context of conflict prevention and resolution, organised by the Presidency next 28 and 29 March.
Access to documents: over lunch, ministers will turn to ongoing discussions with Parliament on public access to documents..
Cabinda (Angola): at Portugal's request, the Council will discuss the problem of the 10 Portuguese hostages held by guerrillas in the region of Cabinda in Angola.
EU/South Korea: the ratification process over, the Council should, without discussion, approve the cooperation framework-agreement signed in 1996.
Ethiopia/Eritrea: the Council should extend the common position decreeing an arms embargo, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1298.
Fyrom: Presidency suggests a Troika trip to Skopje to report to the Stockholm Summit
The Swedish Presidency has made a series of suggestions for talks in Council on the crisis in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: in particular, a Troika at political director level should go to Skopje immediately after Monday's Council meeting, and then report to the Stockholm Summit on 23 March. The signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, on the fringe of the General Affairs Council, of 9 April (Prime Minister Georgievski will be present, with Foreign Minister Kerim) will be an opportunity to demonstrated the "EU's deep commitment" to Fyrom, says the Presidency, proposing a series of measures to take in the immediate future, including: - frequent contacts with the government in Skopje (which would be encouraged to develop the rights of minorities and their presence in official structures, especially in the police force, and strengthening the role of the Albanian language), as well as a high-level dialogue with moderate Albanian leaders in Fyrom (notably, Arben Xhaferi); - support for the strengthening of the OSCE mission in Fyrom, and especially its plan to improve local self-government; - possible technical assistance to the imminent census scheduled in Fyrom; - later EU financial assistance for Fyrom, placing emphasis on the western, less developed, part of the country and on improving the situation of the Albanian minority (in particular, with the backing of the Stability Pact, infrastructure projects creators of jobs could be accelerated), on the University of South Eastern Europe in Tetovo, and on technical assistance to border management and control.
In a telephone conversation with President Trajkovski on Thursday, European Commissioner Chris Patten reaffirmed the Commission's support for Fyrom faced with the recent escalation of violence, and recalled the Commission's financial support already provided to the University of Tetovo (5 million euro) and its readiness to back border management projects.
Speaking to the press on Friday, the moderate Kosovar leader Ibrahim Rugova appealed at the same time to Albanians to cease their "armed actions" in Macedonia, and to the government in Skopje to "listen to the demands" of the Albanians. Otherwise, he said, "I fear a very steep escalation of violence".