Brussels, 08/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Union Foreign Ministers are to meet, on Monday in Luxembourg, for the last session of the General Affairs Council before the EU/United States summit and the European Council to be held on 14, 15 and 16 June in Gothenburg. The formal meeting of this Council of an "intermediary" kind should end quite early at the end of the afternoon to leave room for the ministerial negotiating conferences with candidate countries that are to continue on Tuesday. It should be noted that the president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, will give a press conference around midday on the fringe of the ministerial meeting on the European Council in Gothenburg. The following points are on the agenda:
Balkans: High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana is to brief ministers on the latest developments in Macedonia (where he was on visit on Friday and Saturday), and on his talks with President Boris Trajkovski and other political officials of the FYROM. The Council is expected to adopt conclusions confirming the EU's stance in this connection. It should also approve a report on the process of stabilisation and accession as well as a document on the Union's priorities in the context of the Stability Pact for South East Europe.
Middle East: The situation in the Middle East will be discussed over lunch. Prior to this, the ministers will hold a brief meeting with the Palestinian minister for international cooperation, Nabil Shaath. After lunch, they will meet Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. During the working lunch, Mr Solana will take stock of his visit to the region with Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson and the talks that they will have held, on Sunday in Cairo, with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, President of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
EU/United States Summit: This point will also be discussed over lunch, thus stressing, as one diplomat remarked, that this kind of meeting remains fully managed by the Presidency and the European Commission, which is detrimental to the Union's capacity to present the common front needed to tackle certain essential issues. Points on the agenda summit include: - the situation in the Western Balkans; - the Middle East; - North Korea (the Bush Administration hopes to announce that it plans to resume negotiations with Pyongyang; - access to medicinal products and the fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa; - climate change (and the Kyoto Protocol); - and WTO and several issues related to bilateral trade (including no doubt the recent US decision on steel: see EUROPE of 7 June, p.9). The summit will essentially consist of a working lunch following by a brief sitting at the level of the Troika. A working dinner is scheduled for 14 June with all Fifteen.
We recall that the EU/United States Summit will be preceded, on 13 June in Brussels, by a meeting between Bush and the NATO Heads of State and Government which, it is hoped, will mainly result in an agreement on the part of Turkey on the availability of Atlantic Alliance means and assets for EU-led peace operations.
Preparation of the European Council in Gothenburg: The Council will hold a policy debate on sustainable development. The Presidency will present the report that it will submit to the European Council on the future of Europe. The Council, moreover, is also expected to approve a report by the Presidency on the state of progress of work concerning European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and the mandate to give to the future Belgian President in this connection. This draft report also comprises annexes on the civilian aspects of crisis management (action plan on policing; Union cooperation with international organisations; contributions by third states to police missions; and concrete goals for the civilian aspects of crisis management). The Presidency will submit to the Council a proposal for an action programme for conflict prevention. The foreign ministers should also take note of the results of the other Council formations concerning the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPG), the taxation package (Ecofin) and the Community Patent (Internal Market).
The European Council of Gothenburg will devote its work on Friday morning first of all to enlargement, and then to the debate on the future of Europe. As far as enlargement is concerned, the president of the European Council, Göran Persson, restated on Thursday in Berlin during his capital tour that he wished to "give a clear signal" to candidate countries on the determination of the EU Fifteen to speed up membership negotiations. Chancellor Schröder, for his part, said however that he did not think that dates would be given in Gothenburg, although the process should be reinforced. In addition, the Swedish Presidency hopes, by the summit, to have definitively settled the problem posed by the Spanish Memorandum, in which Spain had first of all made its agreement on the common position on free movement of persons and goods contingent upon assurance regarding the prospect of receiving structural fund aid after enlargement. Spain has since then renounced this condition (see EUROPE of 2 June, p.8), but the aim is to have a declaration of a general kind adopted before Gothenburg, if possible on Monday in Luxembourg. Such a declaration (which had not yet received the agreement of Germany, France and the Netherlands) would stress the effect that enlargement would have on the Member States and on EU policies. On substance (the common positions on free movement of persons and capital), the EU hopes to receive positive responses in Luxembourg from at least some candidate countries (which had been the case of Hungary during the negotiations last week at deputy level: see EUROPE of 2 June, p.7). Candidate countries will be informed of the results of the European Council on Saturday during a lunch in Gothenburg.
Regarding the future of Europe, the twenty-page report from the Swedish Presidency takes stock of the opening of the debate at national and European level and covers the question of the proposal for preparing the next IGC with a Convention similar to that which had drafted the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It notes that the tasks of the "public forum" that should prepare the next institutional reform will no doubt be more "complex". It does not make recommendations (at any rate expected at the Laeken summit).
On Friday afternoon, the European Council will discuss, with finance ministers, the Broad Economic Guidelines, and then broach what should be the major topic of the Summit, sustainable development. Remains to be seen, on this new dimension of EU policy, who has to be integrated in the annual Lisbon process, the heads of state and government will succeed in agreeing on quantified goals.
Enlargement: The Council will have a general debate on the state of accession negotiations and will adopt conclusions on the prospects for the European Council. These conclusions should invite the EU 15 to confirm and specify the strategy approved by the Nice European Council. The Council must also adopt EU common positions concerning certain chapters of the accession negotiation with several countries.
The Council should also: - adopt conclusions confirming its determination to enhance the cooperation with the UN in the framework of crisis management and conflict prevention; - approve a European Council report on the implementation of the EU common strategy towards Russia; - approve the report by the Presidency on the policy with a "Nordic dimension"; - take note of the political agreement concerning the agricultural accepts of the package of specific measures for the ultra-peripheral regions, under Article 299 of the Treaty.
The Greek delegation will present the Ministers with its request for a derogation concerning the visa scheme to facilitate day trips by Turks to the Greek islands.
Accession conference
Twelve ministerial negotiation conferences are planned with the following candidate countries: - Monday: Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic; - Tuesday morning: Slovenia; Cyprus, Malta, Hungary, Poland; - Tuesday afternoon: Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia. A working dinner with the Ministers from the candidate countries is scheduled for Monday evening.