Brussels, 12/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - In his letter to the participants in the European summit of Gothenburg on 15 and 16 June, European Council President Goran Persson states that, during this meeting, "we will address a number of issues of importance to the future development of the Union - the enlargement, the continued work to modernise the European economy, a strategy for sustainable development, transatlantic relations and issues related to our common foreign and security policy."
Mr. Persson goes on: "Our meeting will start at 09.30 on Friday 15 June with an exchange of views with the President of European Parliament, Mrs. Nicole Fontaine. Following our discussions with Mrs. Fontaine, I intend to organise our work in three main rounds of discussions, a working dinner and a session devoted to finalising our conclusions from the meeting. The first round of discussions will begin at 10.00 and will focus on enlargement. Our colleague Bertie Ahern has also asked to be given the opportunity to briefly comment on the recent outcome of the Irish referendum on the Nice Treaty. I will particularly like to hear your views on the progress of the enlargement negotiations and how we can give the necessary guidance for the successful completion of the process. There will also be an opportunity to a brief exchange of views on the Presidency's report on the debate on the future of the Union and how we can continue the work to modernise our institutions.
At 12.30 we will break our discussions for a lunch, hosted by His Majesty, King Carl XVI Gustaf. At 15.00 we will resume our meeting with the participation of our Finance Ministers. The second round of discussions will be devoted to economic and social issues. We should focus on the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, taking into account the recent full discussion on these guidelines in the Ecofin Council. We may also dwell on some issues relating to the completion of the internal market, the tax package, guidance for future work on pensions systems and care for the elderly as well as the need for a new WTO round. The location of headquarters for some European Agencies may also be raised.
The third round of discussions, in the regular format of the European Council, will be devoted to the strategy on sustainable development. We should concentrate on the need to extend the Lisbon strategy with an ecological dimension, the need for concrete action within defined priority areas and how we can improve existing procedures in order to achieve efficient policy making promoting sustainable development.
In the evening of Friday 15 June, I would like to invite you to a working dinner at Restaurant Trägår'n. Our foreign ministers will dine separately at the same location. I suggest we devote our discussions to current foreign policy issues, such as the situation in the Middle East, Western Balkans, the peace process on the Korean peninsula and other related topics.
On Saturday 16 June, we will meet again at 09.30 to finalise our conclusions. That session will immediately be followed by a lunch with our colleagues from the candidate countries for an exchange on the outcome of our meeting.
Preceding the meeting of the European Council, it is my pleasure to invite you to a working dinner with the President of the United States, George W. Bush on Thursday 14 June at 19.00 at Börsen in the centre of Göteborg. Our foreign ministers will dine separately with Secretary of State Colin Powell at the same location. During the dinner, I would suggest that we have an informal exchange on global and regional issues of common interest."