Brussels, 16/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the General Affairs Council took stock of the situation in the Middle East and adopted conclusions whereby it again insists on the implementation of the recommendations made by the Mitchell Committee. It felt that "an impartial surveillance mechanism is necessary to overcome obstacles" that could hinder the application of these recommendations.
Regarding Central Africa, Council President Louis Michel said before the press that he welcomed the "frank and massive" support from the Council of the Belgian Presidency's determination to make this dossier one of its priorities, on the basis of an action plan for the Great Lakes region. In its conclusions, the Council mainly covered: - inter-Congolese dialogue; - disarmament and troop withdrawal; - emergency aid and the gradual resumption of aid to the DRC. Mr Michel pointed out that he was to meet, with Mr Solana, the leaders of armed rebel forces from Burundi during the evening.
The Council also adopted a decision on the list of some forty Albanian extremists in Macedonia which should be banned from obtaining visas in Europe, but this position will be applicable only after a decision from Mr Solana. "There is agreement on the decision, but not on its date of enforcement. We are negotiating", said the latter. The Council also adopted the decision allowing the Commission to release further aid of EUR 300 million for FRY, of which 225 million will be in loans from September and 75 million in the form of aid in November. The ministers endorsed the position of the Ecofin Council that had amended the Commission's initial proposal, but leaving the Commission the possibility to propose further aid in the autumn if it notes that Belgrade has major payment problems.
The Council also adopted the two common positions on the Satellite Centre of Torrejón and the WEU Security Studies Institute (see EUROPE of 14 July, p.3). We shall come back to this.
The General Affairs Council began work with short discussions on "horizontal" issues. It thus adopted the working timetable for enlargement (see EUROPE of 14 July, p.6). Mr Verheugen refused to give his detailed opinion on the case of Romania before the new government is in place. The ministers also welcomed the "state of work" carried out in the other Council formations, presented at the Presidency's initiative. They nonetheless invited the Council's Secretariat General to bring the inventory regularly up to date, in order to allow the General affairs Council to intervene swiftly in procedures where necessary. The Council "noted" the conclusions of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on the security of European Council meetings (see other article). The ministers stress that the governments must endeavour to "interpret the political dimension of globalisation" and take into account the "concerns that globalisation causes in our societies for appropriate management of the structural changes underway". The Council adopted without discussion conclusions on the sanctions against Iran and Libya (that the United States is preparing to extend), recalling that the EU is opposed to unilateral measures of extra-territorial scope, that are the "source of sterile and pointless divergence between us", divergence that is harmful to the evolution of transatlantic cooperation. It also adopted conclusions with a view to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Intolerance to be held on 7 September in Durban, South Africa. Ministers stress that "the declaration and the action programme that will close the world conference should be concise, credible, sound and well-balanced in order to be adopted by all". The Council also adopted a document specifying its priorities for the 56th session of the United Nations General Assembly, and noted the preparation of the EU-Ukraine Summit on 11 September, as well as the Presidency's work plan for implementation of common strategies for the Mediterranean region, Russia and Ukraine.