Brussels, 17/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union has decided to convene an extraordinary EU summit exclusively to discuss "developments in the international situation" following the attacks that struck the United Sates. On Friday, the EU Heads of State or Government, accompanied by their Foreign Ministers, will meet at 18.00 hrs.. Both Chancellor Schroeder and European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine had asked for the convening of such a summit.
Beforehand, the EU Troika (Louis Michel, Javier Solana and Chris Patten) will meet Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington on Thursday. The meeting was scheduled a while back, in the context of the half yearly EU/United States ministerial meetings, but the events of the past few days have obviously upset the agenda.