Brussels, 05/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - After a "very difficult" mission to Skopje on Thursday, by Commissioner Chris Patten and the High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, the European Commission has decided to cancel the donor conference for Macedonia scheduled for 15 October. The Commission had already warned that the postponement of the conference was likely due to the delay in the Macedonian Parliament in adopting reforms. After the meeting with the authorities of FYROM, Mr. Patten, visibly exasperated, declared that it was "absolutely inconceivable the donors' conference can take place on the 15th of October". "I could not possibly get donors to the table in these circumstances and prepared to write large cheques in order to support a political agreement that still has not been endorsed and implemented," he added stipulating that "I think we will have to regroup and look at the situation later in the year or next year". The Commissioner criticised the time taken by Parliament to adopt the reforms provided for in the framework-agreement of August, recalling that the Macedonian authorities had provided assurances as to the respect of the deadlines when the EU last visited mid-September. The spokesperson for the Commissioner stipulated that the Council would probably be discussing on Monday whether or not to retain a special EU envoy on the ground, as long as the reform process had not been completed. Francois Leotard had asked the Council to relieve him of his duties on Monday.