Brussels, 18/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Ghent European Council will not be adopting formal conclusions, Belgian Permanent Representative, Frans van Daele, told journalists on Wednesday evening on behalf of the Presidency, adding that a distinction had to be made between conclusions and statements (meaning that Heads of State can publish statements on or more of the Summit themes, Ed). When asked whether there would be a statement, for example, on the repercussions on the EU economy of the 11 September attacks, Mr van Daele noted that in the Heads of States' analysis of the situation with Messrs Reynders, Duisenberg and Solbes, they would go further than the extraordinary Summit of 21 September and would "make an account".
On the absence of the Foreign Ministers (apart from the President of the Council, Louis Michel) from the Ghent Summit on Friday, Mr van Daele explained that although the Ministers were not particularly enthusiastic about missing the Council, they had greatly contributed to preparing the Summit (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.5), and other European Councils had gone ahead without Foreign Ministers, such as the Formentor or Pörtschach Summits.
Mr van Daele said that he believed that in his intervention on combating terrorism on Friday, Louis Michel would highlight the great progress made in the coordination work of the General Affairs Council and recognise that a great coordination role was necessary since the issues were being dealt with by various groups. In terms of whether the US air strikes on Afghanistan would be assessed by the Summit, the Permanent Representative stressed that in his report to the Heads of State, Louis Michel would cover the full range of issues in combating terrorism, and that the UK Foreign Minister, Jack Straw, had reported back in detail to the Wednesday European Council on military operations.