Ghent, 19/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The EU Heads of State and Government and European Commission President Romano Prodi began the work of the informal European Council of Ghent, following a lengthy exchange of views with the President of the European Parliament, Nicole Fontaine (and after the Chirac-Blair-Schroeder Summit on developments in Afghanistan: see other article) with a discussion on the economic and political repercussions of the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States. They decided to modify the agenda initially set, and only broached the subjects of the future of Europe and enlargement over their working lunch (see below, for Romano Prodi's letter to the Fifteen, as well as the article on what Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson had to say in Berlin yesterday). On these two issues, the results of the talks at this informal summit - for which, according to the wishes of the Belgian Presidency, no conclusions were adopted - were to be set out by European Council President Guy Verhofstadt at his final press conference, later in the evening, whereas on the other topics the European Council was to emerge with three declarations: - one of a little over two pages long on the political aspects of the response to the international challenge to terrorism; - a declaration of about one page long on the repercussions of the 11 September attacks on the economic situation in Europe (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.5, for what Romano Prodi had to say at his press conference, and p.6 for the report presented to the Heads of State and Government by the European Commission, as requested by the extraordinary European Council of 21 September in Brussels); - a declaration of about a page long on the euro, 74 days from its introduction. All these texts will be published in the Special Edition of EUROPE devoted, on Saturday, to the Ghent Summit. You may also recall that, in Brussels Saturday, the candidate countries, the countries of the EEA, Russia, Moldova and Ukraine were to be briefed in the outcome of the Summit (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.4).
Attacks and economic situation: not to stray from Commission's strategy, say Heads of State and
Government, who see a large margin of manoeuvre in EU's monetary policy
In their declaration on the economic situation since 11 September, the Fifteen reaffirmed their confidence in the future, considering that the Union's fundamentals would limit long term effects, on its economy, of a slowdown that the attacks against the United States have accentuated. In addition, they stressed the importance of not straying from the long-term strategy defined in the report the European Commission presented to them in Ghent, noting that the current decrease in inflation should provide the European monetary authorities with a large margin of manoeuvre to take further action (EUROPE has reason to believe that an initial draft text was more explicit, but that it had been toned down somewhat so as to respect the independence of the European Central Bank). As for the Member States, the declaration urges them to implement the Commission's recommendations, especially regarding the need to allow the automatic stabilisers to play their role and identify areas where structural adjustments could be strengthened or accelerated. In addition, the Heads of State and Government affirm that the current economic uncertainty renders a liberalisation of trade with a real development dimension more important than ever, both economically and politically, and thus call on Member States to send out a strong signal for the launch of a new WTO trade negotiating round. Finally, they urge the EU Council to step-up its work on implementing the Lisbon Strategy and, following the European Commission (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.10), invite the European Investment Bank to review its priorities and focus on sectors that now have difficulty in secure funding on reasonable terms from commercial banks and on the capitals market.
At her press conference, European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine was asked about the policy that the EU's monetary authorities should adopt in the current circumstances. As to whether the time had come for the European Central Bank to cut the interest rates (see EUROPE of 19 October, p.9), Ms. Fontaine replied in substance: I obviously have my own ideas, but I shall refrain from making statements, as the European Central Bank was built on the principle of its independence.
Combating terrorism: Declaration by Fifteen also over bio-terrorism
Talks on the political text concerning the aftermath of 11 September and the fight against terrorism were laborious: a initial draft indeed seemed to some Member States to be backsliding, in the reaffirmation of European solidarity with the United States, compared to the declaration already made on the subject (notably at the European Council of 21 September - thus, before the beginning of American and British military operations in Afghanistan - and the General Affairs Council of 17 October), which they wanted to avoid at all cost. Certain Heads of Government, however, placed emphasis on the humanitarian aspects and on the role of the UN. The Presidency's concern, under those conditions, was essentially that the message of the European Council, while taking account in a balanced manner and as concisely as possible all elements of the crisis, should not betray and weakening of Union support for Washington.
Over 150 remarks are said to have been made by the Permanent Representatives of the Fifteen as Coreper prepared the wording of the declaration in the morning. The text on which the delegations worked stressed that the military operations were "legitimate" and observed that they were "targeted", but without it being as strong a declaration as that of the General Affairs Council on Wednesday that affirmed that the Union was "totally behind the United States". In the draft declaration, the Presidency also proposed that the Fifteen insisted on the "particular importance of information, consultation and co-ordination with the United States", as well as on the fact that that the creation of a new government in Afghanistan had to occur now, under the auspices of the United Nations. The EU, moreover, undertakes to do all it can to hedge against the negative consequences, economically, financially and at humanitarian level that Afghanistan's neighbouring countries are suffering. The draft declaration also placed emphasis on the importance of developing legal co-operation within the EU and with the United States (extradition for terrorist crimes and working together to control weapons and chemical, bacteriological and nuclear substances that could be used for terrorist purposes). The Presidency proposed referring to the fact that the Fifteen had examined the issue of threatened attacks by chemical and biological weapons. Finally, the draft declaration ended with a strong refusal to make any assimilation between terrorism and the Arab and Muslim worlds.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine said on Friday that France was to propose a plan to combat bio-terrorism. The plan mainly covers the exchange of intelligence and the organisation of concerted actions by "networking of means and early warning mechanisms", Mr Védrine told journalists. The constitution of common stocks of vaccines and medicines is also foreseen.
Preparation for putting the euro into circulation
The Heads of State consider in their declaration that the putting into circulation of the euro is of historic importance. They say citizens will benefit in their daily lives from a concrete and tangible result of European integration. The visibility and the proximity of Europe will be confirmed. The European Council noted with satisfaction that all preparations are practically finished and that the context for the distribution of notes to the banking sector outside the euro zone has been set in place. The European Council invites the Ecofin Council to adopt, before Laeken, a regulation aimed at aligning tariffs for transnational payments on national tariffs.
Wim Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank, told the press that he was "very pleased" with the declaration from the Heads of State ensuring in substance that improvements in inflation and wage moderation will leave margins of manoeuvre for monetary policy. The improvement in the inflation situation would come earlier or go further than the rate of 2% expected for early 2002, he told the press. This declaration is a "statement of fact not a request", said the Belgian Finance Minister, Didier Reynders, insisting on the need to respect the ECB's independence.
Mr Prodi urges for representative, transparent Convention with great authority
In his letter addressed to the Heads of State and Government before the Summit, the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, stressed that the "11 September terrorist attacks will have a lasting impact on international relations (…), giving new meaning to the debate on the future of Europe". "We need to bear this in mind in our proceedings", he added. Mr Prodi mainly spoke of the role that the Commission plans to play in the debate, "as guardian of the treaties and as the trustee of acknowledged expertise". The Commission, he adds, supports the Presidency's approach which consists in formulating, on the basis of the themes and objectives identified in the Nice Declaration, fundamental questions on the future of the Union. The main questions are how to define the "EU's internal objectives and the role it is to play in the world";. how to "clarify responsibilities and associate national elected representatives and the whole of society with European decisions"; and how to "make the Union more effective". The Convention for preparing the IGC should, he says, "produce a shared vision of the objectives before we start with the instruments and the institutions", and it is important for it to be a "representative, transparent and commanding forum, a factor of success for the forthcoming IGC".