Brussels, 16/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The General Affairs Council, to be held on Monday in Brussels, will open with a presentation by Commissioner Pascal Lamy of the results of last week's WTO ministerial conference in Doha. Furthermore, the Foreign Ministers will hold, on Monday and Tuesday, several joint meetings with the ministers responsible for police and defence, who are in Brussels for the conferences on police deployment, on one hand, and on improving military capabilities, on the other (see article below). On Tuesday, there will be meetings of the Association Council with the Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria and Israel. Main points on the agenda are:
Work on the other Council formations: In the context of its task for horizontal coordination of all the activities in the various Council formations, the ministers will note an inventory on the state of progress of work on the most important issues currently on the table. The Belgian Presidency is expected to draw attention to the importance it attaches to the following issues: Galileo (see other article); - the Community Patent; - crossborder payments; - the European Food Authority.
Enlargement: The Commission will present its strategic document concerning enlargement and its reports on progress made by each of the candidate countries as well as revised access partnership plans (for the twelve negotiating countries). The substantive debate is scheduled for the General Affairs Council of 10 and 11 December, in the context of preparations for the Laeken Summit.
Future of Europe: The Council, for which this will be the last real opportunity for having an influence on the dossier before the capital tour by the Belgian Prime Minister, will hold an exchange of views on certain elements of the draft Laeken declaration. He should mainly speak of: - the aims and the content of Union policies; - the sharing of powers between the Union and its Member States; - democratic legitimacy; - decision-making capacity and the conduct of Union policies; - simplification of the treaties; - the general presentation of the European project.
EU actions following attacks on United States: The Presidency will take stock of work mainly concerning bioterrorism. This is also an intermediary stage before the next General Affairs Council that should adopt a report with a view to the European Council of Laeken.
Western Balkans: The Council will adopt conclusions on: - Kosovo (after elections on 17 November); - FRY/Montenegro: the Council is to restate its attachment to a democratic Montenegro in a democratic FRY, on the basis of arrangements acceptable to all; - Macedonia (after adoption of constitutional changes); - Stability Pact: - the Council should take a stance for a new direction for the pact based on principles of concentration, regional appropriations and complementarity with the stabilisation and association process.
Africa: On the eve of the Troika mission that Louis Michel will conduct in the Great Lake Region, the Council should adopt conclusions on the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, and Eritrea.
During lunch, the ministers will hold a discussion on the situation in the Middle East on the basis of the latest contacts during the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference (5 November in Brussels), the United Nations Assembly General (9-18 November in New York) and the report of the visit by the Troika on the ground by Mr Michel and Mr Solana (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.3). They will also hold an exchange of views on developments in Afghanistan. At a suggestion by Belgian Defence Minister André Flahaut, the Foreign Ministers will hold an exchange of views on the possibility and timeliness of establishing a Defence Council.
Furthermore, on the basis of a Presidency compromise, the Council will seek to reach a political agreement on the draft decision concerning the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community for the period 2001-2007 as well as the draft regulation concerning the new generalised system of preferences scheme for 2001-2004. The Council president will brief his colleagues on his meetings with the trade union organisations on reform of the European public service.