Brussels, 12/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of the Laeken Summit, European Council President Guy Verhofstadt wrote to his colleagues to stress the particularly full nature of the summit. The letter from the Belgian Prime Minister read (unofficial translation):
"I am delighted to welcome you to the Château de Laeken for the meeting of the European Council on 14 and 15 December. During my capital tour, I had the opportunity to discuss with you about the Presidency's intentions and the ambitions for this Council, the particularly full agenda of which should take us to important decisions for the immediate and longer term future of our Union.
In this letter, I shall simply set out some details of how I foresee work should unfold.
On Friday 14 December, we shall begin with the usual meeting with the European Parliament President, who will inform us of her institution's position on the main themes to be discussed. We shall then, in a first working session, tackle problems linked to the international situation and above all the Union's action after the attacks on 11 September. This will lead to a discussion on several particularly sensitive topic issues such as Afghanistan, the Middle East, the Balkans and Central Africa. The sessin will end with a -discussion on the operational nature of European security and defenc epolicy. After the lunch provided by His Majesty King Albert II, we shall begin our second working session. I first of all plan to tackle the follow-up to the conclusions of Tampere, paying special attention to asylum and immigration issues. After this, we shall briefly discuss enlargement on the basis of a report by the Commission before going on to discuss all the economic and social issues, and touching upon sustainable development in the prospect of preparing for the next European Council in Barcelona next spring. On this occasion, I hope we shall be able to give some time to a more detailed look at the question of the Community Patent. Then, in the presence of the Finance Ministers, we shall hold a brief exchange of views on the final preparations with a view to introducing the euro. During the working dinner, also to be held at the Château de Laeken, my intention is to discuss the text of the Laeken Declaration on the basis of an adjusted project that I shall forward to you during the afternoon.
As usual, Saturday 15 December will be devoted to the adoption of texts to be forwarded to you as soon as possible after the beginning of work. First and foremost there will be the Declaration of Laeken for which I shall present a final version in the light of the discussions that we shall have had the day before during dinner. We shall then have to decide on how the seats of certain agencies will be allocated on the basis of a comprehensive and balanced proposal to be presented to you by the Presidency after it has carefully taken into consideration not only individual expectations but also the Union's general interest. We shall then proceed to re-reading the conclusions on all the other points that will duly take into account the debates held the day before. All this work will probably go on during the afternoon, after breaking for a working lunch with the candidate countries, also to be held at the Chäteau de Laeken".