Brussels, 25/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - The financing and the formation of the Convention, the sanctions against Zimbabwe and the situation in the Middle East will be the main points of the General Affairs Council to be held on Monday in Brussels, under the chairmanship of Spanish Minister Josep Piqué. Pending a more formal decision in February, the ministers are expected to also give their political go-ahead so that the EU civil intervention force takes the place of the United Nations international police force in Bosnia at the end of the year. The trickiest subjects - the Convention and the EU's reaction to the damage inflicted on EU-funded projects in Palestinian territories - will be discussed over lunch, that is, in restricted session between ministers and their closest collaborators. The ministers will also discuss the Argentinean crisis over lunch, as well as the situation in Goma and Inter-Congolese dialogue. On Tuesday, the EU/Uzbekistan Cooperation Council and the EU/Tunisia Association Council will meet. There will also be a meeting of the EU/OSCE Troika.
As a matter of interest, the Italian President of the Council, Silvio Berlusconi, will be present for the first time in his capacity as Foreign Minister, acting as interim minister after Renato Ruggiero's resignation. He is not expected to receive any special treatment at the Ecofin Council, no more than Luxembourg's Prime Minister and Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, states the Spanish Presidency. The Italian Prime Minister has nonetheless asked to use the vast Council pressroom normally reserved for Presidency conferences in order to have sufficient room for the delegation of journalists who normally accompany him on his trips. The agenda of the Council meeting is as follows:
State of progress of work in other Council formations: In the context of its function as coordinator, the General Affairs Council will take stock of discussions in progress in the various Council formations, on the basis of a Presidency document. Emphasis is placed on preparing the Barcelona Summit mid-March, contributions to which will be made by the Research Councils (framework programme), Ecofin (follow-up of the Lamfalussy Report on Financial Services), the Internal Market Council (Community Patent), and the Environment and Education Councils (aims of education policy).
Enlargement: The Council will simply "take note" of the Presidency programme or continuing negotiations with the candidate countries. As indicated in EUROPE of 14/15 January, p.13, the Presidency plans to make a decisive contribution to the conclusion of negotiations with the States that are ready by the end of the second term of 2002. Following the "roadmap" defined in Nice, the EU is expected to reach common negotiating positions during this half year on sensitive subjects such as agriculture, regional aid and contributions to the EU budget.
EU/Chile relations: Commissioners Lamy and Patten will take stock of the negotiations on a free trade agreement with Chile, the seventh round of which will begin Monday (see other article, p.9).
EU/Mercosur relations: In the context of the crisis in Argentina, the Council is expected to adopt conclusions intended to give a signal of political support to Mercosur and confirm Europe's determination to reach an association and free trade agreement between the EU and the South American common market "as soon as possible". Far more difficult than negotiations with Chile, discussions under way with Mercosur have been slowed down further by the crisis in Argentina, which takes on Mercosur Presidency. Some European diplomats do not hesitate to speak of a "three year delay" before concluding negotiations, which would correspond to the date fixed by the United States for achieving a free trade area over the whole of the American continent, a project now on the table. Argentina's specific situation will be tackled during lunch. The Foreign Affairs Ministers are expected to take up the broad lines of the position developed by the Ecofin Council (see EUROPE of 23 January, p.8).
Conflict prevention: The Council will adopt conclusions on the implementation of the conflict prevention programme adopted during the Gothenburg Summit in June 2001, on the basis of addresses made by the CFSP High Representative, Javier Solana, and External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten. Very few developments have been noted since the last report by Javier Solana. In the meanwhile, the Commission has nonetheless developed "conflict indicators" and assessed the situation in about a hundred countries, 30 of which it considers to be high risk countries, recalled Commissioner Patten's spokesperson on Friday.
Common Strategies: While awaiting substantial revision of the Common Strategies in 2003, the Council will examine a joint report by High Representative, Javier Solana and Commissioner Patten on the effectiveness of the strategies that have already been defined (Russia, Ukraine, Mediterranean).
Zimbabwe: Ministers will be examining the question of sanctions (see following news item).
Russia/Kalingrad: Josep Piqué will to brief his counterparts on the results of his meeting with the Russian Minister of Foreign affairs, Igor Ivanov, held on 22 January in Madrid. Ministers will review the issue of the Russian enclave of Kalingrad, situated between Poland and Lithuania. The Commission and Russia have just decided to create a working group, within the framework of the partnership, in an attempt to tackle the problems of transit, transport and visas for Kalingrad in connection with enlargement.
Afghanistan: Ministers will be examining the results from the Donors Conference in Tokyo 21-22 January. The EU announced at the conference that it would contribute EUR 600 million, EUR 200 million from the Community budget, approximately 30% of the financial commitments made at Tokyo. The Commission announced that it would be rapidly releasing around EUR 70 million.
Middle East: Mr Solana will be presenting the results of his meeting at a working lunch with Shimon Perez. Mr Piqué is due to present his draft letter to the Israeli authorities relating to the destruction of Palestinian infrastructures that had been financed by the EU. The cost has been estimated at more that EUR 17 million (see EUROPE January 24 page 5 for list of infrastructures). France is demanding compensation for the damage.
Balkans: The Council will be adopting the conclusions that give a blessing to the deployment of a European civil intervention force in Bosnia-Herzegovina that replacing the UN international police force whose mandate expires at the end of the year. While awaiting the official decision in February, the conclusions mention the parameters in which European intervention will take place, mission remit, security and relations with the UN and OSCE. The UN has asked whether the first mission of several hundred police officers would be the first large scale test for ESDP, even if in practice it would be generally acting with the same forces currently deployed by Member States under UN jurisdiction (a force of approximately 600). The council will be adopting more general conclusion on the situation in the different countries of the region, following a visit by Mr Solana to Skopje, Pristina and Belgrade on 24-25 January.
India/Pakistan: The council will be speaking on the deterioration in relations between new Delhi and Islamabad but will not be adopting conclusions in this connection.