Brussels, 07/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Pending the session on 17 and 18 June, during which the Foreign Ministers will be called upon to put the final touches to the preparation of the European Council of Seville, the agenda of the meeting of the General Affairs Council, to be held on Monday in Luxembourg, only contains two points: enlargement and the measures envisaged in the context of the dispute with the United States over steel. The meeting should end around 13h00 and be followed up by the first session of the Association Council with Jordan, a country with which both political and economic cooperation is increasingly strengthened and whose positive contribution in the Middle East crisis and in Euro-Mediterranean partnership has never stopped being welcomed by the European Union. The ministerial accession conferences will then come in succession with, in order: Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Slovenia, Hungary, Cyprus, Poland, on Monday afternoon from 16h30; and Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, on Tuesday morning. On Monday evening a dinner will bring the 12 candidate countries together.
The part of the work of the General Affairs Council devoted to enlargement will provide an opportunity to finalise the preparation of the ministerial conferences that are to follow. Discussions with Foreign Ministers will, however, cover the agricultural chapter of negotiations. This debate should above all focus on aspects relating to direct aid that the Commission proposes to introduce progressively. Eleven delegations are in favour but four Member States (Germany, United Kingdom, Sweden and the Netherlands) would like to oppose it. Another important aspect is the link to be established between negotiations with the candidate countries and those on reform of the common agricultural policy. Here too, there is divergence and the debate should allow positions to be clarified, and also a move towards a position acceptable to all Fifteen.
The Council will also examine the proposal made on 5 June by the Commission concerning retaliatory measures that could affect American products in the event of failed talks aimed at defusing the conflict on steel with the United States (see also EUROPE of 6 June, p.9). These measures, which must be notified to the WTO before 18 June in order to respect the delay imposed by the agreement on safeguard measures, could be adopted without debate at the JHA Council next Thursday.