Brussels, 18/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The President of the Council of the EU, Josep Pique, explained to journalists on Tuesday how the Seville European Council will be organised (this will be outlined in the traditional letter from the President of the European Council to his colleagues once he completes his tour of EU capitals on Tuesday).
Seville: Friday morning (after meeting with President of European Parliament, Pat Cox, Ed). Discussions about asylum and immigration. Over lunch, heads of state will discuss internal Council reform, but Pique said that they may also hold a "public" debate on bigger reform for the future. Over lunch, foreign ministers will discuss the situation in the Middle East and the India-Pakistan conflict (the Summit will adopt two declarations). Friday afternoon. Enlargement and the follow-up of the Lisbon process. In the evening, the Council is invited to dinner by the King of Spain. Saturday morning: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing will make an oral report-back on the European Convention. After adopting conclusions, the heads of state will lunch with their candidate country counterparts, explained Pique.
Enlargement. It is "very difficult to interpret what we agreed yesterday" (at the General Affairs Council) for direct aid for candidate country farmers (see p.9) admitted Pique, noting that the EU can now have a common position on agriculture policy - apart from for direct aid - while noting that the Commission's proposal (sums, transition periods, etc) could also be discussed of course. When asked how Spain would react in terms of regional policy once it was no longer held the Presidency, he repeated that they had a common position and what has been agreed has been agreed (but that did not rule out a debate on the future of the CAP, he added). The timetable will be respected and I hope the accession treaties will be signed by 31 March 2003 so they can be ratified in time for new Member States to take part in the June 2004 European elections, explained Pique.
Immigration and asylum. Pique regretted that the media only concentrated on one area - potential sanctions against "non-cooperative" non-EU Member States (see yesterday's Europe, p.8). All Member States agreed with the Presidency's "common sense" approach, with reservations over the issue being mainly "semantic" in the sense that some countries wanted to stipulate that such sanctions are only to be considered in the event of "repeated violations" by the country in question of agreements signed with the EU. I am optimistic about Seville, said Pique.
Council reform. Pique admitted that at the Council on Monday the Presidency's report (based on the Solana report) had given rise to disagreement, particularly over dividing the General Affairs Council in half, but he hoped agreement would be reached in Seville (see yesterday's Europe, p.4).
EU-NATO agreement. In response to a question, Pique said he was more optimistic than a week ago about getting round the Greece-Turkey problem. We are working very hard on a series of very complex formulae, he said (which have to take account of the fact that while Greece wants changes to the "Ankara document", Turkey doesn't want it changed, Ed).
Lisbon follow-up, economic reform. The Presidency hopes that Thursday's ECOFIN Council in Madrid will adopt Broad Economic Policy Guidelines to present to the Summit. Other issues on the negotiating table include tax (Pique cites savings tax, energy taxation and co-operation between tax authorities), economic governance (representation on Management Boards, standards for business leaders' pay, etc), the problems faced by ultraperipheral regions, the 6th Framework Programme of Research and Development, the EU's position for Johannesburg (see yesterday's Europe p.9) and better regulation.
New Irish referendum on Nice Treaty. Pique hoped that Ireland would propose a declaration for the Summit that would be acceptable to all other Member States.
Kaliningrad. The issue might be raised in Seville, said Pique, noting that the EU's position was "flexible" but that the "Schengen acquis" had to be respected. (Commissioner Verheugen's spokesperson said that whatever solution was found, visas would exist… Forget the idea of corridors….).