Brussels, 19/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The President of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering (D, CDU) said he was satisfied with the agreement drawn up by the Spanish Presidency on the reform of the Council, that should be approved at the Seville Summit. Splitting the Council into two distinct formations (a "legislative Council" made up of ministers of European affairs and responsible for adopting new legislative texts, and the other as "executive Council" made up of foreign ministers and responsible for implementing common foreign, security and defence policies, according to the way Poettering sees it), "is something we have been asking for for a long time", Mr. Poettering told the press on Wednesday. This reform will allow for greater "transparency and openness" in Council, as long as the work and decision-making procedures of the "legislative Council" are public, Mr. Poettering stressed. Regarding enlargement (a subject on the agenda for the Seville Summit), he said he was "very angry" at the stance recently taken by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who, in a comment for a large German newspaper, placed emphasis last week on the fact that his government was not prepared to negotiate direct aid with candidate countries as long as Germany had not secured certain guarantees over the next reform of the CAP, in other words in any case not before December's Summit in Copenhagen (see EUROPE of 18 June, p.13). Mr. Schroeder "is playing at being the protector of German financial interests" and using enlargement for electoral purposes, claimed Mr. Poettering. According to him, the Chancellor's comments "have already had the most negative consequences", notably in Poland where Eurosceptics have used German firmness on direct aid to secure more backing within the population. Regarding immigration and asylum, Mr. Poettering provided the backing of the EPP Group to the gradual setting up of European control of the EU's external borders, but also called for this issue not to be "considered in isolation": "We must also enhance this co-operation with the third countries" most concerned and "reward those who demonstrate a particular will to co-operate with us". Regarding possible sanctions against third countries which refuse to co-operate, Poettering did not rule out that possibility, but based on an individual, "case by case", approach.