Brussels, 15/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The "External relations" session of Tuesday's Council will be on external relations, defence and development. The foreign ministers of the Fifteen will have dinner together Monday evening to broach international issues (middle East, Iraq, followed by the SADC meeting, proposal by the UN Secretary General for a solution to the Cypriot problem), that they will in part resume at the opening of Tuesday's External relations Council. Defence ministers will meet in parallel, before a half-hour joint session, at midday. The afternoon will be devoted to issues of development. Late afternoon, the defence ministers of the Fifteen will meet with their counterparts from the candidate countries, Iceland and Norway (15+15) for an hour, then, also for an hour, with their counterparts of European countries members of NATO that do not belong to the European Union (15+6).
External relations: the Fifteen will decide to refuse visas to the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, members of the government and presidential administration. In all, 50 people should be declared persona non grata in the EU to protest against the severe deterioration in the political situation and the refusal by the Belarus authorities to grant or renew visas to the OSCE mission, explain European diplomats. The Czech Republic, for its part, has refused to grant a visa to the President of Belarus who wanted to go to Prague for the NATO summit. The Council will also examine the attitude to adopt vis-à-vis North Korea which has developed a secret nuclear weapons programme, in breach of its Kedo commitments. The Fifteen will again assess the situation in the Middle East, and adopt conclusions on the Balkans (situation in Serbia, municipal elections in Kosovo, implementation of the Ohrid Agreement in Macedonia).
European Security and Defence Policy: Defence Ministers are to take stock of progress in the EU's military capabilities plan (see EUROPE of 7 and 8 October). Nineteen panels are working on how to bridge the gap between European objectives and the capabilities that Member States have said they can mobilise for, for example, combat helicopters or in-flight fuelling. Ministers are expected to insist on the fact that it is imperative for panels to present the results of their work. The Council must also approve a new version of the Helsinki catalogue for capabilities objectives. It will note the work carried out on procedures and concepts of the rapid reaction elements of this catalogue of aims. The taking over of the command of the NATO-led Amber Fox operation in Macedonia by a European force, in compliance with the conclusions of the European Council, is still on the table. Foreign Ministers, for their part, will devote half an hour before their meeting with Defence Ministers to a conference on civilian capabilities in crisis management. They are expected to welcome the fact that objectives in terms of capabilities that can be deployed for civilian protection, civil administration or the safeguard of the rule of law had exceeded the objectives.
Development: The Council is to adopt conclusions on the link between trade and development on the basis of the Commission's communication of 18 September. Ministers will take an interest in follow-up to the Monterrey conference, the humanitarian situation in southern Africa, the coffee market, and the communication that the Commission is to approve on Monday on untying of aid.
Unlike what had been planned, the Commission will not present a communication on the financing of cooperation with third countries against illegal immigration, as the document is not ready.