Brussels, 28/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the General Affairs Council held a public debate on the western Balkans. President of the Council George Papandreou informed his colleagues beforehand about his visit to the region on 13-15 January and he distributed a work document outlining the Presidency's priorities in the perspective of the Salonika Conference on the Balkans on 21 June (see EUROPE 25 January p 4). Pointing out that the cornerstone of EU strategy in the region was the continuation of the stabilisation and association process, Member States sent a message to all the local populations that the EU was ready to open its doors but that the countries in the Balkans would have to make sacrifices to join the Union.
Mr Papandreou thinks that the strategy will involve "building bridges to our closest neighbours in order to "share a common future with common values". The Presidency is counting on working on the recurring problems in the region, affording particular attention to the fight against organised crime, corruption and illegal immigration. The President also warned that the Balkans had to do everything possible to achieve reform and added that it was very important to get this message across to the people in the area. Italian Minister Franco Frattini, whose country will be taking over the next Presidency of the EU explained that "Greece's priorities were the same as ours". Italy is seeking to provide a European and credible perspective for the Balkans but at the same time pointed out that this would mean "sacrifices" on the part of the Balkan countries just as it had for the ten current candidate countries. President Prodi pointed out that it was not yet possible to provide accession dates nor dates for opening negotiations but that such perspectives were possible. Javier Solana, CFSP High Representative reiterated this point of view. Austrian and Portuguese Foreign Affairs Ministers, Ms Ferrero-Waldner and Mr Martins Da Cruz, as well as the Belgian and Luxembourg Ambassadors, Mr DE Bock and Mr Schmit gave their full support to the Presidency's programme and the British Minister of European Affairs, Mr Macshane was of the opinion that if the Balkans did not join, the EU would remain incomplete, warning that the refusal of the Serbs or Croats to cooperate with FRY would hold back accession. Dutch Secretary of State, Mr Nicolaï tempered the general high spirits by warning the Presidency against moving too quickly in the Balkans. The Swedish and Finnish Ambassadors Mr Peterson and Mr Sosenen both highlighted the need to resolve the issues pertaining to the new institutional architecture of the EU before launching a debate on new accessions. Irish Minister Mr Cowen focused on greater communication between local populations. The Danish Ambassador Mr Christophersen stressed that these countries had agreed to make a concerted effort but there was still a lot to be done. The French and German European Affairs Ministers, Ms Lenoir and Mr Bury emphasised the fight against organised crime and corruption.
The Council also tackled: the European Council of Copenhagen follow-up, a Presidency report on the state of progress in the Presidency's work on enlargement and the presentation of the European Commission's spring report. Tassos Giannitsis, the Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs provided assurances that Greece wanted to treat wholeheartedly several cases such as that of the "Prestige" and welcomed the progress made in other Council groups, such as the "Single Sky" at the Transport Council and the fiscal package at the Ecofin Council. In the context of enlargement he indicated that the Greek Presidency would respect the timetable for drafting the accession treaty (at the end of January) - see p 14). Asked about direct payments, Mr Giannisis replied that, "we are in the process of finalising the legal points and it is not yet possible to re-negotiate what was decided at Copenhagen".