Brussels, 19/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - The day after the attacks in Madrid on 11 March, terrorism will inevitably be the main subject discussed at the General Affairs Council on 22 March. EU Foreign Ministers will, on Monday morning, examine a series of measures intended to step up the fight against terrorism. The measures will already have been looked at by the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council on Friday (see below), to be endorsed by the European Council of 25 and 26 March. The General Affairs Council is also expected to finalise the annotated agenda and the draft conclusions for the European Council.
The external relations session on Monday afternoon will mainly be devoted to the recent outbreak of violence that plunged Kosovo into mourning, as well as the development of a Strategic Partnership with the Mediterranean and the Middle East (see EUROPE of 17 March, p.6).
In its conclusions on Kosovo, further to the inter-ethnic violence that has claimed over thirty victims and 500 casualties since last Wednesday and forced NATO to reinforce its military presence on the ground, the Council is expected to call on political leaders in Kosovo to do everything possible to stop the violence, bring the perpetrators to justice and cooperate with the United Nations and NATO missions on the ground, UNMIK and KFOR (see p.8 for Javier Solana's statement). Serb Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica will be in Brussels on Tuesday when he will meet Javier Solana, EU High Representative for CFSP, Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, and Chris Patten, External Relations Commissioner. Kosovar Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi may also come to Brussels.
In its conclusions, the Council is also to evoke the formation of the new government in Serbia Montenegro and the accidental death of Macedonian President Borsi Trajovski. These conclusions will be examined by the Political and Security Committee (COPS) on Monday morning.
Furthermore, the Council should examine an interim report by the Irish Presidency aimed at developing "a Strategic Partnership with the Mediterranean and the Middle East", the aim of which is to create an area of prosperity and peace in the region, extending from Morocco to Iran, and covering various aspects (security, human rights, fight against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), economic and social issues, and WTO membership). This strategic partnership, the Presidency report states, would be based on: - the need for full participation by the countries concerned and their civil society in the process of European strategy development; - the commitment to find a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; - more active EU involvement in the region by using existing instruments and by creating new dialogue structures on the basis of a work programme; - a European strategy that is clearly separate from, albeit complementary to, that of its partners on the ground (see EUROPE of 17 March, p.5, for Javier Solana's comments and Franco-German ideas on this strategic partnership; EUROPE of 3 March, p.4, on Brian Cowen's press conference during his meeting with Colin Powell in Washington, and EUROPE of 16 March, p.7, on review of the American initiative on the Greater Middle East, as well as EUROPE of 4 March). The Presidency, Javier Solana and the Commission are expected to begin consultation with the countries concerned on this report, mainly at the Arab League Summit of 29 and 30 March in Tunis, the Euro-Mediterranean meeting of 5 and 6 May and the EU/Gulf countries ministerial meeting of 18 May. The Presidency will then prepare a full report with a view to its adoption by the European Council of 17 and 18 June.
After an overview by foreign ministers on the Iranian nuclear programme during lunch, the Council is expected to adopt conclusions on Iran, on the basis of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution of 13 March.
The Council will also take stock of the preparations by the ministerial meeting of ASEM ministers, to be held on 17 and 18 April in Kildare, and will adopt conclusions on the sixtieth session of the United Nations Committee on Human Rights, in Geneva (see EUROPE of 17 March, p.6, on the subject of the intervention by Council President Brian Cowen on behalf of the EU in Geneva).
The Council must also adopt, without debate, conclusions on the preparation of the international conference for Afghanistan scheduled for 31 March to 1 April in Berlin, as well as on ESDP (mainly on the subject of the Franco-British proposal, to which Germany is associated, in order to create armed European military groups (EUROPE of 14 February).