Brussels, 14/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - The continuation of the IGC on the constitutional treaty and defence and security issues will dominate the work of the Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers on Monday an Tuesday under the chairmanship of Brian Cowen in Brussels. On Monday morning, the Twenty Five will have an initial discussion of two hours on the IGC on the basis of a new Irish presidency working document (p 5); these discussions will continue on Tuesday morning , as well as at lunch on Tuesday, which will exclusively focus on this subject. Issues linked to defence and common security will be tackled on Monday morning during a meeting limited to defence ministers, which will later expand to incorporate foreign affairs minister at noon (see p 4).
In the framework of the "General Affairs" Council, ministers will hold a brief discussion at 12H30 on the draft agenda for the European Council of 17-18 June, a summit which will be decisive for a certain number of important subjects, notably for the adoption of the constitutional treaty and the appointment of the future president of the European Commission, the future Secretary of the Council (and the High representative for CFSP) and his deputy. The Irish presidency, however, has no intention at all of discussing these appointments on Monday, as underlined by Irish diplomats on Friday, as the question will be dealt with exclusively by prime minister Bertie Ahern, who is currently on his pre-summit tour of capital cities. On Monday, the presidency is just seeking to obtain ministerial approval for the draft agenda, which it is proposing for the European Council and which also includes points such as financial perspectives for 2007-13, the consequences of enlargement, the EU economic situation, the fight against terrorism and the common freedom, security and justice area.
In the "external relations" section, on Monday ministers will look at the following:
Middle East. Ministers will examine the state of progress for peace, following the Quartet ministerial meeting I New York on 4 May, as well as the recent violent events in Gaza (see p 7). The Twenty Five intend to adopt a short declaration in which they welcome the conclusions adopted by the Quartet. In these conclusions, the four parties received the new of the Israel troops' withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank, favourably, in the belief that this offered a rare opportunity for pushing forward the peace plan.
Iraq. Irish diplomats consider that it is highly likely that the critical situation in Iraq is mentioned during lunch, although this point does not officially figure on the agenda. In this context, it will be "very surprising" if the ill-treatment of Iraqi prisoners (and the consequences for the process to restore power to the Iraqis) is not raised.
Libya. Ministers will look into the state of bilateral relations in light of Colonel Ghaddafi's recent visit to Brussels, but also the affair involving Bulgarian medical staff condemned in Libya for having "deliberately contaminated" children with the AIDS virus (EUROPE 7 May p 6). The Commission asserts that the accusations against the Bulgarian medial staff are groundless and that the trial that recently led to their convictions was not carried out in keeping with democratic rules. As long as this affair is not resolved in a "satisfactory manner", the inclusion of Libya in the Barcelona process and the normalisation of relations ill not be possible, explained the Commission.
Western Balkans. The Council is expected to adopt conclusions on the recent developments in the region and call on the Commission to prepare its "opinion" on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's (FYROM) request for accession. This request will not set out deadlines for the granting of this opinion, which some interpret as a signal by Member States that the EU is not in too much of a hurry to rush through and that it is going to be a long process. The Commission pointed out on Thursday that the opinion on Croatia had been taken a year ago and that on Macedonia would certain take even longer.
Preparations for the EU/Russia Summit of 21 May. Initially, it was planned that the Moscow Summit would approve an action programme and a fairly specific timetable on the implementation of the "four areas" the EU and Russia have committed to create in the years to come. However, due to problems encountered whilst extending the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement, work to "fill the four areas with concrete ideas" (in the words of a diplomat) has been delayed. The Commission, therefore, did not send its draft plan of action covering the four areas to the Russians until the end of April. Moscow, which seems to favour four separate action plans, has not yet officially responded, which means that the Moscow Summit is unlikely to go beyond confirming the "broad outlines" of commitments on either side. President Putin's special envoy for EU relations, Serguey Yastrjembsky, who was in Brussels this week (where he met, amongst others, Mr Prodi, Mr Solana and Commissioner Busquin), told the press on Thursday that the Commission's draft was a "very good contribution", but that Moscow needed more time to look into it and make its own proposals over the summer. The real decisions on the implementation of the four areas will thus be taken at the following EU/Russia Summit, in November in the Netherlands, said Mr Yastrjembsky.
Preparations for the EU/Latin America Summit in Guadalajara on 28/29 May (see EUROPE of 15 April, p.13).
The debates originally scheduled on the new European neighbourhood policy (ENP), on which the Commission has just published a new communication (EUROPE of 13, p 6-7) and on Syria (the conclusion of an association agreement is still blocked due to a dispute on the exact wording of the clause on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction) have been postponed. On the ENP, the Irish Presidency said on Friday that this postponement is due to a lack of time (the subject will be discussed at the June Council), and that Thursday's Coreper already reserved a "very positive" welcome to the communication and the strategy put forward by the Commission.
On Monday evening, a meeting of the Gulf Co-operation Council will also be held (page 6).
On Tuesday afternoon, there will be an Association Council with Turkey, followed by a Co-operation Council with Ukraine.