Brussels, 01/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - Taking over from Ireland, the Netherlands will be holding the reigns of the Presidency of the Council of the EU from 1 July for the next six months. Two meetings of the European Council are planned. They will be held in Brussels. the first on 5 November following the implementation of the new Commission. The second, on 17 December. For the others, the Dutch Presidency has proposed a works programme for the Councils and other meetings:
July: - Informal "Competitiveness" from 1 to 3 in Maastricht; - Eurogroup/Ecofin l 5; - Ministerial ASEM (Finance) 6; - Summit EU/Ukraine 8 in Maastricht; - Informal Social Policy from 8 to 10 in Maastricht; - Informal Transports 9 and 10 in Amsterdam; - General Affairs Council /External Relations (GAER) 12 and 13; - Informal Education, Youth and Culture from 12 to 14 in Rotterdam; Ecofin (budget) 16; - Informal Environment from 16 to 18 in Maastricht; - Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) 19; - Agriculture/Fisheries Council 19. September: - Gymnich 3 and 4 in Maastricht; - Informal Agriculture and Fisheries from 5 to 7 in Noordwijk; - Informal Health 9 and 10 in Noordwijk; - Informal Ecofin 10 and 11 in Scheveningen; - GAER 13 and 14; - Ministerial ASEM 17 in Rotterdam; - Informal Defence 1 7 and 18 in Noordwijk; - Council Agriculture and Fisheries 20 and 21; - Council Competitiveness 24; - Council Transports/ Telecomm/Energy 27 (to be confirmed); - Informal JHA 30 in The Hague. October: - following Informal JHA in The Hague; - Council Employment/Social Policy/Health/Consumers 4; - Summit EU/South Korea 7 in Hanoi; - Council Transport/Telecom/Energy 7 and 8; - Summit ASEM 8 and 9 in Hanoi; - GAER 11 and 12; - Summit EU/India 14 in The Hague; - Environment Council 14; - Agriculture and Fisheries Council 18 and 19; - Eurogroup 20; - Ecofin 21; - Council JAI 25 and 26; - Informal Development 27 in Maastricht. November: - GAER 2 and 3; - European Council 5; - Informal Integration ministers 10 and 11 in Groningen; - Summit EU/Russia 11 in The Hague; - Council Employment/Social Policy /Health/Consumers 12; - Education Youth and Culture Council 15 and 16; - Eurogroup 15; - Ecofin 16; - Informal Transports/Telecomm/Energy 19 and 20 in Rotterdam; - GAER (+ ministers of Defence) 22 and 23; - Council Agriculture/Fisheries 22 and 23; - Ecofin (budget) 25; - Competitiveness Council 25 and 26; - Council on Transport/Telecomm/Energy 29; - Informal with ministers for urban development 29 and 30 in Rotterdam. December: - Summit EU/Canada 2 in The Hague; - Council JAI 2 and 3; - Ministerial EU/ACP 3; - Council on Employment/Social Policy/Health/Consumers 6 and 7; - Eurogroup 6; - Ecofin 7; - Summit EU/China 8; - Council on Transports/Telecoms/Energy 9 and 10; - GAER 13 and 14; - European Council 17; - Council on the Environment 20; - Council on Agriculture/Fisheries 21 and 22.