Brussels, 18/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - The External Relations Council on 22 November under the presidency of the Dutch minister of foreign affairs Bernard Bot will also discuss preparation of the EU/China summit on 8 December in The Hague where the EU will be represented by Jan Peter Balkenende, José Manuel Barroso and Javier Solana, and the Chinese delegation by prime minister Wen Jiaobao and minister for foreign affairs Li Zhaoxing.
On Monday, foreign affairs ministers will be called on to speak n the main EU objectives for discussions with China. A note prepared buy the Dutch presidency and Coreper ha identified around ten, notably: expanding the field of bilateral relations by recognising the strategic position of China in the region and in the world; push forward negotiations on a bilateral agreement and readmission, benefit from the current "dynamic" of bilateral relations to explore feasibility of new EU/China framework agreement; sign new agreements on peaceful use of nuclear research and customs cooperation; sign joint declaration on non-proliferation and arms control; renew scientific and technological cooperation agreement by expanding its field of application and diversification of scientific cooperation; approve three new cooperation projects: on information society, exchange and training of business experts and reform of social security system; obtain a commitment from Chinese authorities for strengthening mechanisms of dialogue of trade especially with view to fighting intellectual property rights breaches; discuss international political themes such as Iranian nuclear programme, Afghanistan, Burma/Myanmar (the EU is going to ask China to use its influence ton the regime to improve the situation) and the nuclear issue in the Korean peninsula; express concerns from the EU on human rights issue in China. The Chine authorities are expected to announce in The Hague that they intend to ratify the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR) very soon.