Brussels, 18/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - The visit of George W. Bush to the Council and the European Commission on Tuesday will take up much of the work of the General Affairs and External Relations Council, to take place on Monday under the chairmanship of Jean Asselborn- set to deal mainly with Iraq, the Middle East and Iran- but the EU foreign minister will also tackle a range of other important subjects such as the financial perspectives 2007-2013, relations with Ukraine, the prospects of opening accession negotiations with Croatia and the revision of the partnership agreement with the ACP countries (Cotonou agreement). Here are the details of the agenda of both Councils:
Financial perspectives. After tense discussions at the end of January on the future of regional policy (EUROPE of 1 February, p.11), the Council will hold an exploratory debate on Monday on a section of the financial framework with greater consensus, that of “competitiveness at the service of growth and employment” (heading 1a). Unsurprisingly, the Member States in favour of budgetary rigour (Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Austria) will reiterate their position: a global ceiling on expenditure for 2007-2013 equal to or less than 1.0% of gross national income (GNI) of the enlarged Union, or 815 billion EUR in commitment appropriations over the whole period. The Commission proposed five priority objectives (promotion of competitiveness in an integrated single market, technological research and development, community networks to connect Europe, education and training, social policy programme) which are generally well received by the Member States. The Presidency calls on the Council to take position on the overall rate of increase in expenditure, the share of these policies of total expenditure and the division of credits between the five objectives. Under the Commission's proposal, expenditures are set almost to triple (compared to 2006 expenditure) to reach 24 billion EUR in 2013. The total of operational expenditure is estimated at 121.7 billion EUR over seven years (including the 7 billion of the Growth Adjustment Fund, which is highly controversial among the delegations), or 13% of expenditure for the whole of the financial perspectives (compared to 7% today). Under the proposal, the objective for research and development could be as high as just over 55% of the total, the community networks around 19%, teaching and training 11%, the promotion of competitiveness and innovation 3% and social policy 0.5%. It is worth noting that a number of legislative proposals, including some very important to research and development, will not be presented until April.
Mr Bush's visit. The Council will finalise preparations for the meeting of the 25 Heads of State and Government with the American President (see agenda and practical arrangements in yesterday's EUROPE, p.4). It was revealed on Friday that the EU's position on each of several subjects is to be presented by just one person. Thus Jacques Chirac will speak about European integration, Tony Blair about the Middle East, the Slovakian Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda on Iraq, Gerhard Schröder on Iran, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on the Barcelona process, Bertie Ahern on Russia, Wolfgang Schüssel on the Balkans, Jan Peter Balkenende on the fight against terrorism, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyucsany on Ukraine and Göran Persson on development. High-ranking Commission officials explained on Friday that Mr Bush's meeting on Tuesday evening in the Commission premises with José Manuel Barroso, Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Peter Mandelson (the other Commissioners will be briefly introduced to Mr Bush but will not take part in proceedings) will focus mainly on the Middle East and economic and trade relations between the US and the EU. Iraq will also come up and it is possible that both sounds could announce an “international support meeting” for the interim Iraqi government, the Commission officials added (see also page 8).
Iraq. Before Mr Bush's visit, the Council will take a decision of principle on Monday in favour of launching new EU “common action” under ESDP, to take the form of training Iraqi police officers and magistrates. This EU “integrated mission” will help to develop the rule of law in Iraq and will take place outside the country, in neighbouring countries or in Europe. In the long run, when security conditions permit, certain projects could also be developed on Iraqi soil, diplomats explained. The exact details of the mission are to be decided on in the coming weeks. Its main thrust will be to put various training programmes and activities currently being carried out by the Member States under the aegis of the EU and to launch new actions in this field.
The common action will be operational “as soon as possible”, certainly before the summer, according to diplomatic sources. The Council will also reaffirm its commitment to support Iraq via a new Community contribution of 200 million EUR- on top of the 320 million already pledged- for the reinstallation of public services and the political process.
Western Balkans. The Council will adopt conclusions reiterating the fact that the full cooperation of the western Balkan States with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague remains a “main condition” of continued rapprochement with the EU. On the more specific case of Croatia, the ministers will bring pressure to bear on the country one final time to improve its cooperation with the ICTY by 17 March, which is the date scheduled for negotiations to open. However, the opening of negotiations seems conditional upon handing the Croatian General Ante Gotovina over to The Hague. “Next Monday is not the time to say yes or no to the opening of negotiations (this decision is set to be taken on 16 March: Ed), but we will send out a very clear message” to the Croatian government, reminding it that time is running short for it to prove its full cooperation with ICTY, said Luxembourg Presidency sources on Friday. If these sources referred to the arrest of the Croatian General as an “essential element”, others close to the dossier have made it very clear that there will be no negotiations on the earmarked date if the General has not been handed over by then. Croatia, therefore, has little choice in the matter if it hopes to stick to the 17 March deadline, especially as the ICTY prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, accused the Croatian authorities last Friday of not having done “all in their power to arrest Gotovina”, in a letter to the Presidency (and quoted by AFP), which was sent out to the 25 Member States of the EU. Ministers will also hold an exchange of views over lunch with Soeren Jessen-Peterson, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Kosovo. Conclusions will be adopted on Kosovo and on Serbia and Montenegro.
Ukraine. The Council will give its formal agreement on the ten points proposed by Mr Solana and Ms Ferrero-Waldner to reinforce and improve the action plan for the implementation of the EU neighbourhood policy with Ukraine (see details in EUROPE of 26 January, p.7 and of 2 February, p.4). The action plan can be formally approved and signed at a meeting of the EU/Ukraine Cooperation Council on Monday evening, after the Council, which will be attended by the Ukrainian deputy Prime Minister, Oleg Rybachuk.
Middle East. The Council will take stock of and adopt conclusions on the situation in the Middle East, especially in light of the encouraging results of the recent Summit between Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas in Sharm el-Sheik. The ministers will welcome the resumption of talks and urge Israelis and Palestinians to implement the Sharm el-Sheik commitments swiftly. The Council will also condemn the attack which took the life of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and will reiterate the importance of implementing the Security Council resolution 1559.
Revision of the Cotonou Agreement. The Council will prepare the position to be defended by the EU at the final ministerial negotiation session with the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) States, planned for 23 February. The five-yearly revision of this development partnership agreement, which was concluded in 2000 for twenty years between the EU and the 78 ACP countries, must be finalised by 28 February. Despite progress made since the first session (see EUROPE of 7 December, p.10), substantial differences of opinion persist between both sides on the wording of a clause on the International Criminal Court and the inclusion of a clause on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as an essential part of the agreement. On both of these points, the EU is to confirm its position. The Council is to provide guidelines for issues relating to procedures to implement and manage aid, which are still entirely open, and commit to propose a specific sum as soon as possible and certainly before next September for the financial protocol to be applied as of 1 January 2008- whether or not the EDF has been budgetised- at a level comparable to the 9th EDF. This is an important issue as the ACP States have made it a prerequisite for progress on the political issues.
Sudan. The Council will adopt without debate conclusions reiterating its concerns at continuing attacks and infringements of human rights in Darfur. It will welcome recommendations by the international investigation committee, reaffirm the EU's support for the International Criminal Court and voice its willingness to support an extension of the weapons embargo and any other measures the UN Security Council may decide on. The Council will reiterate its willingness to envisage targeted sanctions on those responsible for the infringements on all sides of the conflict.
Preparations for the European Spring Council (22/23 March). Ministers will look at an initial draft agenda which will focus mainly on the revision of the Lisbon Strategy.