Brussels, 09/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - Preparations for the European Council on 15 and 16 June will dominate the General Affairs/External Relations Council in Luxembourg on 12 June. Another event on the sidelines of the Council is that the EU will open and also provisionally close accession talks with Croatia on the first technical chapter, science and research. Turkey, on the other hand, will have to wait till Monday to see whether ministers are able to come to an agreement on the EU's common position on this same chapter. If this is the case, a meeting will also be held with Turkey on Monday and talks on this first same chapter, science and research, may be opened and immediately closed. On Friday, at Coreper, Cyprus blocked adoption of the common position, not for technical reasons relating to the chapter in question but because its requests had not been met regarding an explicit reference in the text of the common position on recognition of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkey.
Other events are foreseen on the fringe of the Council: - the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Albania; - an Association Council with Turkey; - a Council of European Economic Area; - an Association Council with Israel; - and an Association Council with Egypt.
Preparation of the European Council. The Summit will begin on Thursday 15 June early evening with the traditional exchange of views with the president of the European Parliament, followed by a first working session on three points: energy, migration/immigration and EU emergency crisis response. During dinner, leaders will discuss the future of Europe and the Constitution as well as enlargement. The morning of 16 June will be devoted to a last exchange of views on outstanding issues and adoption of the final conclusions. On Monday, at the General Affairs Council, ministers will seek to move forward as much as possible in drafting of the final conclusions, except for the part relating to the European Constitution. On this last point, the Austrian EU Presidency has not yet prepared a text as it prefers to wait for a first exchange of views between Heads of State and Government during the evening of 15 June before submitting a first draft of the conclusions the next day. Diplomats explain that the text should contain, in its broad lines, conclusions that the Foreign Ministers had reached at their informal meeting of 27 and 28 May in Klosterneuburg (EUROPE 9200), namely that the reflection period should be extended and that the additional time allowed should be used to advantage to produce, as the Commission suggests, concrete results that improve the image of the EU with citizens, thus creating a better climate in which to envisage a solution to the problem of the Constitution. It is not yet clear whether leaders will dare set a buffer date for completion of the constitutional process (in Klosterneuburg, no-one had asked for such a date), although the deadline of 2009, with renewal of the Commission and the European Parliament, is mentioned increasingly often. On Friday, Chancellor Schüssel welcomed in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that, after one year of reflection, a “serious debate” had begun on the Constitution. “We cannot yet say what the result will be … but it is clear that we must add something to the text” of the constitutional treaty, Mr Schüssel explained. “This new element (to be added) may be a name, an interpretative element, an addition, the possibility of opt-out or a change in the method of adopting the text”, the Chancellor said, nonetheless noting that, when it comes to substance, “we shall not find anything more intelligent” than the constitutional treaty.
Other outstanding points in the conclusions of the European Summit include the creation of the European Agency on Fundamental Rights. There are still three difficulties that should be resolved in Council on Monday or, at the very latest, during the summit. These pertain to the fact that: - Germany, the United Kingdom, Slovakia and Malta and, to a lesser extent, Ireland and Cyprus, consider that there is no legal base allowing the Agency to have authority on police and judiciary cooperation in criminal matters (Title VI of the Treaty, third pillar). Ministers should therefore seek to reach agreement on the setting in place of an ad hoc legal base so that the Agency does not operate solely on the basis of the Community chapter; - the Dutch, Luxembourgers and Germans refuse to consider an Agency with powers regarding the candidate countries and the Western Balkans, in order to avoid interference with the activities of the Council of Europe (EUROPE 9198); - and there is also divergence over the role that the Agency must play in implementation of Article 7 of the Treaty.
On Monday, ministers will also discuss the draft conclusions of the Summit on enlargement. Although the paragraph on Bulgaria and Romania seems more or less approved (the 25 restate their “common objective” of membership for the two countries on 1 January 2007, “if they are ready”). The debate continues on the way the EU's absorption capacity must be treated in the conclusions.
Some countries (led by France, with the Netherlands, Denmark and several other delegations) say absorption capacity has to play a decisive role in the future stages of the enlargement process. For these countries, this concept has to be more closely defined and rigorously applied as a key factor in all future enlargements. Other countries, however, believe absorption capacity should be taken into account as one of a number of factors, without it being able to jeopardise future enlargements. On Friday, the European Council draft conclusions states that “every effort should be made to protect the cohesion and the effectiveness of the Union” and that “just as in the past, it will be important to ensure that the Union will be able to function effectively and to further Europe's common project”. EU's future enlargement strategy, in general, and its absorption capacity in particular, will be debated in greater detail at the December European Council - using a report on the definition of absorption capacity to be presented by the Commission in October as the basis for discussion.
The other main topics (of little or no controversy) which will be discussed in the Council conclusions will be: - “Europe Listens” Under this chapter, leaders will take stock of the reflection period (which is to be extended) and on the outcome of this period in the various Member States; - “Europe at work” In this section, the European Council will set out the areas where concrete action is needed to achieve a “Europe of results”: a) promoting freedom, security and justice (JHA). According to the latest draft conclusions, the 25 do not intend to take account of the Commission proposal to reduce recourse to the veto in Justice, Freedom and Security. The text no longer makes any reference to the Commission proposal on the use of the “bridging clause” (see EUROPE 9187) with a view to transferring a substantial part of third pillar decisions (inter-governmental cooperation) to the Community area (first pillar). According to diplomats, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands oppose any reference to this clause in the text because they do not want any cherry-picking on the Constitutional Treaty, since this would complicate its later adoption in its entirety; b) promoting the “European way of life” in the world (with references to climate change, sustainable development, the Lisbon Strategy and competitiveness); c) enhancing the coherence and effectiveness of the EU foreign policy; d) improving the working of the EU (with references to subsidiarity, better regulation and transparency). With regard to transparency, the Austrian Presidency's proposals seek to open to the public all Council meetings on co-decision legislation with the EP, and early debate on important non co-decision texts. Just as these proposals seemed to have unanimous support, the United Kingdom expressed fears over the effect of the presence of television cameras on the effectiveness of the work and decision-making of the Council. “London opened a Pandora's box and other countries took advantage” to express their reservations, a diplomat said on Friday. The issue will be dealt with on Monday.
Western Balkans. The Council will adopt conclusions on the Balkans and on Montenegro (it will agree that all Member States will recognise the “sovereign and independent” State with which they undertake to develop relations).
Cuba. On Monday, the Council will decide to extend (until June 2007) the suspension of diplomatic sanctions which the EU introduced in June 2003 following the imprisonment of a large number of opponents of the Castro regime. Ministers will decide also to launch a period of reflection on developing a medium- and long-term strategy with Cuba.
Iran/nuclear. Javier Solana will report to Ministers on his recent visit to Tehran.
Middle East. Ministers will take stock of the Commission's preparatory work on setting up a temporary international mechanism for provide direct aid to the Palestinian population (see related article).
Iraq. Ministers will debate the situation following the formation of the new government of national unity in Iraq. On the sidelines of the Council, the Austrian Presidency will have a meeting with Iraqi Foreign Affairs Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
United States. The Council will be informed of the state of preparations for the Summit in Vienna on 21 June.
WTO. Commissioner Peter Mandelson will bring Ministers up to date with negotiations on the Doha Round. The Council is expected to agree to a meeting of EU Trade Ministers on the sidelines of the next WTO ministerial meeting.
Migration. Ministers will debate the issue of immigration following recent events on the Canary Islands and ahead of the EU-Africa ministerial meeting in Rabat on 10-11 July.
Gulf States. The Commission will inform Ministers about on-going negotiations on a free-trade agreement with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).