Brussels, 12/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper) is due, on 13 September, to approve in principle a joint action, creating an EU team responsible for preparing for a possible international civilian mission (ICM) to Kosovo. The Council is then due to adopt this joint action, in theory at the end of the week. The team, which will also be responsible for preparing the EU's contribution to the ICM, should be operational before the end of September and will have an initial mandate of six months, until 31 March 2007. The ICM, which will be political in nature, will be sent into the field following completion of negotiations on the status of the province, currently on-going under the auspices of the UN, alongside the “Rule of Law” mission which the EU will, in principle, send to the province once its future status is known. An EU planning team, responsible for preparing for this “Rule of Law” mission is already in the field, where it will remain until the end of December (see EUROPE 9171).