Brussels, 28/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - The most politically sensitive dossier that will be the focus of most of the media's attention in the next six months will be negotiations on the future treaty. This dossier is a priority of the Portuguese presidency. On Thursday the Portuguese secretary of state for European affairs, Manuel Lobo Antunes, presented the work programme of his country, Portugal, which takes over from Germany on 1 July. Mr Lobo Antunes displayed caution, however, in his presentation and stressed that they needed to close this dossier. Work in the second half of the year will also be characterised by the crucial summits with Russia and Africa (but also with Brazil, Ukraine, India and China). Other controversial issues, such as Kosovo, will also be covered by the Portuguese presidency, while the future of relations with Turkey could be debated, even if this is not the intention at Lisbon.
Treaty. In an effort to guard against any failure, it will be necessary to stick to a clear, exact and detailed mandate. The Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in charge of redrafting the treaty will be organised at the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 23-24 July, confirmed Mr Lobo Antunes. This political exercise is “not purely technical or bureaucratic” and will not succeed unless all participants are of good faith. Reaffirming that it will work exclusively on the mandate, Portugal wants to prevent any of the parties interpreting things in their own way in an attempt to reopen the discussions again. Addressing the Portuguese parliament on Wednesday, the prime minister, José Socrates affirmed, “We will be tackling a tough assignment that is both complex and intense”. He wants to avoid losing, “the dynamic of the agreement concluded in Brussels and approve a new constitutional treaty for the European Union as soon as possible”. He asserted that, “I don't have any illusions, there will always be need for negotiations and consensus and we will have to tackle problems that may come our way and which often appear in the final lap of negotiations”. He did not wish to comment on what ratification method Portugal would choose.
Enlargement. All negotiations with candidate countries have a final objective: accession. Mr Lobo Antunes said that, “everyone has obligations and the EU must negotiate in good faith and in complete transparency”. He also said that “commitments by countries have to be respected”. Even towards Ankara? He provided assurances that, “it is fundamentally important that Turkey joins the EU once the country has respected all the criteria”. He did not see “why things would change under our presidency”. This last wish is an effort to play for time and not rush into new “complex and thorny” questions, while other difficulties “await us with the mid- term review of financial perspectives for 2008-09”. Lobo Antunes affirmed that the question of enlargement is “more political than geographic” and the December summit should not be dedicated to a debate on European borders. He explained that he thought that, “after the treaty we will need to breathe…everything in its own time”.
Africa. Seven years after their first and only summit, Europeans and Africans are expected to meet on 8 December in Lisbon. Lobo Antunes deplored the fact that this long wait, “is proof of a certain European indifference to this continent but others will not wait and will benefit from European apathy”. He reaffirmed his determination to organise the event, despite the difficulties linked to the presence of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe. He explained that this was about, “EU-Africa dialogue and not EU-Zimbabwe dialogue”, adding that he hoped that African countries would fulfil all the conditions needed to hold this summit but did not provide any more details about what he meant in this respect. Mr Socrates will visit Accra in Ghana for the ninth African Union summit on 2-3 July in preparation to the December summit.
Russia. He said that they were attempting a breakthrough but, “the two parties have to be ready to do it” in the context of possible progress for the partnership and the cooperation agreement with Moscow at the summit on 26 October.
Kosovo. Lobo Antunes said that it was obviously a priority. He is sticking to the line defined by foreign affairs ministers in favour of a rapid resolution at the UN Security Council (EUROPE 9448). He said that they wanted a solution that was acceptable to all and affirmed that they were launching an appeal to EU unity. He spoke out against, “finding ourselves in a situation where some choose option A and others option B, which would be a disaster for the Union”.
ENP. Although Portugal clearly wants to focus its efforts on countries in the south (with a meeting with Euromed on immigration in November), “there is no competition” with the “east” dimension in European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). He indicated that, “I am strongly opposed to some countries getting more money than others”.
Various. In economic and financial matters, the presidency will continue the work on financial services, combating fraud and tax evasion. It will also work on the next cycle of the Lisbon Strategy (from 2008), and will draw up the next guidelines for employment and the broad thrust of economic policies; it will try to reach a final decision on the regulation on the European Institute of Technology (EIT). Among the presidency objectives are a European maritime policy, preparation of the next UN conference on climate change in Bali, the internal energy market, the completion of postal liberalisation, the SISone4All proposal, the removal of border controls between member states within the Schengen area (see EUROPE 9452) and the deepening on trans-Atlantic relations. The priorities can be viewed at: http://www.eu2007.pt/UE/aPT/ (ab)