Brussels, 20/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - The General Affairs and External Relations Council on 23 July will coincide with the formal launch at lunchtime of the intergovernmental conference (IGC) to decide on the future treaty. The Portuguese presidency will hand a first draft document to EU27 foreign ministers on Monday, but is not planning a real discussion at this stage. Two legal experts per country will be examining the document on Tuesday and Wednesday, and will meet regularly starting in the last week of August to go over the document with a fine toothcomb before a 'Gymnich-type' meeting where ministers will go over tricky aspects in Viana do Castelo (Portugal) on 7 - 8 September. On Friday, the Portuguese presidency said all delegations would stick to the mandate decided by the European Council, including Poland. A Portuguese diplomat told reporters that the Portuguese foreign minister had been in contact with the Polish foreign minister, but neither Poland nor any other country had given any indication that they would be challenging the mandate. The diplomat explained that sherpas appointed by the member states would only intervene on the technical front if there were problems which were not strictly legal problems and these discussions at the political and legal level would only take place 'if and when necessary.'
On Sunday evening, the day before the foreign ministers' summit, EU27 trade ministers will be meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson over dinner to discuss the Doha negotiations with the aim of establishing a single view from all 27 countries ahead of the Commission's submission in Geneva (at the WTO headquarters) on Monday of the EU's first reaction to the draft Falconer-Stephenson compromise on free trade in farming and industrial products (see EUROPE 9470 and 9471). The other key issue will be textiles, and the ministers will be discussing with Peter Mandelson whether or not to extend the temporary quota system for imports of Chinese textiles (see EUROPE 9472).
On Monday, the Council will start with a presentation by EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner of the fourth report on economic and social cohesion and the main challenges to be faced in this field in the EU from now until 2013 (see EUROPE 9472).
In the section of the conclusion document dealing with the situation in Darfur in Sudan, ministers are expected to decide to commit EU planning and operations for restoring order in Sudanese refugee camps in Chad, and in the region of Birao in the north-east of the Central African Republic (see EUROPE 9469). This CFSP operation will require the go-ahead in the form of a UN Security Council Resolution and the agreement of the countries in question and is expected to be launched alongside the deployment of a hybrid AU-UN force in Darfur in the last quarter of 2007. The EU's future military presence is expected to last for around twelve months, explained the Deputy UN Secretary General responsible for peace-keeping operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno. The size of the EU contingent, mainly composed of French troops, has yet to be decided. Awaiting the deployment of a hybrid force, the Council will generally reaffirm its support for the African Union's mission in Sudan (AMIS), confirming that the EU will be extending its civilian and military support for AMIS for up to six months.
After the decision to change the death sentences on the Bulgarian doctor and nurses to a life sentence in prison in Europe and ahead of their return to Europe, ministers will also be looking at the EU's relations with Libya. A Portuguese diplomat said that the issue was ending the way the Portuguese presidency wanted and it was highly likely that the EU would revise its relations with Libya. Contact has already been made suggesting that closer links were on the cards, but it all depended on the extradition of the incarcerated medical team. Libya currently has observer status under EuroMed and may decide to keep this, but seems likely to request bilateral cooperation in the domains of immigration, fisheries and energy.
Following the Middle East Quartet's meeting in Lisbon (see related article below), the Council will adopt conclusion on the situation in the Middle East. Ministers will reaffirm the urgent need to relaunch the peace process and will discuss the holding of an international conference scheduled for the autumn. In a section of the conclusions document on Lebanon, the Council will condemn recent attacks against UN troops in Lebanon that led to the deaths of six Spanish UNIFIL blue berets on 24 June 2007. The ministers will urge the various Lebanese factions to pursue dialogue following their meeting at La Celle Saint-Cloud (France) on 14 - 15 July.
The EU27 will also discuss preparations for the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit in Kiev on 14 September and the Belgian foreign minister, Karel De Gucht, will report back on the situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The UK foreign secretary David Miliband will brief his colleagues on the economic situation in Zimbabwe and over dinner, he will brief colleagues on the UK's current stand-off with Russia. Ministers are not planning to criticise Russia any further (the Portuguese presidency has issued a statement regretting Moscow's refusal to cooperate constructively in the Litvinenko case) (see EUROPE 9472). Hoping to avoid further repercussions on EU-Russia relations, the Portuguese presidency says that while it is a negative issue, both London and Moscow were issuing statements trying to limit the fallout from the case. EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, will brief the ministers on recent developments in the Iran nuclear saga following his meeting in Lisbon on 23 June 2007 with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ari Laijani.
Over dinner, the ministers will also discuss the situation in the Balkans and the question of Kosovo. Consultations are continuing in New York on the future legal status of Kosovo (currently a province of Serbia) - the process seems more log-jammed than ever at the UN Security Council. This week, Russia again rejected the draft resolution drawn up by the US and the EU, but the possibility of making progress outside the UN and holding more talks between Serbia and Kosovo is still a remote option (see EUROPE 9470). Ministers will be discussing the EU's position and extending the mandate of the EU's planning team in Kosovo but will not publish any conclusions document at this stage. (ab/eh)