Brussels, 14/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Council opening on Wednesday 15 October in Brussels, will begin at 16H with the traditional meeting with the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering. The latter will participate in the brief discussion on the Lisbon treaty during which, Brian Cowen will look at the reasons for the no vote in the Irish referendum (the way ahead will only be decided at December's European Council). The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Jean-Claude Trichet, will then take part in the discussion on the financial crisis. How long this lasts depends on the latest situation. At dinner, Heads of state and governments will discuss the energy-climate package and the question of energy security. Foreign affairs ministers will discuss Georgia and relations with Russia, as well as the Middle East. On Thursday 16 October, Heads of state will tackle the question of Special European Council follow-up to the conflict in Georgia (EUROPE 9760). Summit conclusions will also mark the official adoption of the pact on immigration and asylum and ratify the composition of the reflection group on the future of Europe.
Financial crisis (see other article). On Tuesday 14 October, José Manuel Barroso was pleased to inform the press that, “the European response is on track”. He said that, “the EU's coordinated action demonstrated its capacity to act”. After the mini-summit on Saturday 4 October (EUROPE 9755) and the Ecofin Council on the following Tuesday (EUROPE 9756), the staged approach of the Europeans led to a better structuring of the measures taken by member states during the Eurogroup summit last Sunday (EUROPE 9760). On Wednesday, EU27 Heads of states and governments will be urged to confirm the three-part plan adopted by the EU16: injections of liquidity into the financial system, state guarantees on inter-bank loans and recapitalisation of the banks, the first national applications of which were presented on Monday.
Energy-Climate. High on the French presidency's list of priorities, is the energy-climate dossier, which the Commission also confirmed should not lose it priority status because of the financial crisis. Mr Barroso underlined that, “climate change is not going to disappear due the financial crisis”. Mr Barroso wants to stick to the objectives unanimously supported last year and profiled throughout the world to help affirm the leadership role of the EU on this issue. He said that, “there is no flexibility on these objectives” and they should keep to the 20% goal (in terms of energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and renewables) by 2020. To reassure industrial operators that they will not be worse off compared to their competitors who are not subject to the same constraints, it would be best to attempt to, “convince other players to follow us (we the Europeans: Ed)and therefore provide “a global response”. He stressed that, “we will use all flexibility possible on the condition that this is in the agreed framework…it would be a real mistake to forget the challenge of climate change due to the financial crisis”. The French presidency will above all be seeking to look at the current state of negotiations and define the orientation of work in the next two months to reach an agreement by the end of the year, according to the modalities that take into account the current economic difficulties. It will also be presenting its report on energy security and by highlighting the diversification of actions and sources and possible supply routes. (A.B./trans/rh)