Brussels, 20/02/2009 (Agence Europe) -The Balkans, Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Eastern Partnership will be the focus of the "External Relations" Council, which will bring together the foreign affairs ministers on Monday 23 February, under the chairmanship of Karel Schwarzenberg. In the "General Affairs" plank of the Council, which will be chaired by Alexandr Vondra, the ministers will discuss preparations for the Spring European Council (19/20 March) and the European plan for economic relaunch. In addition, an Association Council will be held on Monday evening with Lebanon, followed by a meeting with the Council of Europe. On Tuesday, the troika of the EU will hold a meeting with the foreign affairs minister of Albania. The agenda of the Council is as follows:
European Council (19-20 March). The ministers will hold a brief exchange of views on the draft agenda of the summit, which contains the following points: - economic and financial situation. The leaders will, amongst other things, define the position of the EU for the G20 summit to be held in London on 2 April. They will also assess the implementation of the European economic relaunch plan and will take stock on progress made to reinforce the stability, supervision and transparency of the financial markets; - energy and climate change. The 27 will decide on a raft of orientations to reinforce the energy security of the EU (development of energy infrastructure, shoring up of oil and gas stocks, improved energy efficiency, diversification of energy sources, etc). They will also define the EU's position on preparations for the Copenhagen conference on climate change (December 2009), particularly the increase in investment and financial flows both to relieve the developing countries and to help them adapt; - Eastern Partnership. The leaders are to reach an agreement on this policy and agree to launch it on 7 May at a summit to be held in Prague; - Lisbon Treaty. Brian Cowen and Mirek Topolanek will report back on work underway on the specific wording of the "legal guarantees" to be offered to the Irish by the European Council of December in exchange for a new referendum.
European economic relaunch plan. On Monday, the Presidency is hoping to reach the general agreement on the (revised) proposals of the Commission on the €5 billion for energy interconnection and internet development projects in rural areas (see other article).
Western Balkans. Over lunch, the ministers will hold a general discussion on the enlargement policy and examine the specific situation in certain of the Balkan states, in particular: - Serbia. Amongst other things, they will discuss Belgrade's cooperation with ICTY. On 18 February, Coreper had an interview with the prosecutor general of the Court, Serge Brammertz, who is believed to have reported back that a certain amount of progress has been made. It remains to be seen whether this progress will be enough to win over the Netherlands, still calling for the arrest of Radko Mladic before they will agree to unblock the temporary stabilisation and association agreement (SAA); - Bosnia-Herzegovina: the debate will focus on the general political situation (still of concern) and the role of the future special representative of the EU in the country, further to the resignation of Miroslav Lajcak (EUROPE 9840). According to the Czech Presidency, the name of his successor may be announced as soon as Monday; - Montenegro: the accession application, which has been blocked by several member states at the level of the working group of the Council (EUROPE 9842), will be discussed. The Czech Presidency wants this to be included on the agenda of the Council "as soon as possible" so that the Commission can be asked to give its "opinion". "For us, asking the Commission for its opinion is a purely technical act. But we understand that certain countries need more time to hold a political debate on this subject", explained sources close to the Presidency, which added that on average, the Council asks the Commission for its opinion "two to three months" after the application has been made. As Montenegro made its application in December, the Presidency is hoping to be able to unblock the situation before the March External Relations Council.
Eastern partnership. The Eastern Partnership (EaP), which is designed to reinforce neighbourhood links with Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus, is set to be approved by the European Council in March and launched on 7 May. Although the Commission's proposal has broad political support in the Council, a number of technical points remain to be clarified on Monday: its funding (the Czech Presidency stresses that the EaP will not reduce the budget earmarked for other projects, such as the Union for the Mediterranean), its ambitions in terms of visa policy and how it will fit in with other regional initiatives.
Middle East. With Benjamin Netanyahu having been asked on Friday by Shimon Peres to form a new government in Israel, on Monday ministers will call on the future leaders of Israel to continue the peace process and to commit unequivocally to a "two state solution". The Council will also discuss the conference of support to the Palestinian economy, which will be held in Sharm-el-Sheikh on 2 March.
Afghanistan. The ministers will discuss the situation on the ground ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for 20 August. Ministers are to adopt conclusions reaffirming the EU's commitment to play a major role in the democratic and economic process of the country. (H.B./trans.fl)