The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council to discuss the situation in Middle East and Iran

Government Communications Unit

Press release 56/2006
24 February, 2006




The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will meet in Brussels on Monday, 27 February. The main themes of the meeting will be Iran and the situation in the Middle East. Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Mari Kiviniemi will represent Finland at the GAERC meeting.

The Council will discuss the situation in Kosovo on the basis of first direct high-level negotiations held in February in Vienna. The negotiations focused on the development of Kosovo's local government. The Council will also discuss Serbia and Montenegro's cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Montenegro's independence referendum to be organised in spring 2006. There will also be a meeting with representatives of Serbia and Montenegro in connection with the Council meeting.

EU foreign ministers will discuss the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian Legislative Council election and the effect this will have on EU aid programmes. The result of the election poses a serious challenge to the Palestinian Authority. At a meeting held on 30 January, the foreign ministers decided to continue funding the Palestinian Authority as long as the acting government is in office.

Issues relating to Iran's nuclear programme will also be discussed in the Council. The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) decided on 4 February to ask the IAEA Director General to report on the Iranian nuclear programme to the UN Security Council. The Security Council is expected to consider the issue in March.

Discussion will also focus on EU measures concerning the Muslim world reaction to the cartoons featuring Prophet Muhammed published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten. Austria, the current Presidency of the union, is leading the EU-level action as regards the cartoon conflict. EU High Representative Javier Solana also has a key role in trying to calm the situation. He visited Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Palestinian territories in mid-February. During the trip, he met representatives of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), League of Arab States and Persian Gulf Cooperation Council. High Representative Solana, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Secretary General of the OIC issued a joint conciliatory statement on 7 February. On 13 February, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Erkki Tuomioja, sent an open letter to several newspapers in various Muslim countries.

Austria will present to the Foreign Ministers the agenda of the European Council meeting that will take place on 23 and 24 March. The main theme of the meeting will be the progress achieved in the implementation of the Lisbon strategy. The European Council aims to consider ways of improving the implementation of the Lisbon strategy. The Lisbon strategy that was launched in the year 2000, aims at turning the European Union into the most competitive economy in the world. The strategy was renewed in spring 2005 by shifting the focus on growth and employment. National and EU-level implementation of the renewed strategy will be reviewed for the first time in the March European Council. Central topics at the Council meeting will also include energy issues.

Austria, the current Presidency, will also report on negotiations with the European Commission and Parliament concerning the institutions' agreement on the EU Financial Framework for 2007-2013. The agreement between EU institutions will be based on the guidelines adopted by the European Council in December 2005. Decisions on the financial instruments and EU programmes in detail can be made after the agreement has been adopted. Austria aims to conclude the work in March or April. Finland considers it important that agreement be reached without delay. At the same time, European Council decisions must be adhered to and central viewpoints of the Member States and the European Parliament taken into account.

Further information: Laura Aho, Counsellor, Government Secretariat for EU Affairs, tel. +358 9 1602 2150 and Stefan Lee, Attaché, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5438