EU Foreign Ministers to discuss the preparation for the EU-Russia Summit and the EU's external aid and development
Government Information Unit
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Press Release 131/2004
23 April 2004
The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will meet on 26 and 27 April in Luxembourg. Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lehtomäki will represent Finland at the GAERC meeting.
The Council will prepare the EU-Russia Summit that will take place in Moscow on 21 May. A meeting of the EU-Russia Permanent Partnership Council will take place prior to the summit in Luxembourg on 27 April.
Moreover, the Council will discuss the EU's external aid and development. The monitoring of the commitments to the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development and Barcelona European Council will also be on the agenda. The Council will be submitted a Commission follow-up report which includes an analysis of the state of the implementation of the commitments and recommendations for further action. For the first time, the agenda will cover development aid provided by the new Member States that will accede to the Union on 1 May. In 2006, the average rate of public development aid by EU-25 is estimated to reach 0.42% of GNI. The figure will exceed the agreed commitment of 0.39% ODA/GNI made at the Barcelona European Council.
In the context of development issues, the Council will discuss the attainment of the objectives laid down in the UN's Millennium Declaration. The Council will prepare the EU-level reporting to be presented at the UN follow-up meeting in 2005.
The Council will also discuss the situation in the Western Balkans. The situation in Kosovo remains strained in the aftermath of the hostilities that took place in mid-March. The Commission's opinion on Croatia's EU membership application was issued on 20 April. The Commission will introduce its opinion at the Council meeting.
In the context of external relations, the Council will discuss, e.g., the ongoing preparations for transferring the command of the peacekeeping operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina to the EU at the end of 2004. The Council will also discuss the situation in the Middle East, EU-China and EU-Africa relations, the state of play of the WTO negotiations and the preparation for the international development conference.
The Presidency intends to inform the Member States about the practical arrangements relating to work on the IGC. The Council is not to hold negotiations on the contents of the IGC. The March European Council meeting stated that agreement on the Constitutional Treaty should be reached no later than the June European Council. Finland is of the opinion that the IGC negotiations must be conducted in a truly open manner and that all Member States must genuinely be involved in the process. The preparation process must be thorough and a great majority of issues should be agreed on prior to the June European Council in order to reach a sound and balanced result.
Günter Verheugen, Member of the European Commission in charge of enlargement, will provide a review on the shortcomings that were detected in the accession preparations of the ten new Member States and on relevant Commission measures to address the problems. Finland has closely followed the accession negotiations and is of the opinion that the countries have progressed well in their preparations. Finland has emphasised the importance of undisturbed functioning of the internal market and the need to maintain a high level of the safety of foodstuffs in the enlarged Union, too.
The Council will also discuss the question of Cyprus in the light of the result of the referendum that will take place on 24 April. Finland's objective is that the issue be resolved on the basis of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposal before Cyprus's accession to the Union on 1 May.
Further information: Nina Hyvärinen, Senior Officer, Government Secretariat for EU Affairs, tel. +358 9 1602 2120, and Ritva Koukku-Ronde, Deputy Director General, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5390 or +358 40 830 4868