EU Ministers of Defence and Ministers of Development Policy attend the General Affairs and External Relations Council
Goverment Information Unit Ministry for Foreign Affairs Ministry of Defence Press release 142/2003
The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will meet on 19 and 20 May in Brussels. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erkki Tuomioja, and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Paula Lehtomäki, will represent Finland at the meeting. Minister of Defence, Matti Vanhanen, will attend the joint meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers and Ministers of Defence and the conference on the improvement of EU's capabilities on 19 May. During the conference, Finland will present an additional offer relating to the aims of EU military crisis management.
Among the issues to be considered by the Council will be the situation in the Middle East, and Iraq. The European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations have put together a plan, known as the road map, that focuses on the Middle East situation. Publication of the plan has revived hopes for a peaceful solution. The EU fully supports the road map, the implementation of which should be launched without delay. As regards Iraq, the EU has emphasized that the UN should be given a prominent role in the aftermath of the crisis. Several EU Member States have reopened, or are planning to reopen, their embassies in Baghdad.
The Council will also discuss European Security and Defence Policy and the two concrete results that have been achieved in this field this spring. The permanent cooperation arrangements between the EU and Nato were finalised and the first EU-led crisis management operation (Concordia) successfully launched in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Council will continue preparation of the EU-Russia Summit to be held in St. Petersburg on 31 May. The Council will also consider the situation in the Western Balkans.
The meeting of the Ministers of Development Policy will focus on the report regarding the implementation of the commitments the EU made at the Monterrey Summit. The Commission's analysis states that implementation of the measures has proceeded in a favourable manner. Member States seem to be willing to improve coordination of the implementation in 2004. The Ministers will also discuss the Commission's action plan on development cooperation for the year 2003 and the administrative reform of the management of development assistance that has already progressed considerably. Delays in payments are, however, still causing problems. The meeting will also consider the proposal for a European Union Water Fund for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
In the context of general affairs, the Council will discuss the agenda of the forthcoming Thessaloniki European Council and EU Staff Regulations. Among the most important items on the agenda of the Thessaloniki European Council will be the European Convention, immigration and asylum issues, EU enlargement, the Western Balkans, the New Neighbours initiative, the Lisbon Strategy and external relations. The European Council is also to reach political agreement on the reform of EU Staff Regulations which have not been significantly amended since they were first established in 1968.
Further information: Timo Ranta, Counsellor, Government Secretariat for EU Affairs, tel. +358 9 1602 2191, Marjo Mäki-Leppilampi, Attaché, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, +358 9 1605 6145 and Lieutenant Colonel Jukka Sonninen, Defence Staff, tel. +358 9 1812 2552 (as regards the conference on improvement in capabilities)