Meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers in Brussels to discuss the EU-Russia Summit and crisis management

Government Communications Unit
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Defence

Press Release  404/2006
10 November 2006

The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will meet on 13 and 14 November in Brussels. The Council meeting will be chaired by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, while Finland will be represented by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lehtomäki. There will also be a meeting of Defence Ministers, chaired by Minister of Defence Seppo Kääriäinen.

On Monday, 13 November, Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja will have bilateral meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus Yiorgos Lillikas and Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis. The meetings will focus on the Union’s enlargement and questions relating to Cyprus.

The Foreign Ministers will prepare for the EU-Russia Summit that will take place in Helsinki on 24 November. As the current holder of the EU Presidency, Finland urges the summit to agree to launch negotiations for a new framework agreement between the EU and Russia. The summit will also discuss the development of EU-Russia cooperation within the so-called common areas, including human rights and regional issues like Georgia. A separate high-level Northern Dimension meeting will be held after the summit, the intention of which is to adopt a new political framework document for the Northern Dimension. 

Kosovo and Serbia are also on the Council’s agenda. The UN Special Envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, will attend the meeting and give a presentation on progress achieved in the negotiations on the status of Kosovo. The situation in Serbia will be considered in the light of the extra-parliamentary and presidential elections in that country. Elections are to be held because of the new constitution but Serbia has not yet set a date for the election. The Council is set to give the European Commission a mandate to negotiate flexible visa regimes and readmission agreements between the EU and Western Balkan countries. Negotiations concerning the amended and extended Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) are to be concluded at the Council meeting.

Discussions will also focus on the situation in the Middle East. The Israeli strikes in Gaza continue to have an effect on efforts to launch the Middle East Peace Process and on negotiations among the Palestinians regarding a new administration. The Council will consider ways of preventing an escalation of violence. The situation in Lebanon and UNIFIL activities are also on the agenda.

The Foreign Ministers will discuss the European Council meeting to be held in Brussels on 14 and 15 December. The Chairman will present the draft agenda for the European Council, with four main themes: enlargement; the area of freedom, security and justice; innovation and energy; and external relations. Feedback received during deliberations on the agenda will be taken into account in the preparation of the draft conclusions of the European Council.

The EU Defence Ministers will meet in connection with the Council meeting. They will address issues such as ongoing crisis management operations, work on military capabilities and development of civil-military coordination in crisis management. The joint session of the Foreign and Defence Ministers will focus on the situation in the People's Democratic Republic of Congo and possible continuation of EU support in the area. They will also discuss the EUFOR RD Congo crisis management operation. The operation has been successful and its current mandate will expire at the end of November.

The EU presence in Bosnia-Herzegovina will continue but the aim is to focus more on civilian crisis management. The aim is to make a decision in principle on the gradual scaling down of the Althea operation during Finland’s EU Presidency. The capacity of the AMIS operation in Sudan is to be reinforced. The EU seeks to coordinate more closely with the UN and later to transfer the entire operation to the UN.

As regards civil-military coordination, the ministers’ discussions will focus on improving situation awareness in accordance with the objectives set for Finland’s EU Presidency. The activities relating to the building of military capabilities has progressed as planned. The Defence Ministers are to adopt the Force Catalogue 2006 that contains qualitative estimates of troops as reported to the EU by the Member States. The meeting is to reiterate full operational capability of EU battle groups as of the beginning of 2007.

The steering board of the European Defence Agency will also hold a defence-minister-level meeting as part of the Council. Amongst the main items on the agenda are approval of the joint research and technology project on force protection, the work programme for 2007 and the project relating to software-defined radio, using new communication technology. In addition, Foreign Ministers will meet for the second Civilian Capabilities Improvement Conference, at which they will review progress made in the course of the year and identify areas for development in 2007. The Civilian Response Teams belonging to the pool will reach a preliminary stage of capability by the end of 2006.

At the Council meeting, the European Commission will present its legislative and work programme for 2007, along with the recently updated enlargement strategy and country reports. Annexed to the enlargement strategy will be a report on the Union’s integration capacity. The presentation on 13 November can be viewed via the Presidency website at www.eu2006.fi/webcasts or via the Council Secretariat’s website at www.consilium.europa.eu/videostreaming.

European Affairs Ministers will meet in Brussels for a working lunch, chaired by Minister Lehtomäki. The Ministers will discuss the European communication policy on the basis of the Commission’s White Paper and events to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in 2007. The Member States will also be given information on the report currently being drafted on openness in the Council’s work, in line with the conclusions of the June European Council.

Further information: on external relations Anne Huhtamäki, Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 6097 or +358 40 546 0456; on general affairs Helena Tuuri, State Under-Secretary for EU Affairs, Government Secretariat for EU Affairs, tel. +358 9 1602 2182; on European Security and Defence Policy Olli-Pekka Jalonen, Defence Counsellor, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 9 1608 8154 and Mikko Kinnunen, Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5275; on the Civilian Capabilities Improvement Conference Tiina Jortikka-Laitinen, Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5696; and on the European Defence Agency Jouko Tuloisela, Senior Government Secretary, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 9 1608 8126