EU Foreign Ministers prepare the December European Council meeting
Government Communications Unit
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Press release 373/2005
9 December, 2005
The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will meet on 12 and 13 December in Brussels. It will focus on preparations for the European Council meeting that will take place in Brussels on 15 and 16 December. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erkki Tuomioja, will represent Finland at the meeting. Mari Kiviniemi, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, will participate in the extraordinary Council meetings that will take place in Hong Kong on 14 December in the context of the 6th WTO Ministerial Conference.
The Foreign Ministers will draft the conclusions of the European Council meeting, as far as possible, before the meeting in order for the European Council to be able to devote sufficient time to negotiations on the Financial Perspectives. The European Council will also discuss reduced VAT rates as the ECOFIN Council, held on 6 December, was unable to reach political agreement on the matter. The meeting agenda will also include the follow up to the informal meeting of Heads of State and Government at Hampton Court in October, Africa Strategy, immigration, fight against terrorism, sustainable development, climate change, the Lisbon Strategy, better regulation, key external relations affairs and national level debates in the Member States during the reflection period with regard to the Constitutional Treaty.
The intention is that the Foreign Ministers will, as part of preparations for the European Council meeting, hold a second broad discussion on the Union's new Financial Perspectives on the basis of the comprehensive proposal put forward by the UK Presidency on 5 December. Finland considers it positive that the comprehensive proposal has now been submitted and hopes that the matter can be resolved. The UK proposal is, however, problematic as regards, in particular, the development of rural areas, cohesion policy and the system of own resources.
Finland and Austria will present the Operational Programme of the Council for 2006 at the GAERC meeting. The meeting will not officially adopt the Presidency countries' programme but the other Member States will have an opportunity to propose amendments to the programme. Austria and Finland will finalise the programme on the basis of the aforementioned proposals and the results of the European Council meeting.
The Foreign Ministers will discuss enlargement and the Western Balkans and the aim is to adopt relevant conclusions at the meeting. Discussions will be based on the Comprehensive Monitoring Reports, Enlargement Strategy and Comprehensive Country Monitoring Reports on Bulgaria and Romania submitted by the Commission in October/November. The Council will also discuss the possibility of granting candidate country status to Macedonia (FYROM) in line with the Commission's statement.
The Council will consider the EU's future role in Kosovo and a possible EU-led operation there. High Representative Javier Solana and Commissioner Olli Rehn will present a joint report to the Council with regard to the matter. The Union action will focus on civil crisis management, with special emphasis on police and justice affairs, and on economic sectors.
The Council will also discuss the Union's Africa Strategy, which is to be adopted and annexed to the conclusions of the December European Council, and the strained situation at the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner will present the Foreign Ministers an overview of the progress achieved in the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Action Plan. The implementation of the Action Plan was launched in 2005 with seven partner countries (Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Moldova, the Palestinian Administration, Tunisia and Ukraine).
The General Affairs and External Relations Council will hold extraordinary meetings on 14 December in Hong Kong, the venue for the 6th WTO Ministerial Conference. It is possible that the ministers will discuss the WTO talks and Doha Development Programme in Brussels, too. The target level for the Hong Kong meeting is not as ambitious as assumed in the autumn but it exceeds, however, the level set in July 2004 when decisions on the continuation of the negotiation round were made. The meeting is likely to make a decision on a new gathering within several months. The Doha Round is to be finalised in 2006.
Further information: Jari Luoto, State Under-Secretary for EU Affairs, Government Secretariat for EU Affairs, tel. +358 9 1602 2182, with regard to Kosovo, Katariina Niemenmaa, Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5623, and with regard to the WTO negotiations, Matti Lassila, Head of Unit, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5530