Ministers prepare June European Council

Government Communications Unit
Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Press Release 180/2007
15 June 2007

The EU Council for General Affairs and External Relations meets in Luxembourg on June 18th. The main topic of the meeting will be the preparations for the European Council meeting in June. The participants from Finland are Minister for Foreign Affairs Ilkka Kanerva, Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen.

The Ministers will be preparing the European Council meeting to be held in Brussels on June 21st and 22nd, where the main topic will be the reform of the Treaties of the EU. The Council will do the groundwork for these decisions in a session to be held on Sunday June 17th. The basis for the discussion is the Chairperson’s draft report to the European Council. In June 2006 the European Council decided that the Chairperson would draft a report on the basis of discussions with the Member States, giving an evaluation of the situation and possible alternative ways forward. On the basis of the report, the European Council is to make decisions on the continuation of the Treaty reforms. The most crucial decisions regarding the continuation of the process will be included in the conclusions of the European Council. The more detailed proposals by the country holding the Presidency for decisions by the European Council will probably not be received until after their hearing in the Council for General Affairs and External Relations.

The GAER Council will also discuss other themes of the conclusions of the June European Council meeting, i.e. legal, internal, economic, social and environmental issues and external relations. As regards these issues, the Council will try to make the conclusions as complete as possible, so that the European Council can concentrate on the Treaty reforms.

An important topic will be the situation in the Middle East, where violence has recently escalated. The situation, particularly in Gaza, is worrying, and the violence should be brought to a halt as soon as possible. Finland also emphasises that the so-called Quartet, the EU, the USA, Russia and the UN should cooperate with representatives of the League of Arab States on furthering the peace process.

The GAER Council will discuss the process relating to the status of Kosovo. The UN Security Council is currently discussing the proposal of Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari for a solution on Kosovo’s status. Finland supports Ahtisaari’s proposal and hopes that the solution will be agreed on in the UN Security Council without delay. Another topic for discussion will be EU-Serbia relations and particularly the negotiations on Serbia’s Stabilisation and Association Agreement, restarted by the Commission on June 13th. The continuation of the discussions became possible when the Hague International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, gave a favourable assessment of Serbia’s cooperation with the ICTY. The condition for concluding the negotiations is still full cooperation with the Tribunal. Finland welcomes the continuation of the negotiations.

Another topic that will probably arise will be the question of facilitating the visa procedure for citizens of the western Balkan countries to the EU countries. The Commission intends to draw up a road map for the process. At the moment the EU has already negotiated with the countries in the area on so-called visa flexibility agreements, which are intended to make it easier e.g. for students and researchers to obtain visas.

The agenda for the Foreign Ministers also includes the development of European policy for neighbouring countries, on the basis of a progress report drawn up by the country holding the Presidency. Finland is committed to the European policy on neighbouring countries and considers it a key tool in achieving reforms in the target countries both to its east and south. The policy concerns, among other things, economic integration, mobility and control of migration, increasing contacts between citizens and political cooperation.

The GAER Council will also discuss ways of enabling the EU to take more efficient action in its efforts to resolve the Darfur crisis. The Government of Sudan announced on June 12th that it has accepted a joint peacekeeping operation of the African Union and the UN in the Darfur area.

In addition, the GAER Council will deal with the situation of the WTO negotiations. The Commission will issue an assessment of the situation before the meeting of Ministers of the G4 countries, i.e. the EU, the USA, Brazil and India, to begin on June 19th, where the aim is to find a common understanding on the central issues of the negotiations

Other topics relating to external relations include the new partnership strategy of the EU and Central Asia, the strengthening of relations between the EU and the Arab League, and Iran.

Further information: Laura Aho, Adviser, EU Affairs, Government Secretariat for EU Affairs, tel. +358 (0)9 1602 2150 and Anne Huhtamäki, Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 6097 or +358 40 546 0456