European Council postponed ratification of the Constitutional Treaty

Press release 200/2005
18 June 2005


The European Council meeting that took place on 16 and 17 June in Brussels decided to postpone the ratification process of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe to year 2006. European leaders considered that the results of the referenda in France and the Netherlands require broad-based national debates in the Member States. Decisions on how to proceed with the ratification will be made in the first half of 2006 on the basis of these discussions. In Finland, the Cabinet Committee on European Union Affairs will consider the ratification of the Treaty on Wednesday 22 June.

Agreement was not reached on the other main topic of the Council meeting - the EU Financial Perspectives for 2007-2013.

The Council adopted the Declaration on the guiding principles for sustainable development and the integrated economic and employment guidelines for a tree-year cycle. In Finland's opinion it is of key importance that the Member States implement the policy recommendations proposed in the guidelines. The most topical of these are the national reform programmes that are to be drafted by mid-October.

The European Council was satisfied with the progress of the Hague Programme relating to justice and home affairs. The Programme promotes the common area of freedom, security and justice. The new action plan stresses cooperation in particular with regard to internal security of the Union. The mid-term review of the Programme will be carried out during the Finnish EU Presidency in 2006.

The Council adopted wide conclusions on external relations of the Union. The conclusions determine EU objectives for the United Nations Summit to be held in the autumn and for the reform of the world organisation. The Summit is an opportunity to reiterate EU's support to the United Nations. Development issues are an essential part of the preparation of the Summit. The European Council reaffirmed new goals for development aid, according to which public development aid in the EU rises to 0.56 per cent of the GDP by 2010.

The conclusions review the entire area of third-country relations of the EU, for example the Western Balkans, European Neighbourhood Policy, Iraq, Iran, Trans-Atlantic relations and Russia. The conclusions include also an overview of the development of European Security and Defence policy. The European Council adopted separate declarations on Kosovo, the Middle East Peace Process and Lebanon.

Further information: Antti Peltomäki, State Secretary for EU Affairs, tel. +358 9 1602 2180 and Jari Luoto, State Under-Secretary for EU Affairs, tel. +358 9 1602 2182, Government Secretariat for EU Affairs