ANNEX
ACHIEVEMENT
OF PRESIDENCY
OBJECTIVES
1. This paper is being submitted with a month
of our Presidency to go. In the remaining weeks there will be
several important meetings of the Council of Ministers, as well
as the Cardiff European Council itself. This annex therefore records
the most significant achievements so far, but does not seek to
evaluate the Presidency as a whole. It follows the format of the
Memorandum submitted in November on our objectives and priorities
for our Presidency.
MAIN CHALLENGE:
UNEMPLOYMENT
Jobs
2. The Luxembourg jobs summit last November
agreed new employment guidelines, designed to help Member States
to pursue national policies to reduce unemployment. During our
Presidency all Member States have for the first time produced
action plans setting out how they are implementing those guidelines.
These are being assessed, and will inform the next version of
the employment guidelines, on which decisions will be reached
in December.
3. We have accomplished a range of other practical
steps:
— agreement on a package of venture
capital support for SMEs;
— progress on setting priorities for
the next generation of EU education, training and youth programmes;
— acknowledgement that the European
Social Fund should support national employment and lifelong learning
strategies;
— demonstration projects to test novel
employment initiatives;
— a Belfast seminar of Ministers for
Women that looked at ways of improving women's employability,
particularly by improving childcare; and a conference in Glasgow
on work organisation.
Growth and Competitiveness
4. Growth depends on competitiveness. Under
our Presidency the Industry Council has had its first debate on
the subject. We have arranged conferences on Enterprising Europe
and, in June, on improving access to venture capital. There is
now broad agreement among Member States on the policies needed
to strengthen competitiveness: structural reform to ensure more
efficient markets; continuous development of skills; a better
environment for business start-ups and a culture more supportive
of entrepreneurship and innovation; better access to venture capital;
constant improvement of regulatory, administrative and physical
infrastructure.
Single Market
5. We have taken forward work on enforcing single
market rules and making them more effective. We have achieved
major progress on areas such as harmonised standards, mutual recognition
and public procurement, and on filling remaining gaps in the single
market, e.g., agreement on a Consumer Guarantees Directive and
progress towards a European Company Statute. Controls on state
aid have been tightened with a new agreement on shipbuilding aid
and progress toward reduced aid.
6. We have also made progress in areas such
as mutual recognition of qualifications and advertising. We have
continued the drive to modernise the single market to reflect
technological change. We have reached agreement on setting up
a single market in telecoms terminal equipment, and on co-ordinated
introduction of a new generation of mobile phones. We have also
reached political agreement on a regulation and Council Resolution
to protect the free movements of goods.
Trade
7. We have taken steps to strengthen the EU's
contribution to promoting international trade. The Prime Minister
attended the WTO 50th Anniversary Ministerial on behalf of the
EU. The EU/US Summit on 18 May announced a Transatlantic Economic
Partnership that will enhance both transatlantic trade and the
multilateral trading system. It also announced measures to overcome
the effects on EU business of US sanctions legislation. We had
fruitful discussions at the second Asia-European Meeting (ASEM
2) in London in April, and have made good progress on agreeing
the EU mandate for negotiations with the 71 countries of Africa,
the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP), and on reform of the EC banana
regime.
WHAT THE
EU CAN DO
FOR THE
CITIZEN
Fighting crime
8. We have made major advances in Justice and
Home Affairs:
— a Pre-Accession Pact to boost co-operation
against organised crime with the applicant countries of Central
and Eastern Europe and Cyprus;
— a joint action aimed at making it
an offence under the laws of each Member State for a person present
in its territory to participate in a criminal organisation;
— a signed Convention on jurisdiction
and recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters
(Brussels II);
— significant progress on a convention
on mutual assistance in criminal matters, and towards the establishment
of Europol.
9. We hope to make further progress in the coming
weeks on establishing a judicial network to improve co-operation
among Member States' judicial authorities; and on a Convention
on Driving Disqualifications. This will enable disqualifications
imposed in one Member State to be enforced throughout the EU.
The citizen and the marketplace
10. Our success in developing the single market
will bring extensive benefits for Europe's people, not only in
the general areas of lower prices and wider choice, but from specific
measures such as mutual recognition of qualifications and the
provisions of a Consumer Guarantees Directive.
A more open Europe
11. We have made good progress towards more
transparency in the EU. We secured agreement for greater openness
in the EU. We secured agreement for greater openness in the Third
Pillar—e.g., by publishing calendars of meetings and new
proposals, more frequent press briefings, regular progress reports,
and an open debate during each Presidency—and to publish
a register of Council documents to facilitate public access. In
the first three of our eight open Council debates, we attracted
a higher attendance than any other Presidency has achieved in
its entire term. We have initiated preparations to implement the
Amsterdam Treaty provisions on openness.
12. We have sought to simplify regulation and
cut red tape. We have raised the profile of the need for better
regulation, including by holding a conference in Manchester; and
worked with the incoming (Austrian) Presidency on follow-up.
Cutting Waste
13. We have continued the fight against fraud
and efforts to improve management of Community finances. Ecofin
has debated a report on follow-up to the Court of Auditors' report
on the 1996 accounts—the first time Council has discussed
Member States' replies to ECA criticism. That debate highlighted
key financial management issues, such as the need for clear aims
for expenditure and to evaluate results against them. This should
help ensure weaknesses are effectively addressed.
14. The European Parliament reported last year
on fraud in the Community transit system. In the light of that
we have pursued work on legislation to improve the workings of
the transit system, and on the new computerised transit system.
15. We have made good progress on changes to
the Financial Regulation. This sets out rules to draw up, implement
and audit the EU budget to improve financial management. We have
also worked to pass on good practice in financial management to
the applicant countries, to help them develop effective financial
systems before they join the Union.
Improving the Environment
16. We have secured advances in the fight against
pollution, for example on CO2 emissions through our
co-ordination of EU follow-up work to the Kyoto summit on Climate
Change. We hope to secure agreement on further measures to reduce
atmospheric pollution—Directives on Air Quality and the
Sulphur Content of liquid fuels—at the Environment Council
in June. The Council will also consider Community action on water
quality, and a framework for national standard-setting in zoos.
We have also reached agreement on vehicle emissions, landfill,
volatile organic compounds, and with the European Parliament on
the Fifth Environmental Action Programme. We have achieved our
goal to bring the environment to the fore in other policy areas,
for example by progress towards a ban on drift-net fishing from
1999; a commitment by Energy Minsters to develop renewable energy
sources; and joint work by Transport and Energy Ministers on curbing
pollution from traffic growth.
INHERITED AGENDA
EMU
17. The decisions of 1-2 May on EMU fully achieved
our main Presidency objectives. Both the participating countries,
and conversion rates between participating currencies, were agreed
with the greatest possible certainty throughout the process. An
adjustment to the central rate of the Punt was achieved smoothly
in advance. A series of technical decisions were also agreed,
including legislation on the denominations and specification of
euro coins, and the legal framework for the euro. Agreement was
reached on the President and other members of the Executive Board
of the European Central Bank.
Enlargement
18. The objectives we set in November for enlargement
have been met. The Luxembourg European Council agreed that the
enlargement process should be based on the principles favoured
by the UK: inclusiveness; differentiation without discrimination;
and a reinforced pre-accession strategy. Substantial progress
has been made since. It includes the successful launch of the
European Conference, the Accession Process and the first six bilateral
accession negotiations; and the successful conclusion of the Accession
Partnerships.
19. Turkey did not attend the inaugural meeting
of the European Conference. But the initiation to participate
remains open. The Commission proposal for a European Strategy
for Turkey has been welcomed as a basis for discussion.
Policy Reform/Agenda 2000
20. Since the Commission tabled detailed policy
proposals in March, we have launched negotiations across the full
range of issues involved. A report will be submitted to Cardiff
which will set out in detail the progress that has been made.
The negotiations will not be completed before the first half of
1999. We have based our national negotiating position on the principles
in the Memoranda we have tabled.
EU and the World
21. We have made good progress in developing
the EU's partnerships with third countries. At the EU/US Summit
on 18 May we announced a package of agreements which will greatly
reduce the threat of US sanctions against EU companies, and which
provides for a lasting resolution of our differences with the
US over sanctions legislation. We also announced a new Transatlantic
Economic Partnership. More widely, we have developed additional
substance to EU/US co-operation on foreign policy and security
questions, for example the Middle East Peace Process and non-proliferation;
and by encouraging greater grass-roots contacts across the Atlantic.
22. On 25 May the General Affairs Council reached
political agreement on an EU Code of Conduct on arms exports.
The Code will be formally adopted in June. A priority objective
for our Presidency, this is a significant achievement. It represents
a substantial step forward in creating responsible and effective
regulation of the European arms trade, by establishing common
criteria to be applied by all EU Member States when considering
whether to agree arms exports. These criteria include, inter alia,
respect for human rights in the recipient country, the preservation
of regional peace, security and stability, and the behaviour of
the buyer country with regard to the international community.
23. We hosted the first ever EU/China Summit
in London in April. The second Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 2), also
in London in April, gave a further boost to the political and
economic relationship between Europe and Asia. The EU/Russia Summit
in Birmingham marked the EU's decision to remove Russia from the
list of non-market economies—a long-standing Russian concern.
It also welcomed the work of TACIS and noted in particular the
potential for the EU to support Russian efforts to deal with nuclear
waste and nuclear safety issues.
24. We hope for further progress in the Euro-Mediterranean
partnership between the EU and the 12 Mediterranean countries
at an ad hoc meeting of Foreign Ministers in Palermo in June.
Good progress has been made on agreeing the EU mandate for negotiations
with the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP):
we hope to finalise work during our Presidency.
25. We have also co-ordinated the EU response
to a wide range of international problems, some long-standing,
others which have developed during our Presidency. Examples of
the former include support for the new (pro-Dayton) Republika
Srpska government in Bosnia and for the Montenegrin government;
a vigorous response to the worsening crisis in Kosovo; improved
co-ordination with the US and an increased political profile for
the EU in the Middle East Peace Process; revived EU consensus
on a policy of constructive engagement with China; agreed EU Common
Positions on Afghanistan and the Great Lakes region of Central
Africa. Examples of new crises to which we have co-ordinated a
response include developments in Algeria, Iraq and Indonesia,
and Indian Nuclear Testing.
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