Appendix 1:reports on Council meetings
held during a recess
When the House is sitting, we table a written Question
on the day of each meeting of the Council of Ministers asking
for a report on the Council meeting and on the activities of UK
Ministers in it. However, for Council meetings taking place when
the House is in recess we ask Departments to write to us instead.
Replies concerning meetings during the summer recess are published
below.
Letter
from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Mrs Margaret Beckett) to the Chairman of the Committee
AGRICULTURE
AND FISHERIES COUNCI:22 JULY 2003
My Hon Friend the Parliamentary Secretary and I represented
the United Kingdom at a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries
Council in Brussels on 22 July 2003.
As this was their first meeting in the chair, the
Italian Presidency set out its work programme for the remainder
of the year. This will include the adoption of legal texts formalising
the CAP reform agreement reached in June, the launching of proposals
for reform of the sugar and certain Mediterranean regimes, and
co-ordinating the WTO negotiations at Cancun, Mexico in September.
The Presidency plans two conferences on Mediterranean Fisheries
and Agriculture questions. The relationship between EU agriculture
and that in developing counties will be the theme of the Informal
Ministerial meeting in Sicily in September. Other dossiers to
be taken forward will include GMOs (co-existence with non-GMO
agriculture), rural employment and organic farming.
This Council concluded its discussions of two food
hygiene proposals, which impose a new requirement on food businesses
to adopt specific hygiene procedures and make changes to the veterinary
inspection regime. It was agreed to allow an 18-month implementation
period. The Council was thus able to reach a common position on
the package and, subject to agreement by the European Parliament,
formal texts will be adopted in the Autumn.
The Commission signalled that it is on the verge
of agreeing draft guidance to Member States on how to manage the
co-existence of GM and other crops. Pending Commission agreement,
Commissioner Fischler was not in a position to indicate its likely
content. The guidelines were subsequently issued by the Commission
on 23 July.
Following on from work under the Greek Presidency,
the Presidency proposed some conclusions on the importance of
rural employment which, inter alia, called on the Commission
to carry out a broad study of employment prospects, not just in
agriculture, in the rural areas. The conclusions were unanimously
agreed.
Under AoB, Commissioner Byrne gave the customary
two monthly report on developments regarding BSE. There was no
discussion. The Commission informed the Council of its plan for
a conference on the future for Rural Development in Salzburg in
November. France and a number of delegations reported problems
arising from continued drought.
The Commission reported on preparations for the WTO
Ministerial in Cancun, Mexico, in September and circulated a paper
which set out the impact of the recent CAP reform deal in a WTO
context. I supported the Commission and other Member States in
stressing the importance of getting the EU's trading partners
to recognise the scale and scope of the newly agreed reforms.
With reference to fisheries the Commission presented
its proposals for long-term measures for the recovery of cod and
hake stocks, and there was an initial discussion of the key elements.
We argued that recovery plans were needed for these stocks, that
a close dialogue was needed with the fishing industry, and that
measures which can contribute to recovery plans could include
closed areas and other technical measures as well as limits on
fishing effort. The proposals will now be examined by officials
in preparation for decision in the Autumn.
The presidency noted that work was in hand with the
intention that the Council would reach agreement in September
on the proposal for regulation of fishing effort in western waters.
31
July 2003
Letter
from the Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(Mr Denis MacShane) to the Chairman of the Committee
General
Affairs and External Relations Council: 21 July
I am
writing to inform you of the outcome of discussions held at the
21 July General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels,
in place of my reply to the usual Parliamentary Question.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth
Affairs represented the UK at the General Affairs and External
Relations Council (GAERC) in Brussels on 21 July.
Conclusions on the Middle East Peace Process, Iran,
Iraq, Western Balkans, Operation Concordia in Macedonia, EU-Africa
relations, the Great Lakes, Operation Artemis in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, the International Criminal Court and on prospects
for the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun were agreed
by consensus. The texts of these Conclusions are attached. No
formal votes were taken.
GENERAL AFFAIRS SESSION
Debate on the Presidency's Work Programme
The Presidency introduced its programme for the next
six moths. Discussion mainly focused on the need for effective
planning for the Inter Governmental Conference later this year.
Progress of work in other Council Configurations
The Presidency gave a standard progress report on
work in other Councils (Agriculture and Finance).
EXTERNAL RELATIONS SESSION
Middle East Peace Process
The Council agreed Conclusions, which included a
call for all parties to strictly adhere to the cease-fire agreement.
They also welcomed the efforts of regional partners, namely Egypt
and Jordan, who have been playing an active part in this context.
The EU held separate meetings with Israeli Foreign
Minister Shalom and Nabil Sha'ath, Palestinian foreign minister-equivalent.
Both Ministers acknowledged the EU's role in helping to deliver
the Roadmap. Both men recognised the role that the EU had played
and continued to play in the Quartet. They underscored the need
for both sides to implement fully obligations under the Roadmap
and welcomed the appointment of Mr Marc Otte as the new EU Special
Representative on the Middle East Peace Process, in succession
to Mr Miguel Moratinos.
Iraq
The Council agreed Conclusions. It welcomed the establishment
of the Governing Council in Iraq and repeated the EU's readiness
to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq within the framework
of UN Security Council Resolution 1483. The Council looked ahead
to the planned Donors Conference in October, where it was agreed
that the EU would play an important role. The Commission circulated
a focused and useful non-paper on the suggested shape of the EU's
contribution to Iraqi reconstruction.
Iran
The Council agreed Conclusions, building on the robust
Conclusions agreed at the last GAERC on 16 June. The Council's
message to Iran was that closer economic co-operation would only
be achieved if the country made progress on the EU's four main
areas of concern: human rights; terrorism; non-proliferation;
and the Middle East Peace Process. A key EU concern is that
Iran signs and implements the Additional Protocol to its IAEA
Safeguards agreement. The Council made clear that it would review
further steps of cooperation between the EU and Iran in September
in the light of Mr El-Baradei's second report to the IAEA Board
of Governors.
The Death Penalty
The Presidency sought Partners' preliminary views
on how the EU might approach, at the next meeting of the UN General
Assembly, the issue of the Death Penalty.
Western Balkans
Mr Patten announced that the Commission would launch
a feasibility study on opening negotiations for a Stabilisation
and Association Agreement with Serbia and Montenegro (SaM), once
the State Union Assembly had endorsed SaM's Internal Market and
Trade Action Plan. No definitive date was set for the completion
of the study. The Council agreed to extend Operation Concordia
in Macedonia and remitted to officials work on finalising the
detailed arrangements. There were Council Conclusions on Operation
Concordia and the Balkans in general; the latter re-emphasised
the EU's support for an early start to the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue.
EU-Africa
The Council agreed Conclusions on EU-Africa and the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Presidency reported on
the outcome of the Ministerial Troika which was held in the margins
of the African Union Summit in Maputo on 11 July. The Secretary
General/High Representative Javier Solana debriefed on his visit
to the Great Lakes region. He praised the results of Operation
Artemis (ESDP military operation in DRC) and described how the
EU's positive contribution to the humanitarian effort in Ituri
in DRC had been widely recognised across the region.
Preparation for Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference,
Cancun
The Council agreed Conclusions that would form the
basis of its position for the forthcoming Ministerial in Cancun,
Mexico.
6 August 2003
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