Memorandum submitted by the Secretary of State
for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
PROSPECTS FOR THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, BRUSSELS 15-16
DECEMBER
INTRODUCTION
1. We expect the issues for the December
European Council to include: financial perspectives; growth and
jobs; follow-up to the Hampton Court Informal Summit; Africa;
global approach to migration; counter-terrorism; sustainable development;
climate change; the UN summit; Macedonia; and external relations.
The European Council will meet at the same time as the meeting
of WTO Ministers in Hong Kong (13-18 December) but WTO issues
are not on its agenda.
FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVES
2. As Presidency we are committed to working
towards a deal on Future Financing at the December European Council.
We have made clear that there will need to be significant changes
to the proposal issued by the Luxembourg Presidency in June, setting
the path towards a more modern budget focused on priorities and
making substantial changes to the Own Resources proposal made
in June by the Luxembourg Presidency. We expect to issue our proposal
on 5 December and this will be discussed by EU Foreign Ministers
at a Ministerial Conclave on 7 December, and again at the General
Affairs and External Relations Council on 12 December.
GROWTH AND
JOBS
3. We hope to use Council conclusions to
lock in progress on three important strands of our economic reform
agenda: Lisbon/Globalisation, Better Regulation and the Services
Directive. On Services, we hope Heads might endorse the Presidency
conclusions from the 28-29 November Competitiveness Council on
the parameters of a liberalising Services Directive, but it may
be that some Member States will prefer to await the European Parliament's
First Reading in January.
4. We also hope to embed the significant
progress made on Lisbon/Globalisation and Better Regulation, and
give a clear set of forward-looking messages on next steps. On
Lisbon, we expect the European Council to welcome the National
Reform Programmes produced by each Member State, and to recall
the importance of implementing the Lisbon Strategy to delivering
the jobs and growth agenda agreed at the Spring European Council.
On Better Regulation, the European Council should welcome the
Commission's work on simplifying the acquis, screening pending
proposals and assessing the impact and administrative burdens
of new legislation.
FOLLOW-UP
TO THE
HAMPTON COURT
INFORMAL SUMMIT
5. At the Informal Meeting of the European
Council at Hampton Court on 27 October, Heads asked the European
Commission and the High Representative to take forward work in
the fields of research, universities, demographics, energy policy,
justice and home affairs and CFSP/ESDP. At this European Council.
Commission President Barroso and High Representative Solana will
update Heads on the progress they have made on follow-up work.
That follow-up will then continue under the Austrian Presidency.
6. The European Council will also take note
of a joint UK-Austrian Presidency report on each Member State's
assessment of the progress of their national debate on Europe
(a commitment stemming from the June European Council). One element
of debate this autumn was the "Sharing Power in Europe"
Conference, which the UK Presidency jointly hosted with the Netherlands
in The Hague on 17 November, and which discussed the application
of the principle of subsidiarity amongst a range of actors including
Ministers, national and European parliamentarians, academics,
and representatives of the social partners and civil society drawn
from across the EU. Austria has confirmed that it will hold a
follow-up discussion under its Presidency in April 2006.
AFRICA
7. We expect the European Council formally
to adopt the EU's Strategy for Africa "Towards a Strategic
Partnership". This sets out the EU approach to Africa for
the coming years, reflecting priorities identified with the UN,
African Union and G8 over the course of the past year. It will
particularly highlight the themes of peace and security, governance,
sustainable growth, regional integration, trade, investment in
people and development assistance with an underlying philosophy
of African ownership and responsibility. The Strategy provides
a solid and realistic foundation for the consolidation of the
partnership with Africa over the next 10 years.
GLOBAL APPROACH
TO MIGRATION
8. At the Hampton Court Summit, EU
Heads of State and Government agreed on the importance of engaging
more effectively with countries outside the EU on migration issues.
This requires a balanced approach, which strengthens the EU's
borders and combats illegal immigration, but also harnesses the
benefits of legal migration for the EU and for developing countries.
The Commission has published a paper on priority actions on migration,
with a focus on Africa. This sets the agenda for operational co-operation
between Member States, for instance through joint border operations,
and describes how the EU will engage more closely with countries
of origin in Africa and with countries neighbouring the EU to
build their capacity to manage migration. The European Council
will agree short conclusions, highlighting the importance of this
issue.
COUNTER-TERRORISM
9. The European Council will be asked to
consider the significant progress made under the UK Presidency
in implementing the EU Counter Terrorism Action Plan. Achievements
will include the agreement of or substantial progress on an EU
Strategy on Radicalisation and Recruitment; an EU Programme on
Critical Infrastructure Protection; EU Crisis Co-ordination arrangements;
the European Evidence Warrant; a final report of evaluation of
all Member States' counter-terrorism arrangements and best practices;
and measures on simplifying the exchange of law enforcement information.
10. The European Council will also welcome
the agreement of the EU Counter-Terrorism Strategy. This is designed
to complement the Action Plan by giving the EU longer-term strategic
direction. It is based on four broad policy objectives: to disrupt
terrorist activities; to improve our response to terrorist attack;
to protect our citizens and infrastructure by reducing our vulnerability
to attack; and to prevent people turning to terrorism. The strategy
will underline how the EU adds value to national efforts and will
identify mechanisms to provide political oversight while facilitating
progress and delivery though the appropriate working groups and
committees.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
11. The June European Council looked forward
to the review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy by the
end of 2005, if possible. A delay in the publication of the European
Commission's communication on the review of the Strategy has meant
that the UK Presidency has been unable to take forward work as
planned. The Commission now anticipates publishing the communication
in mid-December. If the communication is released in time, the
European Council is likely to note this and look forward to progress
under the Austrian Presidency.
CLIMATE CHANGE
AND SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY
12. The European Council will meet the week
after the UN Climate Change Conference in Montreal (28 November-9
December). The Council will assess progress and set priorities,
based on the outcome of the Montreal Conference and other EU work
to re-invigorate the international negotiations and develop a
medium and longer term climate change strategy. It should endorse
follow-up to the successful EU Summits with China, India, Russia
and Canada, emphasise the importance of developing partnerships
on climate change with all major energy-consuming countries, and
affirm EU support for climate change work under the Gleneagles
Plan of Action. We also hope that the Council will endorse the
need to take action to reduce the climate change impact of aviation,
building on the discussion in the Environment Council on 2 December.
UN SUMMIT
13. We expect that the Council will welcome
the extensive and balanced outcome of the UN Summit, and will
reiterate the EU's strong support for the early and full implementation
of the reforms and commitments then agreed, as outlined in the
extensive Conclusions on Summit follow-up agreed at the General
Affairs and External Relations Council on 7 November.
MACEDONIA
14. The European Commission opinion of 9
November recommended that Macedonia be given Candidate Country
Status but not yet a date for the opening of accession negotiations,
which will depend on further progress being made in key areas.
EU Foreign Ministers will discuss Macedonia at their meeting on
12 December. Depending on the decision of Foreign Ministers, the
European Council may be asked to endorse it.
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
15. There will be a discussion of the Middle
East probably at the Foreign Ministers' dinner on Thursday evening.
Any Conclusions are likely to cover: the Middle East Peace Process
and progress on the EU mission to monitor the Rafah border crossing;
the EU's overall approach towards Iran; Detlev Mehlis' (UN Head
of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission)
latest report on the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister
Rafic Hariri (expected to be published by 15 December) and the
situation in Syria and Lebanon; the recent EuroMed Tenth Anniversary
Summit, which set out a reinvigorated agenda to strengthen the
EU's relations with its Mediterranean Partners; and the transitional
process in Iraq in the light of 15 December constitutional elections.
ESDP
16. We expect the European Council to endorse
the Presidency Report on European Security and Defence Policy
(ESDP). The report is a comprehensive record of civilian and military
ESDP activity in the second half of 2005, including operations,
capability development and co-operation with other international
organisations. It highlights specific progress made in some areas
and outlines the areas which require further work under the Austrian
Presidency.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
1 December 2005
| 
