C/01/414
Brussels, 19-20 November 2001
13802/01 (Presse 414)
2386th Council meeting
- GENERAL AFFAIRS -
Brussels, 19-20 November 2001
President: Mr Louis MICHEL
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr André FLAHAUT
Minister for Defence
Mr Antoine DUQUESNE
Minister for the Interior of the Kingdom of Belgium
CONTENTS
PARTICIPANTS...... 4
ITEMS DEBATED
WTO...... 8
PROCEEDINGS IN THE COUNCIL'S OTHER CONFIGURATIONS...... 9
ENLARGEMENT...... 10
FUTURE OF THE UNION...... 11
MIDDLE EAST...... 13
ESDP...... 14
STATEMENT ON IMPROVING EUROPEAN MILITARY CAPABILITIES...... 14
POLICE CAPABILITIES COMMITMENT CONFERENCE – STATEMENT...... 20
WESTERN BALKANS...... 23
-WESTERN BALKANS - Conclusions...... 23
-STABILITY PACT - Conclusions...... 25
AFRICA – Conclusions...... 26
COMBATING TERRORISM – EUROPEAN UNION ACTION FOLLOWING THE ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES 29
AFGHANISTAN - Conclusions...... 30
ASSOCIATION OF THE OVERSEAS COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 31
MEETING BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL AND THE TRADE UNION AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS OF THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS 33
ITEMS APPROVED WITHOUT DEBATE
EXTERNAL RELATIONS...... I
Promoting the Convention on certain conventional weapons - Conclusions...... I
European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports - Third annual report...... II
European Union Special Representative for the Middle East peace process...... II
Rwanda - Common Position...... II
Burundi – Joint Action...... III
EU-Croatia...... III
Estonia and the Slovak Republic - Implementing rules for State aid...... IV
Preparation for the Association Councils with Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic...... IV
ECSC – Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan...... IV
ECOFIN...... IV
Money laundering *...... IV
TRANSPARENCY...... V
Public access to Council documents...... V
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PARTICIPANTS
The Governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as follows:
Belgium:MrLouis MICHEL / Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr André FLAHAUT / Minister for Defence
Mr Antoine DUQUESNE / Minister for the Interior
Ms Annemie NEYTS / State Secretary, attached to the Minister for Foreign Affairs
Denmark:
MrFriis Arne PETERSEN / State Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Ms Lise Lotte NILAS / Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Justice
Mr Anders TROLDBORG / Permanent State Secretary for Defence, Ministry of Defence
Germany:
Mr Ludger VOLMER / Minister of State, Foreign Affairs
Mr Walther STÜTZLE / State Secretary to the Federal Ministry of Defence
Greece:
MrGeorge PAPANDREOU / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Yannos PAPANTONIOU / Minister for Defence
Mr Michalis CHRISOCHOÏDIS / Minister for Public Order
Mr Anastasios GIANNITSIS / Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs
Spain:
Mr Josep PIQUE I CAMPS / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Federico TRILLO-FIGUEROA Y MARTINEZ CONDE / Minister for Defence
Mr Ramón DE MIGUEL Y EGEA / State Secretary for European Affairs
Mr Santiago LOPEZ VALDIVIELSO / DirectorGeneral, Guardia Civil, Ministry of the Interior
France:
Mr Hubert VEDRINE / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Alain RICHARD / Minister for Defence
Mr Pierre MOSCOVICI / Ministere attached to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, with responsibility for European Affairs
Mr Patrice BERGOUGNOUX / DirectorGeneral of the National Police
Mr Pierre STEINMETZ / DirectorGeneral of the National Gendarmerie
Ireland:
Mr Brian COWEN / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Michael SMITH / Minister for Defence
Mr Michael MELLETT / Assistant Secretary, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform
Italy:
Mr Renato RUGGIERO / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Salvatore CICU / State Secretary for Defence
Mr Alfredo MANTOVANO / State Secretary for the Interior
Luxembourg:
Ms Lydie POLFER / Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade
Mr Charles GOERENS / Minister for Cooperation, Humanitarian Intervention and Defence
Mr Michel WOLTER / Minister for the Interior
Netherlands:
Mr Jozias VAN AARTSEN / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Frank de GRAVE / Minister for Defence
Mr Gijs de VRIES / State Secretary for the Interior and Overseas Territories
Mr Dick BENSCHOP / State Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Austria:
Ms Benita FERREROWALDNER / Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Herbert SCHEIBNER / Federal Minister for National Defence
Mr Ernst STRASSER / Federal Minister for the Interior
Portugal:
Mr Jaime GAMA / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Rui PENA / Minister for Defence
Mr Nuno SEVERIANO TEIXEIRA / Minister for the Interior
Ms Teresa MOURA / State Secretary for European Affairs
Finland:
Mr Erkki TUOMIOJA / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr JanErik ENESTAM / Minister for Defence
Mr Ville ITÄLÄ / Minister for the Interior
Mr Kimmo SASI / Minister of Foreign Trade and European Affairs
Sweden:
Ms Anna LINDH / Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden
Mr Björn VON SYDOW / Minister for Defence
Mr Thomas BODSTRÖM / Minister for Justice
United Kingdom:
Mr Jack STRAW / Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Mr Geoffrey HOON / Minister for Defence
Mr Peter HAIN / Minister of State for Europe
Mr Jim DANIEL / Director, Home Office
Commission:
Mr Neil KINNOCK / VicePresident
Mr Michel BARNIER / Member
Mr Pascal LAMY / Member
Mr Christopher PATTEN / Member
Mr Günter VERHEUGEN / Member
Mr António VITORINO / Member
General Secretariat of the Council:
Mr Javier SOLANA / SecretaryGeneral/High Representative for the CFSP
Participants from the nonEU European Member States of NATO and the other candidate countries for accession to the EU at the ministerial meetings held on 20 November 2001 on improving military capabilities and on police capabilities commitment:
Bulgaria:Mr Solomon PASSY / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Nikolay SVINAROV / Minister for Defence
Mr Georgi PETKANOV / Minister for the Interior
Cyprus:
Mr Ioannis KASOULIDES / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Socrates HASIKOS / Minister for Defence
Mr Nicos KOSHIS / Minister for Justice and Public Order
Estonia:
Mr Toomas Hendrik ILVES / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Jüri LUIK / Minister for Defence
Mr Mart KRAFT / State Secretary, Ministry of the Interior
Hungary:
Mr János SZABÓ / Minister of Defence
Mr Béla SZOMBATI / Deputy State Secretary, Foreign Affairs
Mr Lászlo FELKAI / State Secretary for the Interior
Latvia:
Mr Girts Valdis KRISTOVSKIS / Minister for Defence
Mr Maris RIEKSTINS / State Secretary, Foreign Affairs
Mr Andris PIEBALGS / Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,
Head of Latvia's Mission to the EU
Lithuania:
Mr Antanas VALIONIS / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Linas LINKEVIĈIUS / Minister for Defence
Mr Jonas LIAUDANSKAS / Deputy Minister for the Interior
Malta:
Mr Joseph BORG / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Joseph GRIMA / Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister's Office
(responsibilities for defence)
Mr Louis CILIA / Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Interior
Poland:
Mr Wlodzimierz CIMOSZEWICZ / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Jerzi SZMAJDZIŃSKI / Minister for Defence
Mr Andrzej BARCIKOWSKI / Deputy Minister for the Interior
Ms Danuta HÜBNER / State Secretary, Foreign Affairs
Mr Stefan MELLER / UnderState Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr Januzs ZEMKE / Deputy Minister
Slovak Republic:
Mr Eduard KUKAN / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Jan MICHALKO / Minister for the Interior
Mr Rastislav KACER / State Secretary for Defence
Czech Republic:
Mr Jan KAVAN / Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Stefan FÜLE / Deputy Minister for Defence
Mr Stanislav GROSS / Minister for the Interior
Romania:
Mr Mircea GEOANA / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Ioan Mircea PAŞCU / Minister for National Defence
Mr Alexandru FARCAS / State Secretary for the Interior
Slovenia:
Mr Dimitrij RUPEL / Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr Anton GRIZOLD / Minister for Defence
Mr Rado BOHINC / Minister for the Interior
Turkey:
Mr Sabahattion ÇAKMAKOĢLU / Minister for National Defence
Mr Nihat AKYOL / Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Head of Turkey's Mission to the EU
Iceland:
Ms Sólveig PETURSDOTTIR / Minister for Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs
Mr Gunnar Snorri GUNNARSSON / Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Head of the Mission to the European Union
Norway:
Ms Kristin KROHN DEVOLD / Minister for Defence
Mr Odd Einar DØRUM / Minister for Justice
WTO
On the basis of an oral presentation by Commissioner LAMY, the Council, referring to the conclusions of its special meeting held in Doha from 9 to 14 November 2001 (cf. Press release, 14171/01, Presse 425), welcomed the results of the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha which made it possible to achieve the central objective of launching a new round of multilateral trade negotiations.
The Council conveyed its sincere appreciation to Commissioners LAMY and FISCHLER for their decisive action which made it possible to achieve results that were on the whole balanced and satisfactory for the European Union.
The Council confirmed the Union's determination to act as an active and constructive participant during the round.
PROCEEDINGS IN THE COUNCIL'S OTHER CONFIGURATIONS
The Council noted the progress on the most important issues currently under discussion in the Council's other configurations.
The Presidency felt that, on the whole, discussions were progressing satisfactorily with regard to accomplishing most of the mandates issued by the European Council, particularly concerning the Lisbon strategy.
The Presidency stressed the importance which it attached to making substantial progress by the end of its term on GALILEO, the Community patent, cross-border payments in euro and the European Food Authority.
ENLARGEMENT
The Council noted Commissioner VERHEUGEN's presentation of the Commission's strategy paper on enlargement, its reports on the progress towards accession by each of the candidate countries and the revised accession partnership projects, as well as the Ministers' initial political reactions.
The Council would conduct a more in-depth examination of the documents at its meeting on 10December with a view to preparing for the European Council in Laeken. To that end, the Presidency indicated its intention of presenting draft conclusions in time for the Council bodies, particularly the Permanent Representatives Committee, to prepare adequately for these discussions.
FUTURE OF THE UNION
The Council, on the basis of a new contribution by the Presidency (non-paper), continued its discussions concerning preparation for the Laeken Declaration on the future of the Union.
Following the discussion, the President noted that the general structure of the Declaration put forward by the Presidency in three parts:
-political analysis of the state of the Union, the public perception of the Union and citizens' expectations;
-reminder of the content of the Nice Declaration; the Nice terms being taken as a starting point, presentation of certain ideas for the Convention;
-decision convening a Convention,
was welcomed.
He also pointed out that the four indents of the Nice Declaration would be the starting point for the matters to be considered by the Convention, with the proviso that they should be set out reasonably – taking account of the "inter alia" which qualified the subjects of the Nice Declaration. These subjects could therefore also count on a favourable reception and would provide various avenues to be pursued by the Convention.
The President indicated that the Presidency would take due account of contributions from Member States when transforming the outline of thinking on the Convention discussed that day into the draft Declaration which it would submit to Member States before the President of the European Council began his tour of the capitals. The draft should already be complete enough as regards the first analytical part and the provisions concerning the composition and functioning of the Convention.
With regard to the subjects for the Convention, the draft text should be as developed as possible so that delegations could prepare for Laeken in full knowledge of the facts. These subjects would be presented in the form of questions.
Furthermore, the President considered it necessary, following the discussion, to adopt some additional points of reference, namely:
-the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality,
-the legitimacy of the European Parliament, the link between the European Parliament and national parliaments and the increased role of national parliaments,
-not questioning the Community acquis,
-the Union's enhanced external dimension,
-the effectiveness of the Union's decision-making process.
MIDDLE EAST
During lunch, the Ministers addressed the situation in the region in the light of the contacts which had taken place at the following events:
- the EUROMED ministerial conference held in Brussels (5 November);
- the meetings held in parallel with the ministerial week of the United Nations General Assembly in New York (9-16 November);
- the meetings held during the visit to the region by the President of the European Council, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, the President of the Commission, Romano Prodi, and the SG/HR, Javier Solana.
The Ministers also completed the preparation of the Union's position for the second meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council (cf.14271/01, Presse 433), particularly concerning rules of origin.
ESDP
Following its meeting attended by the Ministers for Defence, the Council adopted the following statement:
STATEMENT ON IMPROVING EUROPEAN MILITARY CAPABILITIES
I.DEVELOPMENT OF MILITARY CAPABILITIES
1.In connection with the pursuit of the objectives of the CFSP, the efforts which have been undertaken since the Cologne, Helsinki, Feira, Nice and Göteborg European Councils aim to give the European Union the means to play a full part at international level in accordance with the principles of the UnitedNations Charter and to faceup to its responsibilities to cope with crises by developing the range of instruments already at its disposal and adding a military capability to carry out all the conflict-prevention and crisis-management tasks as defined in the Treaty on European Union ("Petersberg tasks"). Such a development also calls for a true strategic partnership between the EU and NATO in crisis management, with due regard for the decisionmaking autonomy of the two organisations.
2.At the Capability Improvement Conference in Brussels on 19 November 2001[1], the Ministers for Defence reaffirmed their responsibility for the development of the headline goal (being able to deploy 60 000 men in less than 60 days and to sustain them for at least one year). On that occasion, they emphasised their determination to seek solutions and new forms of cooperation in order to develop the necessary military capabilities and make good the shortcomings identified, while making optimum use of resources.
Member States reaffirm their steadfast commitment to meet the objectives set in Helsinki in full and to respond to the shortcomings which had been identified. Their revised national contributions strengthen the realisation of the headline goal. Member States also agreed on a "European Capability Action Plan" (see Chapter III) incorporating all the efforts, investments, developments and coordination measures executed or planned at both national and multinational level with a view to improving existing resources and gradually developing the capabilities necessary for the Union's activities.
That Conference represents an important stage in a demanding process for strengthening the Union's military capabilities, with the aim of achieving by 2003 the headline goal which has been set. That process will continue beyond that date in order to achieve the strategic capability goals within the framework of a dynamic and permanent process for adapting forces and capabilities.
II.CONTRIBUTIONS
3.General
At the Capability Improvement Conference, Member States voluntarily confirmed their contributions as established at the Conference in November 2000, and made significant improvements in terms of both quantity and quality, which enabled some shortcomings to be rectified. The multi-role possibilities of certain capabilities and the substitution process are also enabling other deficiencies to be made good in whole or in part.
An assessment of the revised national contributions confirms that the EU should be able to carry out the whole range of Petersberg tasks by 2003.
However, efforts must be made if the Union is to be able to carry out the most complex operations as efficiently as possible and to reduce any limitations and restrictions in terms of the breadth of the operation and the period of deployment as well as the level of risk.
4.Forces
Contributions and progress made
In quantitative terms, Member States' voluntary contributions confirm the existence of a body of resources consisting of a pool of more than 100 000 men, around 400 combat aircraft and 100 ships, fully satisfying the requirements defined by the headline goal to conduct different types of crisis-management operations. Ground element contributions meet the basic requirements for forces and support and back–up resources. Maritime requirements are well catered for. The air capabilities offered meet the quantitative requirements for air defence and ground troop support.
Member States have made substantial additional contributions, thus rectifying several shortcomings and deficiencies in whole or in part. In the case of land-based resources, this relates in particular to multiple rocket launcher, transmission, electronic warfare, armoured infantry and bridging engineering units. With regard to naval resources, progress has been achieved in the naval aviation sector. As regards aviation resources, additional contributions have been made in the fields of combat search and rescue and precision guided weapons.
Efforts to be made
Additional efforts must be made with regard to protecting forces deployed, commitment capability and logistics. The degree of availability of ground elements, operational mobility and the flexibility of the force deployed must also be improved.
Improvements in the fields of naval aviation resources and maritime medical evacuation must continue to be sought. There are still problems to be solved with regard to air elements, interalia in the fields of combat search and rescue and precision guided weapons.
5.Strategic capabilities
Contributions and progress made
With regard to command, control, communications and intelligence resources (C3I), Member States are offering a sufficient number of headquarters at the levels of operation, force and component, as well as deployable communications units.
Member States have also offered a number of intelligence resources to contribute towards the EU's analysis and surveillance capabilities. The air and sea transport available will enable an initial entry force to be deployed; strategic mobility has also been improved.
Progress has been made in the C3I field and in maritime strategic mobility.
Efforts to be made
A qualitative analysis of certain C3I resources has yet to be made. If this analysis reveals certain deficiencies, they must be regarded as critical. Moreover, shortcomings exist with regard to deployable communications units.