7038/03 IR/Sh 1 DG E Coord COUNCIL of the EUROPEAN
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COUNCIL OF Brussels, 7 April 2003 (09.04) THE EUROPEAN UNION (OR. en, fr) 7038/03 PESC 111 FIN 92 PE 57 "I/A" ITEM NOTE from : Secretariat to : COREPER/COUNCIL No. prev. doc. : 7330/02 PESC 100 FIN 108 PE 28 Subject : Annual report from the Council to the European Parliament on the main aspects and basic choices of CFSP, including the financial implications for the general budget of the European Communities (point H, paragraph 40, of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999) 2002 1. The Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA) of 6 May 1999 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure, provides under point H, paragraph 40, that "once a year the Council Presidency will consult the European Parliament on a Council document setting out the main aspects and basic choices of the CFSP, including the financial implications for the general budget of the European Communities". 2. The "Foreign Relations Counsellors" Working Group at its meetings on 31 March and 3 and 7 April 2003 examined a draft report presented by the General Secretariat of the Council, and agreed to submit to COREPER the text set out in the Annex. 7038/03 IR/sh 1 DG E Coord EN 3. The document follows the same criteria as those used for the previous reports 1, namely: its scope is limited to the description of CFSP activities, e.g. common positions, joint actions and implementing decisions, declarations and démarches, political dialogue (where appropriate, and necessary in order to provide a comprehensive view of the activities, reference is made to actions falling outside Title V of the TEU); it is complementary to the chapter on external relations of the annual report on the progress of the European Union presented to the Parliament in application of Article 4 of the TEU; the broad priorities of the Union's external relations, as expressed for example in European Council conclusions, are included in the "Article 4" report. 4. The Committee is invited: to confirm agreement on the text of the draft document set out in the ANNEX; to recommend to the Council that it approve as an "A" item the document on the main aspects and basic choices of CFSP, including the financial implications for the general budget of the Communities, for presentation to the European Parliament in application of point H, paragraph 40, of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999. 1 7087/98 PESC 66 PE 23, 7051/99 PESC 71 FIN 91 PE 26, 5990/00 PESC 50 FIN 37 PE 8, 7853/01 PESC 130 FIN 117 PE 27 and 7330/02 PESC 100 FIN 108 PE 28. 7038/03 IR/sh 2 DG E Coord EN COUNCIL OF Brussels, 29 April 2003 THE EUROPEAN UNION 7038/03 COR 1 (en) PESC 111 FIN 92 PE 57 CORRIGENDUM TO "I/A" ITEM NOTE from : Secretariat to : COREPER/COUNCIL No. prev. doc. : 7038/03 PESC 111 FIN 92 PE 57 Subject : Annual report from the Council to the European Parliament on the main aspects and basic choices of CFSP, including the financial implications for the general budget of the European Communities (point H, paragraph 40, of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999) - 2002 Page 6, (d), § 2, first sentence Instead of: "... 9 September ..." Read: "... 30 Sepember ..." Page 8, first sentence Instead of: "... 9 September ..." Read: "... 30 Sepember ..." Page 25, (d), seventh sentence Instead of: "... 15 October ..." Read: "... 15 November ...". ____________ 7038/03 COR 1 (en) IR/sh 1 DG E Coord EN ANNEX COUNCIL DOCUMENT ON THE MAIN ASPECTS AND BASIC CHOICES OF CFSP, INCLUDING THE FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE GENERAL BUDGET OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, PRESENTED TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN APPLICATION OF POINT H (PARAGRAPH 40) OF THE INTERINSTITUTIONAL AGREEMENT OF 6 MAY 1999 Preliminary Remarks The Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA) of 6 May 1999 provides that "once a year the Council Presidency will consult the European Parliament on a Council document setting out the main aspects and basic choices of the CFSP, including the financial implications for the general budget of the European Communities". The Council adopted the first such report on 30 March 1998 1. It covered CFSP actions agreed from July 1997 until March 1998. The following reports 2 covered the whole of the 1998 calendar year (thus overlapping with the previous report for the first quarter of 1998), 1999 3, 2000 4, and 2001 5. The present report covers the year 2002 and also looks at perspectives for future action in accordance with the practice followed since the 1999 report. This report follows the same criteria as those used for the previous reports, namely: - its scope is limited to the description of CFSP activities, e.g. common positions, joint actions and implementing decisions, declarations and démarches, political dialogue (where appropriate, and necessary in order to provide a comprehensive view of the activities, reference is made to actions falling outside Title V of the TEU); - it is complementary to the chapter on external relations of the annual report on the progress of the European Union presented to the Parliament in application of Article 4 of the TEU; - the broad priorities of the Union's external relations, as expressed for example in European Council conclusions, are included in the Article 4 TEU-report mentioned above. The following items relating to CFSP matters are available on the Internet web site of the Council (http://ue.eu.int): list of CFSP legislative acts; declarations; information on EU Special Envoys and the European Union Monitor Mission (EUMM); the calendar of CFSP activities, including political dialogue meetings with third countries, as well as basic texts on the EU military structures. 1 7087/98 PESC 66 PE 23. 2 7051/99 PESC 71 FIN 91 PE 26. 3 5990/00 PESC 50 FIN 37 PE 8. 4 7853/01 PESC 130 FIN117 PE 27. 5 7330/02 PESC 100 FIN 108 PE 28. 7038/03 IR/sh 3 ANNEX DG E Coord EN I. MAIN ASPECTS AND BASIC CHOICES OF THE CFSP A. PRIORITIES IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS 1. WESTERN BALKANS (a) Regional aspects The Copenhagen Council in December confirmed the European perspective of the five countries of the Western Balkans and underlined, once again, the European Union's determination to support their efforts as potential candidates to move closer to the European Union. The Stabilisation and Association process remains the policy framework to help the countries along the way and is recognised and supported by the whole of the international community and by the countries of the region. It is an entry strategy introducing European values, principles and standards in the region, which in due course will gain them entry into the European Union. The process and the prospects it offers are serving as the anchor for reform in the Western Balkans in the same way the accession process has in Central and Eastern Europe. With a view to giving a clear signal of the privileged relationship between SAP participants and the EU, the Council also agreed on 13 May to establish a new high level political forum the Zagreb Process between the EU and the SAP countries. It welcomed the readiness of Greece to organise, during its Presidency of the EU, a high level meeting between EU Member States and SAP countries in Thessaloniki, as a follow-up to the Zagreb Summit. The Council also continued to closely follow horizontal issues affecting the region as a whole: The Council confirmed its full support for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) repeatedly and made clear that failure to cooperate fully with ICTY would jeopardise further movement towards the EU by the countries in the region. Despite some improvement in their cooperation with the ICTY, some problems nevertheless continued to persist in many countries of the region. The Council recalled on 15 April and 22 September that the right of return of all refugees and displaced persons was a fundamental human right. It also expressed its grave concern about arms sales in clear breach of UN sanctions on 19 November. The Council identified the grave threat posed by organised crime to stability, prosperity and progress in the region, which is also having serious consequences for the whole of Europe, as a key priority in the cooperation with the countries of the Western Balkans. It consequently expressed full support on 9 December to the successful outcome of the London Conference on Organised Crime, held on 25 November. 7038/03 IR/sh 4 ANNEX DG E Coord EN Following up on the 13 May conclusions on the second annual report of the SAP, in which the Council underlined the "importance of a better understanding of the SAP by the people of the region, its conditions and obligations as well as its perspectives", the Council on 18 November approved "Guidelines for strengthening operational coordination and communication of EU action in the Western Balkans. On 25 November, the Council extended the Joint Action on the European Union Monitoring Mission as well as the mandate of the EUMM Head of Mission, Amb. Antóin MAC UNFRAIDH. The 5th Summit of the Cooperation Process in South Eastern Europe (SEECP) was held in Tirana on March 28, comprising the participation of one Member State (Greece), candidate countries (Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey) and countries of the EU's Stabilisation and Association Process (Albania, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia as observer). The Balkan leaders were joined by South Eastern Europe Stability Pact coordinator Erchard Busek and UNMIK head Michael Steiner. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia took over the chairmanship of the regional initiative for the coming year.