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&RQVHLO Brussels, 20 March 2000 6810/00 (Presse 73) WK&RXQFLOPHHWLQJ *(1(5$/$))$,56 %UXVVHOV0DUFK President :0U-DLPH*$0$ Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic &217(176 3$57,&,3$176,,, ,7(06'(%$7(' PREPARATION OF THE SPECIAL EUROPEAN COUNCIL MEETING .......................................... V 2nd MINISTERIAL SESSION OF THE IGC 2000 ............................................................................. V COMMON EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY - CONCLUSIONS .......................... V MOZAMBIQUE - CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................... VI AFRICA-EUROPE SUMMIT............................................................................................................. VI CONFLICTS IN AFRICA ................................................................................................................. VII WESTERN BALKANS - CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................... VII ECONOMIC SITUATION OF BULGARIA AND ROMANIA.............................................................. IX 56TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS - GENEVA, MARCH-APRIL 2000........................................................................................................X CHINA - CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................ X DEATH PENALTY...................................................................................................................XI RUSSIA / CHECHNYA- CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................ XI STATUTE FOR MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT................................................. XII REDUCTION OF NUMBER OF COUNCIL FORMATIONS ............................................................ XII FREE-LANCE INTERPRETERS..................................................................................................... XII ,7(06$33529(':,7+287'(%$7( ;,, (;7(51$/5(/$7,216 XIII − Second EC-Mexico Joint Council.......................................................................................... XIII − Arms embargo on Ethiopia and Eritrea................................................................................. XIII − European Union assistance for mine clearance in Croatia................................................... XIII − Resignation of Mr. Roumeliotis, EU Special Representative for the Royaumont Process ... XIII − Indonesia - Council conclusions............................................................................................ XIII − United Nations finances - Council conclusions ......................................................................XV − Exceptional financial assistance to Tajikistan *.....................................................................XVI − Exception for the EFTA States in the field of audiovisual services.......................................XVI − Enlargement - accession partnership with Cyprus and Malta...............................................XVI − Association Council EU-Romania .........................................................................................XVI 75$'(48(67,216 XVI − Control of exports of dual-use goods ....................................................................................XVI − Imports of agricultural products following the accident at the Chernobyl * ..........................XVII 7$;$7,21XVII − Sixth VAT Directive - derogation for Netherlands ................................................................XVII 352*5(66$&+,(9('%<7+((8523($181,21,1 XVII BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB )RUIXUWKHULQIRUPDWLRQFDOO 3$57,&,3$176 The Governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as follows: %HOJLXP Mr Louis MICHEL Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr André FLAHAUT Minister for Defence Mr Pierre CHEVALIER State Secretary for Foreign Trade 'HQPDUN Mr Niels HELVEG PETERSEN Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Hans HÆKKERUP Minister for Defence Mr Friis Arne PETERSEN State Secretary for Foreign Affairs *HUPDQ\ Mr Joschka FISCHER Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Rudolf SCHARPING Federal Minister for Defence Mr Christoph ZÖPEL Minister of State, Foreign Affairs *UHHFH Mr George PAPANDREOU Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Apostolos-Athanasios TSOCHATZOPOULOS Minister for Defence Mr Christos ROKOFYLLOS Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs 6SDLQ Mr Abel MATUTES Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Eduardo SERRA REXACH Minister for Defence Mr Ramón de MIGUEL State Secretary for Foreign Policy )UDQFH Mr Hubert VEDRINE Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Alain RICHARD Minister for Defence Mr Pierre MOSCOVICI Minister attached to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, with responsibility for European Affairs ,UHODQG Mr Brian COWEN Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Michael SMITH Minister for Defence ,WDO\ Mr Sergio MATTARELLA Minister for Defence Mr Umberto RANIERI State Secretary for Foreign Affairs /X[HPERXUJ Ms Lydie POLFER Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Charles GOERENS Minister for Cooperation, Humanitarian Intervention and Defence 1HWKHUODQGV Mr Jozias VAN AARTSEN Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Frank de GRAVE Minister for Defence Mr Dick BENSCHOP State Secretary for Foreign Affairs $XVWULD Ms Benita FERRERO-WALDNER Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Herbert SCHEIBNER Minister for Defence 3RUWXJDO Mr Jaime GAMA Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Júlio CASTRO CALDAS Minister for Defence Mr Francisco SEIXAS da COSTA State Secretary for European Affairs )LQODQG Mr Erkki TUOMIOJA Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Jan-Erik ENESTAM Minister for Defence Mr Kimmo SASI Minister of Foreign Trade and European Affairs 6ZHGHQ Mr Anne LINDH Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Björn VON SYDOW Minister for Defence 8QLWHG.LQJGRP Mr Robin COOK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mr Keith VAZ Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Baroness SYMANS of VERNHAM DEAN Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Minister for Defence Procurement &RPPLVVLRQ Mr Romano PRODI President Mr Michel BARNIER Member Mr Poul NIELSON Member Mr Christopher PATTEN Member Mr Günter VERHEUGEN Member *HQHUDO6HFUHWDULDWRIWKH&RXQFLO Mr Javier SOLANA Secretary General / High Representative for CFSP Mr Pierre de BOISSIEU Deputy Secretary General 35(3$5$7,212)7+(63(&,$/(8523($1&281&,/0((7,1* The Council expressed its satisfaction at the state of maturity reached in the preparation of the Special European Council in Lisbon on 23/24 March, with respect to the main theme "Employment, Economic reforms and Social cohesion: towards a Europe based in innovation and knowledge". The Council also took note of the indications given by the Presidency on the programme - in addition to the main item: situation in the Balkans, Presidency report on Strengthening the Common Security and Defence Policy, state of play with regard to the Intergovernmental Conference on institutional reform, and in the margins: 2nd Joint Council with Mexico (Thursday end of morning). As for the organisation of this meeting, three table rounds are foreseen for the main subject, one on Thursday morning devoted to the overall strategic objective and to the information society, and two on Thursday afternoon, devoted respectively to the economic and social dimensions. QG0,1,67(5,$/6(66,212)7+(,*& The 2nd Ministerial IGC - held in the margins of the Council - was preceded by a meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Ms FONTAINE and the EP Representatives in the preparatory group, Mr BROCK and Mr TSATSOS. During this meeting the President of the Representatives group, State Secretary SEIXAS da COSTA, presented a report on the state of work reached at his group. In the Ministerial IGC session the two following issues were discussed by Ministers: the composition/structure of the Commission and the participation/weighting of Member States in the decision making process in the Council. &20021(8523($16(&85,7<$1''()(1&(32/,&<&21&/86,216 The Council, with the participation of Ministers of Defence, had a comprehensive discussion on progress in the European Security and Defence Policy in the follow-up to the Helsinki European Council, addressing both the military and the civilian tracks of ESDP. The Council endorsed the draft Presidency Report to the Lisbon European Council "Strengthening the Common European Security and Defence Policy", expressing its full appreciation for what has been achieved so far both in the military and non-military tracks of crisis management. Building on discussion at the informal meeting of Defence Ministers in Sintra on 28 February 2000, the Council identified the process for further elaborating the headline and capability goals. It concluded that the "food for thought" paper on the "Elaboration of the headline goal", including the timetable set out therein leading to a Capabilities Pledging Conference to be convened by the end of 2000, constitutes a basis for future work to be conducted by the competent bodies. The Council also adopted the document on "Military bodies in the EU and the planning and conduct of EU-led operations" as a basis for future work to be conducted by the interim military bodies and other competent bodies. The Council considered the establishment of a Committee for civilian crisis management and agreed to continue to define its role and competencies along the lines described in the paper "Establishment of a EU committee for civilian