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COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION EN 13622/05 (Presse 274) PRESS RELEASE 2687th Council Meeting General Affairs and External Relations External Relations Brussels, 7 November 2005 President Mr Jack Straw Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom * Some external relations items were adopted without debate at the meeting on General Affairs (13621/05 Presse 273). P R E S S Rue de la Loi 175 B – 1048 BRUSSELS Tel.: +32 (0) 2 285 8239 / 6319 Fax: +32 (0)2 285 8026 [email protected] http://ue.eu.int/Newsroom 13622/05 (Presse 274) 1 EN 7.XI.2005 Main Results of the Council Concerning the Middle East , the Council: – decided to launch a police mission in the Palestinian territories under the European Security and Defence Policy. The mission, which will have a long-term reform focus, will provide enhanced support to the Palestinian Authority in establishing sustainable and effective policing arrangements; – noted the EU's willingness in principle to provide assistance with the operation of crossings at Gaza's borders on the basis of an agreement between the parties. This followed a request by Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn on behalf of the parties that the EU consider playing a third party monitoring role at the Rafah crossing point on the Gaza-Egypt border. Concerning the Western Balkans , the Council: – expressed its full support for the UN Secretary General's intention to start a political process to determine Kosovo's future status . Reaffirming the EU's determination to participate fully in the definition of this status, it endorsed HR Solana's nomination of Mr Stefan Lehne as EU representative to the Kosovo future status process, to support the UN Status Envoy in the implementation of his mandate; – invited the relevant Council bodies to examine negotiating directives with a view to opening negotiations for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina as soon as possible. The Council reviewed its overall approach to Iran . It notably condemned in the strongest terms the comments in respect of Israel made by President Ahmedinejad. On the nuclear issue, it urged Tehran to implement all measures requested by the 24 September IAEA Board of Governors Resolution. It also expressed its deep concern at the serious violations of human rights which continue to occur in Iran. The Council examined the EU's policy towards Belarus . It expressed its deep concern at the deteriorating situation of human rights and political freedoms in Belarus and called on the Government to ensure that the upcoming electoral process is free and fair. It confirmed its determination to intensify the EU’s support for democracy and human rights in Belarus and stated its readiness to take further appropriate restrictive measures against the responsible individuals in the event of failure to uphold international standards. 13622/05 (Presse 274) 2 EN 7.XI.2005 CONTENTS 1 PARTICIPANTS........................................................................................................................... 4 ITEMS DEBATED WESTERN BALKANS - Council conclusions ................................................................................ 6 MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS - Council conclusions ............................................................. 9 SYRIA AND LEBANON - Council conclusions ........................................................................... 12 IRAN - Council conclusions ......................................................................................................... 13 IRAQ - Council conclusions ......................................................................................................... 15 BELARUS - Council conclusions ................................................................................................. 18 WTO/DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA.................................................................................. 21 UN WORLD SUMMIT FOLLOW-UP - Council conclusions ....................................................... 22 OTHER BUSINESS ..................................................................................................................... 23 – Colombia............................................................................................................................. 23 – Cuba.................................................................................................................................... 23 IN THE MARGINS OF THE COUNCIL...................................................................................... 24 – EU-South-Africa Joint Cooperation Council ........................................................................ 24 OTHER ITEMS APPROVED – None ...............................................................................................................................................................25 1 Where declarations, conclusions or resolutions have been formally adopted by the Council, this is indicated in the heading for the item concerned and the text is placed between quotation marks. The documents whose references are given in the text are available on the Council's Internet site http://ue.eu.int. Acts adopted with statements for the Council minutes which may be released to the public are indicated by an asterisk; these statements are available on the abovementioned Council Internet site or may be obtained from the Press Office. 13622/05 (Presse 274) 3 EN 7.XI.2005 PARTICIPANTS The Governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as follows: Belgium: Mr Karel DE GUCHT Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Didier DONFUT State Secretary for European Affairs, attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Czech Republic: Mr Cyril SVOBODA Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Vladimír MÜLLER Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs with responsibility for EU issues Denmark: Mr Per Stig MØLLER Minister for Foreign Affairs Germany: Mr Klaus SCHARIOTH State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Estonia: Mr Urmas PAET Minister for Foreign Affairs Greece: Mr Petros MOLYVIATIS Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Ioannis VALINAKIS State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Spain: Mr Miguel Ángel MORATINOS CUYAUBÉ Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mr Alberto NAVARRO GONZÁLES State Secretary for the European Union France: Mr Philippe DOUSTE-BLAZY Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms Catherine COLONNA Minister with responsibility for European Affairs Ireland: Mr Dermot AHERN Minister for Foreign Affairs Italy: Mr Gianfranco FINI Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Cyprus: Mr George IACOVOU Minister for Foreign Affairs Latvia: Mr Artis PABRIKS Minister for Foreign Affairs Lithuania: Mr Antanas VALIONIS Minister for Foreign Affairs Luxembourg: Mr Jean ASSELBORN Deputy Prime Minister, Minister with responsibility for Foreign Affairs and Immigration Mr Nicolas SCHMIT Minister with responsibility for Foreign Affairs and Immigration Hungary: Mr Ferenc SOMOGYI Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Etele BARÁTH Minister without portfolio responsible for European Affairs Malta: Mr Richard CACHIA-CARUANA Permanent Representative Netherlands: Mr Bernard BOT Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Atzo NICOLAÏ Minister for European Affairs 13622/05 (Presse 274) 4 EN 7.XI.2005 Austria: Ms Ursula PLASSNIK Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Hans WINKLER State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs Poland: Mr Stefan MELLER Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Jaroslaw PIETRAS State Secretary, Head of the Office of the Committee for European Integration Portugal: Mr Fernando DE OLIVEIRA NEVES State Secretary for European Affairs Slovenia: Mr Dimitrij RUPEL Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Marcel Koprol State Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister Slovakia: Mr Eduard KUKAN Minister for Foreign Affairs Finland: Mr Erkki TUOMIOJA Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms Mari KIVINIEMI Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Sweden: Mr Lars DANIELSSON State Secretary to the Prime Minister Mr Hans DAHLGREN State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs United Kingdom: Mr Jack STRAW Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mr Douglas ALEXANDER Minister of State for Europe Commission: Ms Benita FERRERO-WALDNER Member Mr Olli REHN Member Mr Peter MANDELSON Member General Secretariat of the Council: Mr Javier SOLANA Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP The Governments of the Acceding States were represented as follows: Bulgaria: Mr Ivailo KALFIN Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms Meglena KUNEVA Minister for European Affairs Romania: Mr Mihai-Razvan UNGUREANU Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms Anca BOAGIU Minister for European Integration 13622/05 (Presse 274) 5 EN 7.XI.2005 ITEMS DEBATED WESTERN BALKANS - Council conclusions The Council adopted the following conclusions: "BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 1. The Council welcomed the Commission's communication on the state of preparations in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the negotiations of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union. The Council expressed its agreement with the Commission's conclusions and invited the relevant Council bodies to examine the Commission's proposed negotiating directives with a view to opening the negotiations as soon as possible. 2. The Council welcomed the significant progress made by Bosnia and Herzegovina with its reform agenda, and encouraged it to take full account of the points raised in the Commission's communication, the upcoming progress report