14500/03 (Presse 321) 2541st Council meeting - EXTERNAL RELATIONS* - Brussels, 17 November 2003 President : Mr Franco FRATTINI, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic * The 2540th meeting on General Affairs is the subject of a separate press release (14486/03 Presse 319) Internet: http://ue.eu.int E-mail: [email protected] For further information call 32 2 285 82 39 – 32 2 285 63 19 14500/03 (Presse 321) 1 EN 17/18.XI.2003 1 CONTENTS PARTICIPANTS ................................................................................................................................ 4 ITEMS DEBATED EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY........................................................................ 7 – COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS ON ESDP, INCLUDING THE AGENCY IN THE FIELD OF DEFENCE CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH, ACQUISITION AND ARMAMENTS................................................................................................................. 7 – REPORT ON THE AGENCY IN THE FIELD OF DEFENCE CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH, ACQUISITION AND ARMAMENTS.............................. 11 IRAQ - Council Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 18 WESTERN BALKANS -Council Conclusions ................................................................................. 19 FOLLOW–UP TO THE EU–RUSSIA SUMMIT ............................................................................. 20 MIDDLE EAST ................................................................................................................................. 20 IRAN.................................................................................................................................................. 20 WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION - Council Conclusions..................................................... 21 EU-AFRICA RELATIONS ............................................................................................................... 22 – COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................... 22 – GUINEA-BISSAU ................................................................................................................... 23 – GREAT LAKES REGION....................................................................................................... 23 CREATION OF A PEACE FACILITY FOR AFRICA .................................................................... 23 – COUNCIL AND COMMISSION STATEMENT ON A PEACE FACILITY FOR AFRICA.................................................................................................................................... 24 DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE - Council Conclusions.................25 GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT - Council Conclusions ................................................... 28 COTTON PRODUCTION IN AFRICA............................................................................................ 31 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 above mentioned Council Internet site or may be obtained from the Press Office. 14500/03 (Presse 321) 2 EN 17/18.XI.2003 OTHER BUSINESS .......................................................................................................................... 32 – AFGHANISTAN - Council Conclusions................................................................................. 32 – OSCE........................................................................................................................................ 33 14500/03 (Presse 321) 3 EN 17/18.XI.2003 PARTICIPANTS The Governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as follows: Belgium : Mr Louis MICHEL Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr André FLAHAUT Minister for Defence Mr Marc VERWILGHEN Minister for Development Cooperation Denmark : Mr Per Stig MØLLER Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Svend Aage JENSBY Minister for Defence Mr Carsten STAUR State Secretary for Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Germany : Mr Erich STATHER State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development Mr Klaus SCHARIOTH State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Peter EICKENBOOM State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Defence Greece : Mr Giorgios PAPANDREOU Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Giannos PAPANTONIOU Minister for Defence Mr Anastasios GIANNITSIS Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Andreas LOVERDOS State Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Development Assistance and International Financial Transactions) Spain : Ms Ana PALACIO Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Federico TRILLO-FIGUEROA Minister for Defence Mr Ramón DE MIGUEL Y EGEA State Secretary for European Affairs Mr Rafael RODRÍGUEZ-PONGA Secretary-General of he Spanish International Cooperation Agency France : Mr Dominique de VILLEPIN Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms Michèle ALLIOT-MARIE Minister for Defence Mr Pierre-André WILTZER Minister attached to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, with responsibility for Cooperation and the French-speaking World Ms Noëlle LENOIR Minister attached to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, with responsibility for European Affairs Ireland : Mr Brian COWEN Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Michael SMITH Minister for Defence Mr Tom KITT Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (with special responsibility for Overseas Development and Human Rights) Italy : Mr Franco FRATTINI Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Antonio MARTINO Minister for Defence Mr Roberto ANTONIONE State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Luxembourg : Mr Charles GOERENS Minister for Defence Netherlands : Mr Jaap de HOOP SCHEFFER Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Henk KAMP Minister for Defence Mr Atzo NICOLAÏ Minister for European Affairs 14500/03 (Presse 321) 4 EN 17/18.XI.2003 Austria : Ms Benita FERRERO-WALDNER Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Günther PLATTER Federal Minister for Defence Mr Georg LENNKH Director-General, Department of Development Cooperation, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs Portugal : Ms Teresa GOUVEIA Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Paulo PORTAS Minister of State, Minister for Defence Ms Manuela FRANCO State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Finland : Mr Erkki TUOMIOJA Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms Paula LEHTOMÄKI Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Mr Seppo KÄÄRIÄINEN Minister for Defence Sweden : Ms Laila FREIVALDS Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms Leni BJÖRKLUND Minister for Defence Ms Carin JÄMTIN Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for International Development Cooperation United Kingdom : Mr Jack STRAW Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mr Geoff HOON Secretary of State for Defence Mr Hilary BENN Secretary of State for International Development * * * Commission : Mr Poul NIELSON Member Mr Günther VERHEUGEN Member Mr Christopher PATTEN Member * * * General Secretariat of the Council : Mr Javier SOLANA Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP 14500/03 (Presse 321) 5 EN 17/18.XI.2003 The Governments of the Acceding States were represented as follows: Czech Republic : Mr Cyril SVOBODA Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Miroslav KOSTELKA Minister for Defence Estonia : Ms Kriistina OJULAND Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Margus HANSON Minister for Defence Cyprus : Mr George IACOVOU Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Kyriakos MAVRONICOLAS Minister for Defence Latvia : Ms Sandra KALNIETE Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Janis SARTS Under-Secretary, Ministry of Defence Lithuania : Mr Antanas VALIONIS Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Povilas MALAKAUSKAS State Secretary, Ministry of Defence Hungary : Mr László KOVÁCS Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr József FEHÉR State Secretary, Ministry of Defence Malta : Mr Joe BORG Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Joseph R. GRIMA Permanent Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister Poland : Mr Adam Daniel ROTFELD Secretary of State Mr Jan TRUSZCZYNSKI Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Andrzej TOWPIK Under-Secretary of State for Defence Policy, Ministy of Defence Slovakia : Mr Eduard KUKAN Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Juraj LISKA Minister for Defence Slovenia : Mr Dimitrij RUPEL Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Anton GRIZOLD Minister for Defence A meeting of the EU Troika with Defence Ministers from the non-EU European NATO members and the candidate countries for accession to the EU took place in the margins of the Council. These countries were represented as follows: Bulgaria : Mr Nikolay SVARINOV Minister for Defence Romania : Mr Ioan Mircea PASCU Minister for Defence Turkey : Mr Vecdi GONUL Minister for National Defence Iceland : Mr Kjartan JOHANNSSON Ambassador, Head of the Icelandic Mission to the EU Norway : Mr Gunnar HELØE State Secretary, Ministry of Defence 14500/03 (Presse 321) 6 EN 17/18.XI.2003 ITEMS DEBATED NOTE 1 : The acceding countries, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, align themselves on the conclusions on ESDP, Iraq, Western