8567/04 (Presse 116) PROVISIONAL VERSION covering 26 April discussions. The Council continues on 27 April. 2577th Council meeting - EXTERNAL RELATIONS - Luxembourg, 26-27 April 2004 President : Mr Brian COWEN, TD Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland * The 2576th meeting on General Affairs is the subject of a separate press release (8566/04 Presse 115) Internet: http://ue.eu.int/ E-mail: [email protected] For further information call 32 2 285 & – 32 2 285 & 8567/04 (Presse 116) 1 EN PROVISIONAL VERSION 26-27 IV 2004 CONTENTS 1 PARTICIPANTS................................................................................................................................ 3 ITEMS DEBATED EXTERNAL TRADE .......................................................................................................................... 5 EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY........................................................................ 6 WESTERN BALKANS - Council conclusions ................................................................................... 7 CHINA................................................................................................................................................. 9 MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS - Council conclusions ............................................................. 10 AFRICA............................................................................................................................................. 13 – EU-Africa relations - Council conclusions............................................................................... 13 – Sudan - Council conclusions .................................................................................................... 17 RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA........................................................................................................... 18 OTHER BUSINESS .......................................................................................................................... 19 – Seal hunting in Canada............................................................................................................. 19 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. ▪ Some external relations items were adopted without debate in the framework of the “General Affairs” meeting of the Council. See communiqué of that meeting, doc 8566/04. 8567/04 (Presse 116) 2 EN PROVISIONAL VERSION 26-27 IV 2004 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 Denmark : Mr Carsten SØDERGAARD Secretary of State Germany : Mr Joschka FISCHER Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Federal Chancellor Greece : Mr Petros MOLYVIATIS Minister for Foreign Affairs Spain : Mr Miguel Angel MORATINOS CUYAUBÉ Minister for Foreign Affairs France : Mr Michel BARNIER Minister for Foreign Affairs Ireland : Mr Dick ROCHE Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and at the Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for European Affairs Italy : Mr Roberto ANTONIONE State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Luxembourg : Ms Lydie POLFER Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Minister for the Civil Service and Administrative Reform Netherlands : Mr Bernard BOT Minister for Foreign Affairs Austria : Ms Benita FERRERO-WALDNER Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Portugal : Mr Carlos COSTA NEVES State Secretary for European Affairs Finland : Mr Erkki TUOMIOJA Minister for Foreign Affairs Sweden : Ms Laila FREIVALDS Minister for Foreign Affairs United Kingdom : Mr Jack STRAW Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs * * * Commission : Mr António VITORINO Member Mr Günter VERHEUGEN Member Mr Pascal LAMY Member Mr Chris PATTEN Member * * * General Secretariat of the Council : Mr Javier SOLANA Secretary -General/High Representative for the CFSP 8567/04 (Presse 116) 3 EN PROVISIONAL VERSION 26-27 IV 2004 The Governments of the Acceding States were represented as follows: Czech Republic : Mr Jan KOHOUT Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Estonia : Ms Kristiina OJULAND Minister for Foreign Affairs Cyprus : Mr George IACOVOU Minister for Foreign Affairs Latvia : Mr Rihards PIKS Minister for Foreign Affairs Lithuania : Mr Antanas VALIONIS Minister for Foreign Affairs Hungary : Mr András BÁRSONY Secretary of State Malta : Mr John DALLI Minister of Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion of Malta Poland : Mr Włodzimierz CIMOSZEWICZ Minister for Foreign Affairs Slovenia : Mr Dimitrij RUPEL Minister for Foreign Affairs Slovakia : Mr Eduart KUKAN Minister for Foreign Affairs 8567/04 (Presse 116) 4 EN PROVISIONAL VERSION 26-27 IV 2004 ITEMS DEBATED NOTE : The acceding countries (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia) align themselves on the conclusions on Western Balkans, the Middle East Process, EU-Africa relations and partnership and Sudan. EXTERNAL TRADE - Doha Development Agenda - Accession of Russia to the WTO - EU/Mercosur Association Agreement The Council was informed by Commissioner Pascal Lamy on recent developments regarding the Doha Development Agenda, the negotiation agenda launched by the World Trade Organisation in November 2001 at Doha, and of his assessment of the prospects for progress during the coming weeks and months. It also noted the views and concerns expressed by a number of delegations on the issues at stake. The Council expressed full support to the Commission in its efforts to pursue the negotiations with a view to obtaining progress by the end of July. The Council was also briefed by Commissioner Lamy on negotiations with Russia with a view to its accession to the WTO and on negotiations with Mercosur aimed at concluding an Association Agreement. It took note of concerns expressed by delegations regarding the need for reciprocity in the negotiations with Mercosur. 8567/04 (Presse 116) 5 EN PROVISIONAL VERSION 26-27 IV 2004 EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY Discussions on this item are reflected in the final section (possible ESDP mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including a military component) of the Council conclusions on the Western Balkans - see next item. 8567/04 (Presse 116) 6 EN PROVISIONAL VERSION 26-27 IV 2004 WESTERN BALKANS - Council conclusions Following its discussion, the Council adopted the following conclusions: SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO / KOSOVO "The Council emphasised its full support for the policy of Standards before Status and urged the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government to demonstrate their responsibility for and commitment to achieving concrete progress on the implementation of the Standards. It stressed the importance of dialogue between the communities in Kosovo and between Pristina and Belgrade in order to address critical issues of common interest. The EU stands ready to support this dialogue. The Council reaffirmed its strong commitment to a secure, democratic, multi-ethnic and prosperous Kosovo. It emphasised that the recent violence had been a setback for Kosovo and endangered the progress made in recent years. It confirmed that in the aftermath of the violence, the immediate priorities must be to ensure security, to facilitate the return of displaced persons, to reconstruct destroyed property and to bring those responsible to justice. The Council urged all political leaders in Kosovo, in particular the Kosovo Albanian leadership, to work closely with UNMIK and KFOR to ensure the physical security and the full protection of the rights of members of all communities in Kosovo. FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA The Council welcomed the generally smooth conduct of the first round of the Presidential elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia following the tragic death of President Boris Trajkovski. It noted that a strong turnout in the second round of elections on 28 April would further strengthen the democratic process. The Council expressed confidence that the future Head of State would provide leadership as the people of the country continue to make progress towards Europe through the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. 8567/04 (Presse 116) 7 EN PROVISIONAL VERSION 26-27 IV 2004 TOKYO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON PEACE CONSOLIDATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTERN BALKANS The Council welcomed the initiative of the Government of Japan in organising the successful Ministerial Conference on Peace Consolidation and Economic Development of the Western Balkans in Tokyo on 5 April 2004. The Council endorsed the Joint Conclusions adopted at the Conference. It warmly welcomed the sustained engagement of Japan with the Western Balkans and the close co-operative relationship between the EU and Japan in support of the region and of its European perspective. REGIONAL COOPERATION - SEECP The Council welcomed the positive results of the recent South Eastern European