I represented Ireland at the General Affairs Council in Brussels for the first time on 14 February.
The council had a brief exchange of views on preparations for the Lisbon Special European Council, which will be held on 23-24 March. The presidency developed its ideas for establishing in Lisbon a European strategy for growth, competitiveness and employment, with social cohesion. Ministers emphasised the need for operational conclusions from Lisbon, including precise follow-up mechanisms to measure progress. The House will be aware that the Lisbon meeting is the centre piece of the Presidency's programme on the economic policy side. Besides the General Affairs Council, other formations of the council, notably ECOFIN and the Social Affairs Council, are involved in the preparatory work.
The council also considered follow-up to the Helsinki European Council in relation to European security and defence policy. As an interim measure with the aim of improving the EU's ability to take decisions on Petersberg Tasks, the council took decisions enabling the establishment, as of 1 March, of an interim political and security committee within the council, together with an interim body to give necessary military advice. Arrangements were also agreed to allow the EU Council secretariat to be augmented by a small number of military experts seconded from the member states.
Vice-President Kinnock outlined the main elements of the consultative document on commission reform published last month, emphasising the importance of the involvement and support of the GAC. The council adopted conclusions calling for rapid implementation of the administrative reforms proposed, noting that the modernisation of the European public service should provide equal opportunities of access to it for citizens of all member states and pledging to play a full and active role in the reform process.
The council expressed its deepest concern over recent events in Lebanon and appealed to all parties to exercise restraint. It asserted its hope that a return to the April 1996 ceasefire understanding might be achieved and that a further de-escalation might be a first step towards progress in the peace process.
The council regretted that the framework agreement on permanent status between Israel and the Palestinian Authority had not been completed by its target date. In response to a letter to the presidency from Chairman Arafat, it requested that the presidency reaffirm the EU's commitment to the peace process and urge the parties to resume permanent status negotiations without further delay. The council also invited the presidency to advance work on the multilateral negotiations after the positive outcome of the ministerial meeting of the steering committee in Moscow on 1 February.
The council adopted conclusions welcoming the results of trade negotiations with Mexico which are currently being examined within the council. It reaffirmed the economic and political importance of their entry into force through decisions of the EC-Mexico Joint Council, envisaged for 23 March 2000.
In the context of the EU-South Africa trade and development co-operation agreement which is being provisionally applied, the council reached agreement on elements to be presented to the South African authorities with a view to securing a final agreement on the question of the protection of specific EU denominations in the field of wine and spirits.
The Austrian Foreign Minister made a presentation to her colleagues setting out the commitment of her Government to the terms of the declaration signed by the People's Freedom Party. She stressed that the policies of her Government in relation to the European Union would be clear, predictable and marked by continuity.
The council also discussed the charter of fundamental rights, the Western Balkans, Russia, Indonesia and the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust.
The inaugural meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference was convened on the morning of 14 February, in the margins of the GAC. Essentially a formal event, it was preceded, in keeping with agreed consultations arrangements, by a meeting with the president of the European Parliament. The current, previous and future presidencies made brief statements. The meeting considered the work programme of the Intergovernmental Conference, including the question of a presidency report to the Lisbon Special European Council.
Also in the margins of the GAC, on 15 February, the 15 member states and the commission met individually with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia to begin formally enlargement negotiations with each of these countries.