§ Mr. MossTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council on 16 and 17 July.
§ Mr. HurdThe Foreign Affairs Council met in Brussels on 16 and 17 July. My hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and I represented the United Kingdom.
The Council considered the necessary follow-up to the European Council in Dublin, including on preparations for the two intergovernmental conferences, and on development policy and social policy. The Council also took note of the outcome of the Houston economic summit.
The Council further reviewed the Community's relations with central and eastern Europe, including the G24 programme of western assistance and the extension of the Community's PHARE programme to other eastern European countries in addition to Poland and Hungary. The Council endorsed the postponement of signature of the trade and economic and commercial co-operation agreement with Romania and the exclusion of Romania from the proposed extension of the PHARE programme.
The Council considered Commission proposals for additional assistance to Yugoslavia and remitted them for further study. The presidency also presented a proposal for a Mediterranean financial institution, which was similarly remitted for further study.
The Council agreed a negotiating mandate for a trade and economic co-operation agreement with Chile, and conclusions and guidelines for a common position of the Community and member states for the second United Nations conference on the least developed, to be held in Paris in September. The Commission presented proposals for the Community's response to Colombia's special plan to combat drugs, and referred them for further discussion.
On 17 July, the Council discussed the current state of play in the GATT Uruguay round in the light of the outcome of the Houston summit and in advance of the trade negotiations committee in Geneva from 23 July.
A meeting of the European Community/Malta Association Council took place in the margins of the Council on 16 July. Separately, Ministers agreed informally to defer decisions on the referral of the Malta and Cyprus European Community membership applications to the Commission until the September Foreign Affairs Council meeting.
There was also discussion on 16 July in European Political Co-operation of CSCE, eastern Europe—including Albania—South Africa, Vietnam, Kenya and the middle east. Ministers agreed that a Troika ministerial mission will meet separately the Israeli Foreign Ministers and the presidency of the Arab League on 23 and 24 July to follow up the Dublin declaration on the middle east.