§ Mr. ColvinTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in theOfficial Report a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council on 12 November.
§ Mr. HurdThe Foreign Affairs Council met in Brussels on 12 November. My hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office represented the United Kingdom.
Ministers discussed the Iraq-Kuwait crisis and reaffirmed their determination to bring about the release of all hostages in Iraq and Kuwait, the refusal of their Governments to negotiate with Iraq and their condemnation of Iraqi treatment of hostages. They agreed to give the highest priority to the role of the United Nations and to continue to put pressure on Iraq to receive the Secretary-General's special representative. They agreed a United Kingdom proposal to make demarches to a large number of countries and groups of countries to convince them to pursue these same aims in contacts with the Iraqis.
The Council discussed the proposed EC/United States and EC/Canada declarations and asked the Commission and presidency to continue to work with the Americans and Canadians to achieve agreed texts to be exchanged in the margins of the Paris CSCE summit.
137WThe Council had an initial discussion of the draft negotiating mandates for association agreements with Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The United Kingdom looks forward to early detailed examination of the mandates with a view to their approval this year.
The Council reviewed policy towards Asia and Latin America and noted that the programme for the 1990s would be considered by a special Development Council later in the year. The Council discussed again the Commission's proposals for a new Mediterranean policy which were remitted for further detailed work. Finally, the Council discussed progress in the Community's negotiations with EFTA for the creation of a European economic area. The United Kingdom called for renewed EC efforts to maintain the momentum of the negotiations through a constructive approach to outstanding issues.
In the margins of the Council, Ministers held an informal meeting with Foreign Ministers of the Arab Maghreb Union. The meeting discussed a wide range of political and economic topics of mutual interest including the development of EC/AMU relations and the Gulf crisis. On behalf of the Twelve the EC presidency urged the AMU to join in exerting pressure on Iraq to accept the UN Secretary-General's envoy and to release all hostages.