Foreign Affairs Council (Hansard, 17 May 1991)

§ Mr. Garel-Jones

A meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council took place in Brussels on 13 and 14 May. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and I represented the United Kingdom.

The Council agreed on a 60 million ecu package of emergency assistance to help those suffering in Bangladesh. The aid will be financed by bilateral contributions from member states.

At the request of the United Kingdom, the Council discussed proposals for strengthening EC-Turkey relations. It instructed the Committee of Permanent Representatives to examine the proposals in more detail and to report to the Foreign Affairs Council in July.

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The Council discussed the situation in Yugoslavia. It decided that the visit by the Prime Minister of Luxembourg and the President of the Commission, which was agreed by the informal European Council in Luxembourg, should take place soon.

After a brief discussion by the Council, the Commission agreed to continue funding for the international fund for Ireland.

EC and EFTA Ministers met on 13 May to review progress in the negotiations for a European economic area, which will extend the single market to the EFTA countries. My hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry represented the United Kingdom. Substantial progress was made on the outstanding issues and EC and EFTA Ministers confirmed their commitment to conclude the negotiations before the summer. They agreed a comprehensive joint declaration setting out the main elements of the European economic area. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

The ninth EC-Israel co-operation council on 14 May reviewed economic co-operation between the European Community and Israel. EC Ministers raised the appointment of a Commission representative in the occupied territories and the question of EC participation in a peace conference.