§ Mr. DickensTo 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 5 and 6 October.
§ Mr. HurdI chaired the Foreign Affairs Council on 5 October with the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs—my right hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Mr. Garel-Jones)—representing the United Kingdom. My right hon. Friend took the chair for the session on 6 October, attended by my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade.
Foreign Ministers received a report from the Committee of Permanent Representatives on work in hand to follow up the remit from the Lisbon European Council to undertake urgent work on procedural and practical steps to implement the principle of subsidiarity. It was agreed that COREPER should press on with this work, including the adoption of new procedures for addressing subsidiarity in the Council, and report back to the Foreign Affairs Council on 9 November. I also briefed colleagues on the presidency's objectives for the Birmingham Special European Council.
Ministers had a general discussion of the Commission's future financing proposals. I explained how the United Kingdom presidency intended to handle negotiations between now and the Edinburgh European Council.
The Council welcomed the Commission's opinions on the applications from Austria and Sweden to join the Community, and instructed work on the Community's general negotiation framework for the European Free Trade Association applicants to continue. The Council recalled the importance of developing relations with Turkey, Cyprus and Malta in accordance with the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council.
Ministers discussed recent developments in the former Yugoslavia. They expressed full support for the efforts of Lord Owen and Mr. Vance, and agreed that the Community should continue to increase pressure on the Serbs, who were failing to honour the commitments given at the London conference. Ministers agreed on the need for increased help for refugees and displaced persons and called for an end to atrocities and for the investigation of war crimes.
The Council discussed the Uruguay round and agreed that a final effort was needed to conclude the negotiations by the end of the year. It urged the Commission to continue to negotiate constructively and to report to the Birmingham European Council. The Council approved the Commission's mandate for negotiations with third countries for extension of the multi-fibre arrangement. The Council noted with concern the large number of anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases filed by US industry against EC steel products, and called for an early resumption of talks on the multilateral steel arrangement. The Council discussed the establishment of the single market in bananas, and re-affirmed the aim to renew agreement by the end of this year.
The Council agreed the negotiating directives for new partnership and co-operation agreements with the states of the former Soviet Union. The Council heard an account from my noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development on the visit of the troika of Development 407W Ministers to Somalia. Ministers agreed a statement expressing sympathy for the victims of the air crash near Schiphol airport.
Ministers met the Foreign Ministers of Poland, Hungary and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council and issued a joint statement welcoming the process of strengthening dialogue and co-operation between them.
§ Mr. Jacques ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement in theOfficial Report on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council held on 20 July.
§ Mr. HurdI chaired the first Foreign Affairs Council of the United Kingdom presidency in Brussels on 20 July. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs—my right hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Mr. Garel-Jones)—represented the United Kingdom.
The main item on the Council's agenda was the follow-up to the Lisbon European Council. I explained how the United Kingdom presidency intended to handle negotiations on the Community's finances over the next six months, and there was broad support for our approach. On subsidiarity, President Delors reported on the Commission's planned new working procedures and on its review of existing Community rules. The Council instructed the Committee of Permanent Representatives to examine possible new Council procedures. On enlargement, the Council agreed to consider the available Commission opinions on the European Free Trade Association applicants on 5 October. Ministers discussed a presidency paper on developing EC relations with Turkey. I briefed EC partners about the presidency's plans to invite the Foreign Ministers of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia to a meeting in the margins of the October Foreign Affairs Council and to host a meeting with Heads of State or Government of these countries in London on 28 October.
Ministers had a full discussion on the former Yugoslavia and issued a statement reaffirming their commitment to Lord Carrington's conference. I reported on my visit to the region. Ministers decided that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should not be regarded as the sole successor of the former Yugoslavia and that it should therefore be excluded from international bodies. Ministers agreed that an additional 120 mecu package of emergency EC aid should be made available immediately for use in the former Yugoslavia. They welcomed the decision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to convene an international conference on refugees in and from the former Yugoslavia. The Council adopted a Commission proposal to amend the seventh directive on aid to shipbuilding. It had a preliminary discussion of the Commission's negotiating mandates for partnership and co-operation agreements with the former Soviet Union. It also discussed the Commission's mandate for a revised co-operation agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a proposal by the European Court of Justice to transfer a range of cases from its jurisdiction to that of the court of first instance.
Ministers agreed a statement marking the third anniversary of Aung San Suu Kyi's detention. I reported on plans to arrange a visit by the troika of Foreign Ministers to South Africa in early September.
A Co-operation Council with Egypt was held in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council.