§ Mr. WallerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council held on 10 to 11 May.
§ Mr. HurdI attended the Foreign Affairs Council on 10 May with the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Mr. Garel-Jones). The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Grantham (Mr. Hogg), represented the United Kingdom on 11 May.
The Council approved the EC/United States agreement on Government procurement reached on 19 April. The Council also agreed a resolution on trade and the environment proposed by the Danish presidency in advance of the OECD ministerial meeting on 2 June.
Lord Owen briefed Ministers on recent developments in the former Yugoslavia. They agreed on the importance of continued support for the Vance-Owen peace plan. The Twelve should maintain pressure for the closure of the Serb/Bosnia border and be ready to contribute to international monitoring of it. Other options should not be excluded. Ministers also agreed on the crucial importance of rigorous implementation of the sanctions regime.
The Council agreed that the presidency should discuss with the European Parliament arrangements for an inter-institutional meeting on 7 June, with the aim of concluding an inter-institutional agreement on subsidiarity and of agreeing arrangements for the European parliamentary ombudsman. The Council also agreed that a paper presented by the Commission on access to 167W information held by the Community institutions was a good basis for further work. It asked the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) to take this forward.
Over lunch, Ministers discussed progress in the enlargement negotiations with Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The Commission reported on the latest round of negotiations, held in St. Petersburg on 6 and 7 May, for a partnership and co-operation agreement with Russia.
The Council discussed the Commission's paper for the Copenhagen European Council on strengthening relations with the central European associate countries. There will be further discussion at the Foreign Affairs Council on 8 June.
An EC/GCC ministerial meeting was held in the margins of the Council on 11 May.
No formal votes were taken at the Council.