EU Foreign Affairs Council (Hansard, 16 February 1994)

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and I attended the Foreign Affairs Council on 7 February.

The Foreign Affairs Council began with an open session on Presidency priorities. A copy of the intervention by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs will be placed in the Library of the House as part of the new procedure of depositing video recordings of Presidency open sessions.

The Commission introduced the draft work programme of follow up action on the growth White Paper. The Council noted that the group of personal representatives of Heads of Government, established to review work on trans-European networks, would decide on priority projects and discuss financial requirements, and would submit an interim report to ECOFIN on 8–9 April. The Council agreed the Commission's 19 nominations to the high level group on information infrastructures; the United Kingdom representatives are Peter Bonfield (ICL) and Peter Davis (Reed Elsevier). It was agreed that ECOFIN, and other Councils which have a role to play, would monitor progress of follow up activity.

The Council approved the nominations of six members of the Court of Auditors.

A ministerial meeting of the accession negotiations with Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden took place on 8 765W February. In preparation for this meeting, member states agreed a common position on agriculture and regional policy aspects of the negotiation.

The Council agreed to a decision on the ombudsman, together with the text of a letter to the President of the European Parliament outlining the Council's concerns that the EP's rules of procedure on the ombudsman go further than the treaty. The Council also agreed a short statement on the Commission's legislative programme.

In order to inform the Council's review in Janaury 1995 of the application from Cyprus to join the European Union, the Council agreed to appoint a Commission official, Mr. Serge Abou, as the Union's observer on Cyprus. He will report periodically to the Council on the implications of political developments in Cyprus for this 1995 review.

Following a discussion of the latest events in the former Yugoslavia, the Council issued the following statement: The European Union expresses its revulsion at the renewed brutal shelling of civilians in Sarajevo which has taken place in recent days. Bearing in mind the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, the decisions of the North Atlantic Alliance most recently reiterated at the NATO Summit of 11 January and the recent request of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, it supports a very early meeting of the North Atlantic Council. In concert with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the aim should be to bring about the immediate lifting of the siege of Sarajevo, using all means necessary including the use of airpower. The measures taken would be the first step in the implementation of the action plan of the European Union. The Council of the European Union reiterates its support for the efforts of the co-chairmen to place the administration of Sarajevo under the authority of the United Nations.

A co-operation council with Algeria was held in the margins.

The Council agreed the EC's negotiating mandate for the mid-term review of the fourth Lomé convention. The mandate contains provisions to strengthen the human rights elements of the convention, and to make the convention work more effectively. It includes a commitment to help the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries benefit more from the trading advantages available to them under the convention. Negotiations with the ACP countries will begin in May and must be finished by March of next year.

The Council agreed by qualified majority a package of measures to implement parts of its 15 December decision on trade policy instruments. The United Kingdom voted against the package, as our concerns on imports of toys and shoes from China, and on changes to certain decision-making procedures were not met. But the package included some welcome features, notably the lifting of some 6,000 member state national quantitative restrictions on imports from third countries.

The Council adopted a declaration reaffirming its desire to see Russia admitted to the Council of Europe as soon as the criteria for membership have been met.

The Council adopted a statement welcoming the Ukrainian Parliament's approval of the tripartite agreement on nuclear weapons.

The Council announced the European Union's willingness to facilitate an observer mission to the forthcoming elections in Ukraine on 27 March.

The Council approved negotiating directives for EC free trade agreements with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.