LOOKING
TO ACCESSION
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BRUSSELS BRIEF - DECEMBER 2001 |
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This brief is intended to provide a monthly up-date on matters within
the European Institutions.
More detailed reports of meetings with European Commission and
Parliament are provided to ECCE member organisations with Working Papers
and Minutes of Meeting. |
A key
event every six months is the handing over of the Presidency of the European
Council of Ministers from one Member State to another.
The extract from Engineers in
Europe Yearbook 2001 below gives a brief overview of the function of the
Presidency.
The
Council Presidency has gradually evolved from an administrative role and
Presidency functions can be separated into administrative, initiative,
co-ordination and representational functions, reflecting increasing political
importance. To a certain extent the
Presidency can set the agenda for Council meetings.
As this is a crucial stage in the policy process for any political
system, the Presidency can in some instances influence the final outcomes of
Council Meetings. On the negative side, it has been commented that each
Presidency seeks to give its name to a Treaty or Agreement to mark its tenure,
and so insufficient attention is paid to real coherent and integrated policies.
The
conclusion of the Belgian Presidency at Laeken was viewed as a hybrid – a mix
of success and failure. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhostadt was to be congratulated
for avoiding yet another all-night ‘horse-trading’ session as Member States
disagreed on the location of the proposed new Food Safety Agency.
As a compromise measure, this Agency will be hosted temporarily in
Belgium, where it may well remain if Finland and Italy refuse to reach a
compromise on the subject.
Set
out below are notes from the conclusions of the Belgian Presidency.
The full document can be accessed via the European Commission web-site on
: http://europa.eu.int
NOTES
FROM THE PRESIDENCY CONCLUSIONS
FOLLOWING
THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL MEETING IN LAEKEN on 15th DECEMBER 2001
The
major issues encompassed in this report relate to the introduction of the Euro,
enlargement, now viewed as an irreversible process, and the debate on the future
of Europe.
On
the question of enlargement, the Council agreed a European Commission report
which considered that Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta,
Poland, the Slovak Republic, Czech Republic and Slovenia could be ready to
successfully conclude accession negotiations by end 2002.
Those countries which conclude successfully should be able to take part
in the 2004 European Parliament elections as members.
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LOOKING
TO ACCESSION |