Expression of confidence

The arrest of the former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, with its possible repercussions on the Balkan situation and relations between EU and Serbia, has heated up the working week in Brussels, characterized not least by a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the 27 (22-23 July). The French Presidency of the EU had also planned a ‘transfer’ to Dublin, held on 21 July, aimed at assessing, in consultation with the Irish government, possible moves to overcome the impasse determined by the Irish electors’ rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. The Culture Council met instead in Versailles to discuss the safeguard of the “European heritage”, the “Telecom package” and the illicit trafficking of cultural properties. Another important appointment on the EU agenda this week is the EU-South Africa summit (25 July), in Bordeaux, convened to discuss three main areas: global issues, i.e. climate change, migration and food security; economic questions; and the challenge of security, especially in the troubled regions of Africa and Asia.Sarkozy’s visit to Ireland. The visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Ireland represented – significantly – his first journey as current President of the European Council (during the second semester of this year). The meeting with Irish premier Brian Cowen focused on various questions, but undoubtedly the first and most important was the Lisbon Treaty and the recent referendum in Ireland. The government in Dublin risks in this case being isolated in the 27-member EU, and blocking the progress of the European Community as a whole. Prime Minister Brian Cowen explained that “the aim of the Irish government will now be to understand better the concerns that influenced the result of the referendum, an indispensable stage to be able to take decisions on what needs to be done”. Cowen added that “exhaustive consultations are planned, both at the internal level and with our European partners, in view of the meeting of the European Council due to be held in mid-October”. For his part Nicolas Sarkozy, who has the task of accompanying the process of ratifying the Treaty and leading the European Union to a unanimous decision by the end of this year, has “confirmed his respect for the result of the Irish referendum”, but he also said he was “glad to note that the ratification process is continuing in the other member states”. He then expressed his own confidence in the Reform Treaty, reaffirming the need to find a solution to the “institutional question” to proceed with “the Europe of results to the advantage of European citizens”.Meeting of foreign ministers. The general affairs and external relations Council of the EU, meeting in Brussels, welcomed (inter alia) “the formation of a new government in Serbia, characterized by a clear European project” and “gave a positive reception to the news of the arrest of Karadzic, which testifies to the commitment of the government in Belgrade to peace and stability in the Balkan region”. EU foreign ministers, chaired by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, devoted ample coverage to questions of common European security and defence. But discussion also focused on “the future of relations between EU and Ukraine, in view of the summit in Evian on 9 September, which ought to review the negotiations underway for a reinforced accord” with the Union. The 27 foreign ministers also touched on the situation in the Middle East and tackled “in particular the risks” that are currently hampering the peace process. This debate took place in the presence of Tony Blair, special envoy of the Quartet. The situations in Zimbabwe, Somalia, Chad, Iran and Georgia were also on the agenda. By train to Avignon. Kouchner then invited his counterparts, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the members of the Commission concerned to an informal meeting, called Gymnich (in euro-speak), that will be held at Avignon on 5-6 September. The Gymnich of foreign ministers are held once each semester and derive their name from the German castle where the first one was held in 1974. They are meetings that permit a free and frank exchange between the participants on a limited number of questions, often linked to current international crises, and useful for preparing the following moves of the EU. The order of the day for the meeting will only be fixed in the second half of August, but will certainly include the Middle East, Iran, relations with Africa, the rising price of petrol products and food, the Western Balkans, and post-Kyoto environmental questions. “The meeting – explains a press release of the EU Presidency – will mainly be held on the monumental site of the Papal Palace and in the Petit Palais”. One curiosity of the meeting is that “the ministers and their delegations are invited by Bernard Kouchner to travel to Avignon on board a special TGV (highspeed train) departing from Paris. The journey itself will permit the informal discussions to be organized and form an integral part of the meeting”.