” “Two official meetings, today and tomorrow, for the Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, who is about to leave his office as chairman of the European Council and hand it over to the Finnish Government. This morning, Schüssel is going to be in Brussels for an extraordinary session of the EU Parliament, “entirely focussed explained the president of the Assembly, the Spanish Josep Borrell on the results of the summit of June 15th and 16th” and the future of the Constitution. In Vienna tomorrow, the chairman on duty is going to preside over the delegation of the 25 member states at the meeting between the European Union and the United States. Schüssel will be assisted by the head of the Commission, the Portuguese José Manuel Barroso. Four major issues will be tackled with US president George W. Bush, who will be accompanied by the Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice: foreign policy “with special reference explains a note from the Commission to Iran and the Middle East”; energy; economy and trade; world-scale challenges, including climate change. According to Barroso, “relying on shared values and interests, the EU and the USA are natural partners in their leading role. This summit will be an opportunity to kick-start a fruitful year” and “deepen our worldwide cooperation”. During the meeting “a memorandum will be signed about higher education and professional training”, in order to “improve the development of human resources” on both sides of the Atlantic.
