Formandskabets hyrdebrev DER 25.-26/3-04
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Medlemmerne af Folketingets Europaudvalg og deres stedfortrædere |
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Til underretning for Folketingets Europaudvalg vedlægges formandskabets hyrdebrev til møde i Det Europæiske Råd den 25.-26. marts 2004 i Bruxelles.
23 March, 2004
Dear
I look forward with great pleasure to welcoming you to the European Council which will take place in Brussels on 25 and 26 March 2004.
The terrible acts in Madrid on 11 March are a chilling reminder that the threat posed by terrorism affects all of us and requires a common European Union response. In the wake of these events we must act decisively and in a spirit of solidarity to demonstrate our determination to tackle this threat. I propose therefore to begin our meeting slightly earlier than originally envisaged so that we can have an in-depth discussion on a comprehensive European Union response to combating all forms of terrorism. Our meeting which will also be attended by Foreign Ministers will begin at 18.00 and is due to conclude at 19.45 with the adoption of our Declaration on Terrorism. This session will be followed by short press conferences.
At Thursday evening’s dinner of Heads of State or Government, which will begin at 20.30, we will discuss the Intergovernmental Conference. While there are still important issues to resolve I am convinced that we all share a sense of the importance for Europe of early agreement on the Constitutional Treaty. Before we meet I intend, as requested at our last meeting, to circulate a short report containing an account of the work done to date and our assessment of the state of play. Over dinner I will present the report and hope to confirm that there is a shared political will to move to an early agreement.
At a separate working dinner Foreign Ministers will discuss the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and the need to relaunch the peace process. At the same time, there will be an informal dinner for Ministers for Finance.
On Friday 26 March, accompanied by Foreign Ministers and Finance Ministers, we will begin our proceedings at 09.30, with the customary meeting with the President of the European Parliament. This will be followed by our second working session and will be devoted to discussions on the Lisbon Agenda. When I wrote to you on 17 February, I indicated that we needed to give political priority to improving the implementation of the commitments that we had already agreed with regard to the Lisbon Agenda. I also proposed that we should keep our discussions focused on those issues where impetus was urgently needed and suggested, in this regard, that we might devote attention in particular to the themes of sustainable growth and more and better jobs.
With a view to managing our business effectively, I propose that our discussions on the Lisbon Agenda should be organised into three sessions, the first dealing with sustainable growth and competitiveness, the second dealing with employment and a short final session focussing on the way forward to 2005. Given the work that has been done by the General Affairs and External Relations Council in preparing the draft annotated agenda we should be able to adopt the conclusions and conclude our session by 13.00hrs.
We will proceed immediately to a Family Photo for Heads of State or Government.
At 13.15 we will have a working lunch for Heads of State or Government and Foreign Ministers at which we will discuss some important current and international issues including Afghanistan, Cyprus, our Partnership with the Mediterranean and the Middle East and Kosovo. I would envisage the lunch concluding at 14.45.
Lunch will be followed by the usual Presidency Press Conference at the end of the European Council.
At 16.00 the Presidency, the Commission and the future Netherlands Presidency will meet their counterparts from the candidate countries for an exchange of views on the issues discussed at the European Council.
I look forward to meeting you in Brussels this coming Thursday and to achieving practical and positive results from our discussions
Yours sincerely
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Bertie Ahern
President of the European Council