Mandaat voor de Europese Raad unaniem aangenomen (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Tsjechisch voorzitterschap Europese Unie 1e helft 2009 i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 17 juni 2009.

The Czech Government European Affairs Committee unanimously adopted today the mandate on the basis of which Czech Prime Minister and President of the European Council Jan Fischer i will chair the last European Council meeting during the Czech Presidency in Brussels on 18 and 19 June.

The mandate covers all issues on the agenda of the European Council meeting. More specifically, the meeting will deal with financial and economic issues, including financial supervision in Europe and employment. The Czech Presidency will also seek political agreement to have José Manuel Barroso i designated as President of the European Commission. With respect to climate issues, European Council will address the problem of financing adaptation and mitigation measures in developing countries resulting from climate change. The overall aim is to reach agreement across the EU on financial mechanisms to procure the funds for these measures. In this way the EU prepares a common position for the negotiations at the conference of the parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December 2009. The Council should also adopt concrete conclusions on the relations between the EU and third countries, primarily Afghanistan and Pakistan, and on the situation in Iran.

Last but not least, the Czech Presidency will support the adoption of guarantees for Ireland in a legally-binding form by the heads of state and government of the EU Member States. The mandate for negotiating this agreement was also unanimously approved by the Government today. Under no circumstances can the guarantees alter the Lisbon Treaty or go beyond what was promised to Ireland at the European Council in December 2008. The guarantees tackle the issues of tax, security and defence policy and the right to life, family and education. In addition, the significance attached to social issues, including workers´ rights, will be confirmed by means of a joint statement that is not legally binding. The guarantees must be sufficient in the light of the concerns of Irish citizens, yet they must not lead to the re-opening of the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty in other Member States. Thus, the text of the guarantees explicitly states that the Lisbon Treaty is not changed thereby. In the previous weeks Ireland, in cooperation with the Czech Presidency, led bilateral negotiations with all Member States in order to prepare a draft that would result in a general consensus at the upcoming European Council.

 

Contacts:

  • - 
    Michaela Jelínková, spokesperson of the Minister for EU affairs

    tel.: +420 224 002 796, GSM: +420 724 258 939; e-mail: jelinkova.michaela@vlada.cz

  • - 
    Roman Prorok, spokesman of the Czech Prime Minister, GSM: +420 777 290 061, e-mail: prorok.roman@vlada.cz.
 

Meer over ...