| Author (Person) | Thomson, Ian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 14.12.99 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 11/12/1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Finland's first-ever EU Presidency (July-December 1999) came to a climax with the European Council, Helsinki on the 10-11 December 1999. The European Council is the name given to summit meetings of heads of state and government of the EU Member States. Each EU Presidency holds at least one European Council, normally at the end of the Presidency period in June and December. It is becoming common for additional European Councils to be held during the year … in 1999, for example, there have been four European Councils in total: Berlin, March 1999, Cologne, June 1999, Tampere, October 1999 and Helsinki, December 1999. The first 'European summit' took place in 1961, although the term 'European Council' has been used only since 1974. The Solemn Declaration on European Union adopted by the Heads of State or Government, Stuttgart, 1983 formally defined the tasks of the European Council as:
It was only by the Single European Act, 1986 and the Treaty on European Union, 1992 that the European Council has formally become part of the institutional framework of the EU. The European Council is quite distinct from the Council of the European Union. In a legal sense the European Council is not an Institution of the European Community. For further information on the legal basis, history, organisation, role and achievements of the European Council see the Fact Sheets from the European Parliament. Decisions taken at the European Council, Helsinki, 10-11 December 1999 … Presidency Conclusions As ever, the Heads of State and Government of the EU Member States had a crowded agenda to get through at the summit meeting in Helsinki. The Programme of the meeting can be seen in Press Release (Council), 6.12.99. At the end of the meeting a set of 'Presidency Conclusions' were adopted and published. These are available on a number of websites such as:
The Finnish EU Presidency had an excellent set of EU-Summit pages on its website, which provided the text of many preparatory papers submitted to the European Council, as well as Press Releases issued during the meeting and access to audio tapes of Press Conferences held during the meeting. The key decisions taken at the European Council are as follows:
The candidacy of the last named country was the subject of a special decision (see BBC News (12.12.99) and CNN (11.12.99); For a Turkish perspective on decisions taken at Helsinki see the Statement by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit issued on 10.12.99 and the further statement in Helsinki, 11.12.99: . An earlier Press Release issued on 1.12.99 by Turkey reporting a statement by Turkey's Foreign Minister Ismail Cem is also of interest.
In addition, the Presidency Conclusions also touch upon the following topics:
As regards the EU's external relations the following topics were discussed
Further hyperlinks to reports submitted to the European Council on topics noted above can be accessed at the Council Press Release website. Six annexes are attached to the Presidency Conclusions:
EU Commission President Romano Prodi judged the European Council a success in his post-Summit Press Conference, Helsinki, 11.12.99 as reported in Speech (Commission), SPEECH/99/208 (13.12.99), although expressing disappointment that no agreement was possible in the beef and taxation disputes. He also gave an upbeat message in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, 14.12.99: Speech (Commission), SPEECH/99/210. Further related information sources: The Presidency Conclusions adopted at all European Council meetings from June 1994 until the present can be seen on three websites:
Further information within European Sources Online
Ian Thomson Finland's first-ever EU Presidency (July-December 1999) came to a climax with the European Council, Helsinki on the 10-11 December 1999. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Countries / Regions | Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
