17 June Foreign Ministers’ Conclave

Date: 20/06/1996

FOREIGN ministers, increasingly frustrated after three months of inconclusive meetings on the EU's future, agreed that the

time had come for Union governments to start proper negotiations in the Intergovernmental Conference. The feeling that the talks must now be speeded up emerged clearly from the day-long conclave in Rome preparing this weekend's European summit in Florence. “The negotiations have not started badly - they have not started at all,” admitted French European Affairs Minister Michel Barnier. With the UK bearing the brunt of the blame for the lethargic pace, Barnier even pointed out that nothing prevented the other 14 from negotiating among themselves.

PROGRESS to date in the IGC talks was set out in a 44-page report prepared by the Italian presidency for the Florence summit. It identifies various areas for debate such as citizens' rights, employment, external relations and institutional reform. It also highlights the political consequences of certain courses of action. If, as is expected, there is growing support for the concept of flexibility - allowing some countries to integrate earlier and more closely than others - the report asks whether MEPs from countries which opt out should be involved in policy initiatives. After some ministers complained the summary did not reflect their views, Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini stressed it was not intended to be exhaustive.

SUPPORT for the idea of an informal European summit this autumn devoted almost exclusively to the IGC is beginning to gain ground. First raised by France, the proposal won backing in Rome from European Parliament President Klaus Hänsch during his discussions with ministers before their private conclave. Hänsch also suggested that the talks might be more successful if working groups were established to tackle the different issues on the table - an idea rejected by most ministers who feared they would duplicate the IGC group's own work.

WHILE the IGC was the main item on the ministers' agenda, they could not meet without examining the latest state of play in the 'mad cow' crisis. Yet again a solution eluded them when the UK came under pressure to make further concessions. All present conceded the issue would not be settled before the Florence summit, although views differed on how much longer the dispute would continue. Dini tried to strike an optimistic note, saying: “We hope to arrive at Florence with a clearer framework, if not a definitive solution.” But his German colleague Klaus Kinkel was more cautious when he announced that it was “not at all clear” whether an agreement could be reached in Florence. British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind tried to steer a middle course, admitting he did not feel “any more or less optimistic” about a solution.

TAKING time out from debates on mad cows and the future of the Union, foreign ministers digested the first round of presidential election results in Russia and urged the country to continue on its path of economic and political reform. Most expressed cautious relief at current Russian President Boris Yeltsin's lead over his Communist challenger Gennady Zyuganov. Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen said: “I believe that Yeltsin has a very good chance of being elected in the second round and I hope that is true.” Petersen welcomed the elections as an important step in the country's reform programme, adding: “It has been and will continue to be a difficult process. Now it is on the right track.”