1 October General Affairs Council

Date: 03/10/1996

THE EU will take the US to arbitration at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over American legislation hampering European business in Cuba. EU foreign ministers told the Commission “to take the next steps in the WTO dispute settlement process”. As EU governments have failed to get Washington to revoke the law through direct pleas or consultations at the WTO, the EU will now launch a legal challenge to the US practice of extending American law beyond its borders. Ministers also agreed the EU should fight back “rapidly” with its own legislation to shield Europeans from the effects of Washington's Helms-Burton law on Cuba and the D'Amato law barring investments to Iran and Libya. Through an EU regulation and national laws in member states, the Union should “prohibit compliance with US legislation”, tell Europeans sued by Americans not to recognise or enforce US judgements, and help Europeans to recover damages if they are sued in the US.

ON his way to Washington for the hastily-arranged summit, Yasser Arafat stopped off on Monday evening for dinner in Luxembourg with the Irish, Italian and Dutch foreign ministers, to discuss the recent clashes in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. At Tuesday's meeting, the 15 foreign ministers effectively blamed Israel for the unrest, saying the crisis had been triggered by “fears of Palestinians that their position in Jerusalem was being further eroded” and calling on Israel “to match its stated commitment to the peace process with concrete actions to fulfil its obligations”. They urged Israel to close a new entrance to an archaeological tunnel in Jerusalem which has provoked Palestinian anger because it is close to the Al Aqsa Mosque, a holy place for Muslims; and called for “the cessation and reversal of all acts that may affect the status of holy places in Jerusalem”.

PALESTINIANS got a further boost from ministers, with agreement by the 15 to let the Commission begin negotiating a trading agreement with the West Bank and Gaza. Their decision will allow the Palestinian Authority to be brought into the Euro-Med initiative, which gives countries of the Middle East and North Africa lucrative trade and financial benefits in a drive to link the region in a trading zone. Ministers also responded to Arafat's request for more help to ease the Authority's budget problems by pledging an extra 20 million ecu in addition to the 50 million already promised for 1996.

HUMAN rights abuses in Burma caught ministers' attention after the military authorities arrested 190 democracy activists in Rangoon last Friday. Some

550 supporters of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy have

since been detained by the government, which has also blockaded Suu Kyi's residence. The US Congress has threatened to stop new investment into Burma if she is arrested. EU foreign ministers called “for the immediate and unconditional release of all of those who have been detained and to allow for the resumption of normal activities by the National League for Democracy”.

THE Council approved a new joint action on land mines which could allow the EU to ask its military wing, the Western European Union (WEU), to go to work on mine clearing. Starting immediately, the EU ban on exports of land mines will be extended to all types of mines and to all destinations. Ministers also agreed on an EU contribution of 7 million ecu for international mine clearing efforts and announced that they would push for an international agreement to ban anti-personnel mines around the world.