20 November General Affairs Council

Date: 23/11/1995

EU governments increased their two-year-old sanctions against Nigeria by issuing a complete ban on arms shipments and military equipment to the West African nation in the wake of the execution of author Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other human rights activists. Foreign ministers supported the Commission's move to freeze all development cooperation with Lagos, but allow aid in support of human rights and democracy. They also extended visa restrictions to civilian as well as military members of the Lagos government and their families. Ministers said they would consider an embargo on oil exports from Nigeria when they meet again on 4 December.

SHIMON Peres signed Israel's association accord with the EU, the first to do so out of the dozen Middle East and North African countries lined up to sign a Euro-Mediterranean Agreement. The accord establishes closer political and commercial ties between the EU and Israel. The Union also intended it as a demonstration of its support for Israel in the Middle East peace process. The move came a week before EU foreign ministers and their Mediterranean partners meet in Barcelona to pledge commercial and political cooperation to create a region of peace and stability around the Mediterranean.

MINISTERS agreed on a draft action programme for relations with Russia. It includes encouraging democratic reforms through regular consultation and monitoring elections. They agreed to promote economic reform by negotiating new bilateral agreements, helping Russia join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and encouraging regional trade between Russia and its Baltic neighbours. They also decided to increase their dialogue with Moscow on defence and security matters.

CHILE and the European Commission may start negotiating a trade and cooperation accord, EU foreign ministers agreed. Chile, which received 250 million ecu in aid from the Union last year and sold more to the EU than it did to Latin America or the US, will join the Mercosur trading bloc of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay next year.

MINISTERS also told the Commission it could begin negotiating a trade and cooperation accord with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), now that Greece has lifted its trade embargo against its northern neighbour. Ministers said a trade accord should help bring stability to the turbulent Balkan region.

NOT wanting to be left out of the Korean Peninsular Energy Development Organisation (KEDO) that groups the US, Japan and South Korea, ministers agreed to participate in their programme to help North Korea convert its nuclear capacity to peaceful aims. KEDO hopes to supply fuel oil and build new reactors that would allow North Korea to shut down the old reactors suspected of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons.

TRANSATLANTIC ties were again on the foreign ministers' agenda as they agreed on a plan to submit to the EU-US summit on 3 December. “The New Transatlantic Agenda” tackles defence and security, disease and drug trafficking, terrorism, organised crime and humanitarian aid. It pledges to work towards freer world trade, but it makes no commitment to an EU-US free-trade zone, or even a study to assess its potential benefits.

Ministers relented in their demand for two seats on the WTO's dispute arbitration panel, finally agreeing to the compromise struck earlier by Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan. The EU and the US will settle for a single seat each, while the remaining seats on the seven-member panel will go to Japan, Egypt, New Zealand, the Philippines and Uruguay.