Amsterdam summit venue to end Maastricht stigma

Date: 21/03/1996

By Rory Watson

THE Intergovernmental Conference which begins in Turin next week will end in Amsterdam, not Maastricht, avoiding what many regard as a potentially damaging link between the treaty which will emerge from the negotiations and its predecessor.

For the superstitious, the decision by the Dutch government to stage the June 1997 summit - which is likely to mark the end of the IGC process - in Amsterdam is a favourable omen.

They hope that by not ending in Maastricht, the IGC may escape the criticism heaped on its forerunner and establish its own separate persona.

The decision to opt for Amsterdam as the Dutch summit venue will also bring to an end its unenviable record as the only EU capital - apart from the three newcomers - not to have hosted a high profile summit meeting of EU leaders.

Those honours have gone to The Hague and Maastricht during previous Dutch presidencies.

If the IGC does come to a climax in Amsterdam, it will also be a small consolation for the failure of the city's bids to host the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Central Bank.