Presidency prepares first assessment of treaty text

The Portuguese presidency of the EU will hold its first political assessment of work on agreeing the text of the new reform treaty at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Viano do Castelo on 7-8 September.

Legal experts from member states have been examining the draft text of the treaty, put forward by the Portuguese presidency at the end of July. The experts may identify issues which will need to be addressed by ministers when they begin discussions on the treaty on Friday afternoon, a Portuguese diplomat said.

The Portuguese presidency would like to resolve any problems before the informal meeting of EU leaders on 18-19 October in Lisbon, which could be just days before a general election in Poland. There is growing concern that the Polish government might make the new treaty an election issue, in particular hardening its position over the right to delay decisions in the Council of Ministers. But this would anger other EU leaders who believe that a strict mandate for the intergovernmental conference on the treaty was agreed in June, including on the voting system.

The Portuguese presidency hopes that a final agreement on the treaty text will be reached in October and that the new treaty will be signed at the European Council in December.

Foreign ministers next week will also discuss the upcoming summits with Ukraine (14 September), Russia (26 October), China (28 November), India (30 November) and Africa (8 December). Negotiations on the future status of Kosovo and the ongoing Middle East talks will also form part of the foreign affairs discussions.

The Portuguese presidency of the EU will hold its first political assessment of work on agreeing the text of the new reform treaty at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Viano do Castelo on 7-8 September.