IGC start met discussie over post Europese minister van Buitenlandse Zaken (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Leaders from 25 current and future member states of the EU will descend upon Rome tomorrow for the formal opening of crucial talks to finalise the draft EU Constitution.

Heads of State and Government will begin the talks. Gathering at 10am, they will have a general discussion on the aims of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC).

A general declaration on the overall objectives of the talks will be produced which is, amongst other things, expected to reaffirm that the Convention's draft treaty is a good basis for discussion.

A draft, seen by the EUobserver, speaks about the essential role of European integration for the Continent and pays homage to those who had the foresight to begin the process after the Second World War.

Leaders will also have to deal with the delicate question of European Parliament representation at their level. Mr Cox, European Parliament President, will be present at their meeting tomorrow morning but it has to be decided whether he should be present at all of their meetings - some member states have complained about setting a precedent.

The Commission will be represented by its President, Romano Prodi.

Foreign minister and Council President

In the afternoon, foreign ministers will get down to the concrete and sensitive institutional issues. They will discuss the role of the new foreign minister and the permanent president of the European Council, the legislative council and the rotation of council formations.

The discussions will be based on extensive questionnaires filled out by the delegations so that each country does not waste time by presenting their positions again.

The Foreign Minister and the permanent President of the European Council are the major innovations in the new Treaty.

However, the treaty as it stands is very ambiguous about how power will be shared out between the two positions.

Several smaller countries are either principally opposed to a permanent President (for up to five years) in the first place or at least continue to fear an over-arching Council President from a large country.

The role of the President of the Commission also has to be taken into account, otherwise this person risks becoming superfluous.

As far as the rotation of sectoral councils goes, ministers will discuss how long the period of rotation should be - one year is suggested - and how the presidents of each of the councils be appointed.

Right of Veto

This is the first of altogether nine meetings of the IGC of which heads of state and government will attend three. The other meetings will be conducted by foreign ministers only.

Each state has the right of veto and has been making its likes and dislikes clear in the run-up to the talks - the accession countries, particularly Poland, have formed some strong alliances in the fight to get what they want.

The Italian Presidency is nonetheless pushing for talks to be wrapped up this year and has scheduled the final conference for 12 and 13 December.

What all states have already agreed to is that the negotiations must be finished in time for the European Parliament elections in June 2004.