Wit-Rusland, Georgië, financiële crisis: Franse minister Jouyet brengt verslag uit aan Europees Parlement (en)

Jean-Pierre Jouyet, France's minister for European affairs and President-in-Office of the General Affairs Council, was questioned on Tuesday by members of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee about the outcome of the Council meeting on 13 and 14 October. Georgia, Belarus and the financial crisis were the main topics discussed.

Georgia/Russia: OSCE summit in 2009?

On Georgia, Mr Jouyet said the Council had "welcomed the swift deployment of over 330 EU observers and the effective action of High Representative Javier Solana".  The Council will have to assess compliance with the accords of 12 August and 8 September, he added.

Some MEPs pointed out that several territories are still under Russian control despite the withdrawal of Russian troops from the zones adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. "It is difficult to determine the previous position of the Russian troops", said the minister.

Replying to a question by Janusz Onyszkiewicz (ALDE, PL), Mr Jouyet added that the French Presidency of the European Union was considering the idea of an OSCE summit in 2009, as this is "the only organisation of which all the states concerned are members", to discuss the pan-European security pact proposed on 8 October by President Medvedev in Evian.

He also said that the forthcoming EU-Russia summit would take place on 14 November as planned, with the aim of resuming talks on the new partnership and cooperation agreement which were suspended in July following the Georgian crisis.

Belarus: sanctions to be reimposed in six months if no progress made

"Since the elections of 28 September, the European Union has decided to modify its policy by seeking to engage in a gradual dialogue with Belarus", the French minister told MEPs. "The political gestures, such as the release of the last political prisoners and the progress compared with previous elections, prompted the Council to waive for six months the visa restrictions currently applied to certain Belarus leaders", he added.

To Véronique de Keyser (PES, BE), who was "puzzled at the message being given by the Belarus authorities", the minister replied that "the Council does not rule out going back on this waiver in six months if no progress is made".

In response to a comment by Charles Tannock (EPP-ED, UK), Mr Jouyet assured MEPs that the suspension of the visa ban was "motivated more by political than energy policy considerations, although energy and the geostrategic dimension were not ignored".  A meeting of the Council troika with the Belarus foreign minister took place outside the main Council meeting, he said.

Financial crisis

During his discussion with Members, Mr Jouyet also welcomed the coordination between Member States at the weekend aimed at finding a solution to the financial crisis. He emphasised that "cooperation between the eurogroup and the United Kingdom was unprecedented". He added that "the eurozone hopes to expand to include the United Kingdom, when Prime Minister Gordon Brown believes the five criteria already laid down have been fulfilled".

"This enhanced cooperation worked because it only involved fifteen countries", argued Luis Yañez-Barnuevo García (PES, ES).

Turning to the Treaty of Lisbon, Mr Jouyet said that "the Presidency's aim is to press the Irish government to propose a political agreement that is as clear as possible in December".

14/10/2008

Chair : Michael Gahler (EPP-ED, DE)