Follow-up to the Helsinki European Council Conclusions on 10 and 11 December 1999 - Council formations(1)

(2000/C 174/01)

1. The Helsinki European Council, in recommendation No 9 of Annex III to the conclusions, agreed that the number of Council formations should be reduced in order to improve the consistency and coherence of the Council's work. It instructed the General Affairs Council to take the necessary steps to achieve this objetive as soon as possible.

2. The suggested approach in the Annex is designed to meet the objective laid down by the Helsinki European Council. It merges certain Council formations and does not preclude that, where practicable, certain formations be convened in "back-to-back" format. The Presidency has endeavoured to take account of the range of views expressed by delegations and considers that the approach attached is the only feasible outcome at this stage in implementing the European Council conclusions.

3. The suggested mergers should be undertaken as soon as practicable and should be fully implemented by the beginning of 2001.

(1) OJ L 149, 23.6.2000 (Council's Rules of Procedure, article 2).

ANNEX

LIST OF COUNCIL FORMATIONS

A. The following Council formations may be convened:

General Affairs

Agriculture

Economic and Financial Affairs

Environment

Transport and Telecommunications

Employment and Social Policy(1)

Ficheries

Industry and Energy

Justice, Home Affairs and Civil Protection

Internal Market, Consumer Affairs and Tourism

Research

Budget

Culture

Development

Education and Youth Affairs

Health

B. The Presidency will organise Council agendas by grouping together related agenda items, in order to facilitate attendance by the relevant national representatives, particularly where a given Council formation has to deal with clearly distinguishable sets of topics.

C. It is up to each Member State to determine the way in which it is represented at the level of the Council, in accordance with Article 203 of the EC Treaty.

D. The Council wille examine by July 2001 the list of Council formations, inter alia, in the light of experience gained in organising "back-to-back" sessions, and the relevant conclusions of the European Council.

(1) The change of name of this formation reflects the wording of recent Treaty changes.

STATEMENTS RELATING TO THE LIST OF COUNCIL FORMATIONS

1. Statement by the French Delegation (SN 3106/00)

France does not consider the combining of the Telecommunications and Transport compositions of the Council, as in the list proposed by the Presidency, to be a realistic possibility. The heavy agenda usually faced by both compositions and the frequency with which they meet give good reason to fear that the combination proposed by the Presidency will prove hard to put into practice.

In view of that position, France is unable to support the Presidency's proposal. It will nevertheless take care, in the course of its coming Presidency, to observe the aim of combining Council compositions, in line with the conclusions of the European Council meeting in Helsinki.

2. Statement by the Irish Delegation (SN 3105/00)

Ireland has joined in the decision to approve the proposal on Council formations. In doing so we wished to give expression to our support for the conclusions of the Helsinki European Council, particularly with regard to the reduction in the number of Council formations with a view to improving the consistency and coherence of the Council.

While welcoming the progress which the decision represents, Ireland wishes to place on record its view that the effectiveness of the Council would have been further enhanced by the establishment of a Competitiveness Council, with a mandate to bring together work of the Council in a number of related specialist areas. We note that there is provision in the decision for Council to review by July 2001 the list of Council formations in the light of developments in the interim, and the relevant conclusions of the Eurpean Council. We will be monitoring closely the new arrangements with a view to ascertaining their effectiveness in dealing with the competitiveness issue, including in the light of the outcome of the Lisbon European Council.

3. Statement by the Danish Delegation

Denmark is in favour of steps to streamline the Council's operation and make it more efficient and accordingly supports the aim of reducing the number of compositions in which the Council meets.

When the Council examines the list of Council compositions in 2001, Denmark will endeavour to have:

- Internal Market and Industry combined;

- consumer issues dealt with by a separate Consumer Affairs composition (possibly meeting back to back with other Council compositions);

- energy issues dealt with by a separate Energy composition (possibly meeting back to back with Industry as the rule).