Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik attended the meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of the European Union in Brussels on Monday in her capacity as Council President.
The main topics on the agenda were the situation in Iran and in the Middle East and the preparations for the European Council in June. The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and improved civil-military cooperation by the Member States were also discussed. The EU defence ministers also took part in the latter discussions: "'Europe protects' – making this visible has been one of the Austrian Presidency’s priorities from the very outset. Today we initiated practical improvements to the Union’s emergency and crisis response. The spectrum of challenges ranges from natural disasters to terrorist attacks. Particularly in critical situations, the EU must be seen to provide its citizens with speedy, effective assistance. Here there are possible synergies, both in the interaction between the EU and the national levels and between the civil and military sectors, which should be much better exploited”, Plassnik said.
The Austrian Presidency will present a report to the June 2006 European Council on progress in strengthening the EU’s emergency and crisis response. "Possible practical progress includes the establishment of efficient decision-making and coordination structures in Brussels to deal with crisis situations, further intensification and improvement of consular cooperation, and measures to integrate military transport capabilities and ESDP coordination instruments efficiently in the emergency response”, Plassnik said. She also referred to the forthcoming informal meeting of foreign ministers in Klosterneuburg on the future of Europe, which is another important component of the preparations for the European Council.
In the area of external affairs, the ministers discussed the next steps regarding Iran’s nuclear policy: "We want to offer Iran a way out of the impasse. We do not want to drive Iran into isolation, but to bring it back to the negotiating table. But to do that, Iran needs to play its part in restoring the necessary basis for international confidence. If Iran address the international concerns in full, the EU is prepared to offer a credible cooperation package that, in addition to political and economic elements, could also contain assistance for the development of a safe civil nuclear programme in Iran. At the same time, we must also reflect on further steps, should Iran reject this package and continue its present policy", Plassnik declared.
Plassnik also reported to the Council on the recent meeting of the Middle East Quartet: "The Quartet’s discussions in New York sent a clear signal that the international community is not relaxing its line on renunciation of violence and on the principles of a peace settlement." She said the EU is endeavouring to maintain its support to the Palestinian people and has therefore proposed a temporary payment mechanism with international involvement. This is intended to ensure that payments to fund public services in sectors such as health care or education remain possible, without the risk of Hamas diverting the resources to other purposes. What was important now was to lead the two parties to a results-oriented peace process. "We urge Israel to resume transfers of witheld Palestinian customs and tax revenue, especially since these duties are paid directly by the Palestinian people", she concluded.
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