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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Liz Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the forthcoming business in the Council of the European Union for April and list the major European Union events for the next six months. [79183] Ms Quin: The information is as follows: Monthly forecast of business: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. April 1999 Venue Event 8 Brussels Political Committee 12-16 Strasbour g European Parliament Plenary 13 Luxembourg Consumer Affairs Council 15-16 Stuttgart Euro-Med Foreign Ministers Conference `Barcelona III' 16-18 Dresden ECOFIN (Informal) 19-20 Luxembourg Agriculture Council 20 Brussels Political Committee 22 Luxembourg Telecommunications Council 24-25 Luxembourg NATO Summit 26 Luxembourg Political Committee 26-27 Luxembourg General Affairs Council 29 Luxembourg Industry Council 29-30 Brussels K4 Committee _________________________________________________________________________________________________. The following subjects are likely to be discussed: 8 April--Brussels--Political Committee No agenda yet available 12-16 April--Strasbourg--European Parliament Plenary No agenda yet available 13 April--Luxembourg--Consumer Affairs Council Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial services and amending Directives 90/619/EEC, 97/7/EC and 98/2/EC Policy debate Communication from the Commission on an action plan (1999-2001) on priorities for consumer policy Debate Council conclusions Consumer-policy aspects of the negotiation of insurance contracts in the internal market Progress report from the Commission Forthcoming revision of the Directive on general product safety Progress report from the Commission Directive on the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees Adoption 15-16 April--Stuttgart--Euro-Med Foreign Ministers Conference "Barcelona III" No agenda yet available 16-18 April--Dresden--ECOFIN (Informal) No formal agenda 19-20 April--Luxembourg--Agriculture Council No agenda yet available 20 April--Brussels--Political Committee No agenda yet available 22 April--Luxembourg--Telecommunications Council Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on a common framework for electronic signatures Common position Commission's Green Paper on the convergence of the telecommunications, media and information technology sectors, and the implications for regulation: Towards an Information Society Approach Conclusions Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on postal services Policy debate Status of the internal market in telecommunications, with Report on implementation Debate Globalisation and the Information Society: the need for strengthened international coordination Update from the Commission relating to developments on electronic commerce Digital Television Information from the Presidency Year 2000 computer problem Update and possible resolution 24-25 April--Luxembourg--NATO Summit No agenda yet available 26 April--Luxembourg--Political Committee No agenda yet available 26-27 April--Luxembourg--General Affairs Council Issues arising from the Special European Council Amsterdam Treaty Enlargement Common strategies EU-Turkey Europe strategy Romania Preparation of Association Council Estonia Preparation of Association Council Slovakia Preparation of Association Council Ukraine Preparation of Cooperation Council Western Balkans EU-China Preparation of summit (end of April/beginning of May, Beijing) Myanmar Extension of common position Middle East peace process 29 April--Luxembourg--Industry Council The economic situation Information from the Commission on economic developments Globalisation of the world economy Commission communication Policy debate Competitiveness of European industry (a) Benchmarking Reports on benchmarking activities at the levels of framework conditions, sectors and enterprises Conclusions (b) Ongoing debate on competitiveness Information on industrial aspects of related work in other Councils Report by the Presidency (c) Industrial aspects of enlargement Information from the Commission SMS (a) Proposal for a Council Directive combating late payment in commercial transactions Common position (b) Commission communication on management training Presentation by the Commission (c) Follow-up Business Environment Simplification Taskforce (BEST) Conclusions Communication on tourism and employment Presentation by the Commission Shipbuilding Situation of the shipbuilding industry Information from the Commission Coal and steel industry Expiry of the ECSC Treaty Financial aspects New Regulations on State aid for steel Conclusions Industrial aspects of electronic commerce Commission Communication Presentation by the Commission Sectoral issues OETH assessment and recommendations for its future Conclusions Competition policy (a) Commission communication on the application of the EU competitiveness rules to vertical restrictions: follow-up to the green book on vertical restrictions Political agreement (b) Report from the Commission on modernising competition rules Information from the Commission 29-30 April--Brussels--K4 Committee No agenda yet available European Calendar: April-September 1999 This calendar is primarily concerned with European Union matters, but certain other relevant events are also included. Events and dates quoted are based on the information available on the date of issue. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Venue Event April 1999 8 Brussels Political Committee 12-16 Strasbourg European Parliament Plenary 13 Luxembourg Consumer Affairs Council 15-16 Stuttgart Euro-Med Foreign Ministers Conference `Barcelona III' 16-18 Dresden ECOFIN (Informal) 19-20 Luxembourg Agriculture Council 20 Brussels Political Committee 22 Luxembourg Telecommunications Council 24-25 Luxembourg NATO Summit 26 Luxembourg Political Committee 26-27 Luxembourg General Affairs Council 29 Luxembourg Industry Council 29-30 Brussels K4 Committee May 1999 3-7 Strasbourg European Parliament Plenary 6-7 Berlin Political committee 6 Brussels EU-ACP Ministerial meeting 7-9 Weimar Environment Ministers (Informal) 10 Brussels ECOFIN 10 Bremen WEU Council 10-11 Berlin Trade Ministers (Informal) 11 Brussels Energy Council 17 Brussels K4 Committee 17 Brussels Political Committee 17-18 Brussels General Affairs Council 17-18 Brussels Agriculture Council 18 Brussels EEA Council 18 Brussels Co-Operation Council with Russia 18-19 Weimar Culture Ministers (Informal) 20 Brussels Research Council 21 Brussels Development Council 25 Brussels Joint ECOFIN and Labour and Social Affairs Council 25 Brussels Social Affairs Council 25 Brussels Political Committee 27 Brussels Youth Council 27-28 Brussels Justice and Home Affairs Council 31 Brussels General Affairs Council 30 May-1 June Dresden Agriculture Ministers (Informal) June 1999 1 Dresden Agriculture Ministers (Informal) 3-4 Cologne European Council 7 Luxembourg Education Council 8 Luxembourg Health Council 10 Brussels Political Committee 10 Luxembourg Fisheries Council 10-13 European Parliament Elections 14 Luxembourg ECOFIN (possible) 14-15 Luxembourg Agriculture Council 14-15 Brussels K4 Committee 17 Bonn EU-Japan Summit 17-18 Luxembourg Transport Council 21 Luxembourg Internal Market 21 Bonn EU-USA/Canada Summit 21-22 Luxembourg General Affairs Council 22 Luxembourg Labour and Social Affairs Council (possible) 24-25 Luxembourg Environment Council 25-29 Rio de Janeiro EU-Latin America/Caribbean Summit 28 Luxembourg Culture Council 29 Brussels Political Committee (possible) July 1999 2-3 Oulu Industry and Research Ministers (Informal) 6-7 Savonlinna Culture Ministers 8 Hameenlinna Political Committee 9-10 Oulu Labour/Social Affairs Ministers (Informal) 12 Brussels ECOFIN 12 Brussels Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Committee 16 Brussels Budget 18-20 Savonlinna Culture/Audiovisual Ministers (Informal) 19 Brussels Political Committee 19-20 Brussels General Affairs Council 19-20 Brussels Agriculture Council 20-23 Strasbourg European Parliament Plenary 22-23 Helsinki K4 Committee 23-25 Helsinki Environment Ministers (Informal) August 1999 No Council Business September 1999 1 Brussels Political Committee 4-5 Saariselka Foreign Ministers (Informal) 6-7 Brussels Agriculture Standing Committee 9-10 Turku K4 Committee 10-12 Turku ECOFIN (Informal) 12-14 Tampere Agriculture Ministers (Informal) 13 Brussels Political Committee (Informal) 13-14 Brussels General Affairs Committee 13-17 Strasbourg European Parliament Plenary 16-17 Kittila Article 113 Committee 16-17 Turku Justice and Home Affairs (Informal) 20 Brussels Political Committee (Possible) 20-21 Brussels Agriculture Standing Committee 23 Brussels Telecommunications 24 Brussels K4 Committee (Informal) 24-25 Tampere Education Committee (Informal) 27-28 Kuopio Ministers of Housing 27-28 Brussels Agriculture Ministers 30 Brussels Political Committee 30 Helsinki Equality Conference _________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

79183; 328 c344-9W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

EU action Council of Ministers EC Agriculture Council EU Foreign Affairs Council EC Industry Council EC Consumer Affairs Council EC Telecommunications Council