European Council conclusions

It is a point that was addressed first in our European Council conclusions.

The conditions set in the December European Council conclusions have been met.

In addition to the work under way, the European Council conclusions of 22 July asked us to consider what more we could do.

As you know, this consensus will also – we hope – be the subject of the European Council conclusions.

Paragraph 6 of the European Council Conclusions could be mentioned in this respect.

I would like to thank all of you who supported the Commission on having very clear concrete goals for tomorrow's European Council conclusions.

Sustainable development was only mentioned in European Council Conclusions for the first time in 1988.

That is a very good part of the European Council conclusions to which I should like to draw the attention of this Parliament.

Secondly, it does not anticipate possible results following the implementation of paragraph 22 of the Berlin European Council conclusions.

Moreover, I am happy to note that the European Council conclusions were inspired by the Commission's communications of 4 June.

Parliament will have seen the European Council conclusions welcoming the work of the Commission on this issue and endorsing the presidency's approach to handling it.

Last June’s European Council conclusions have set the course for that institutional settlement and I hope that by the end of 2008 we will succeed.

Therefore, we are not speaking about the European Council conclusions, but the statement of the Heads of State or Government, in this respect.

On making the EU more effective in law enforcement, the draft European Council conclusions are an exercise in contortion.

In the European Council Conclusions, the Council mentioned exploring reduction pathways in the range of 15 to 30% with developed countries.

Mr President, allow me to turn my attention to the European Council conclusions in Göteborg and particularly the situation in the Middle East.

It will reflect the European Union's position on its relations with the countries of the western Balkans as set out in the Cologne European Council conclusions.

We have nevertheless long held the opinion that the Heads of State or Government should see the European Council conclusions as a genuine reflection of their discussions.

Based on the European Council conclusions, we will step up our efforts to prepare, once the conditions are met, to create a free trade area and to facilitate the issue of short-term visas.

I would like to draw Mr Howitt's attention to point 13 of the Barcelona European Council conclusions, which does not specifically mention the lifting of development assistance conditions.

Furthermore, the Commission considers that the post-2002 review of the CAP, which was, as you know, agreed in the Berlin European Council conclusions, will provide a basis for further savings.

This is exactly why the Commission asked for and obtained authorisation from the Council to enter into negotiations with the six third countries mentioned in the Faro European Council conclusions.

The package is already based on a very broad consensus about where actions are required, in the light of European Parliament resolutions, European Council conclusions and, indeed, discussions within the Commission.

In this draft the Commission extended the concept of "education" in the original European Council conclusions to "education and training"; and this extension has remained in force ever since.

As stated in Annex 2 of the European Council conclusions, the role of the Commission is expected to be central in the preparation of analyses and programmes for the future countries in it.