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28 January 2000
PRESIDENT ARAFAT IN BRUSSELS
Brussels has been this week the venue for two major events related to the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership as well as to the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP). On the one hand, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU agreed to conclude the Association Agreement with Morocco, scheduled to enter into force the 1st of March. On the other hand, in parallel visits to Brussels, Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, and Shimon Peres, Minister for Regional Co-operation of Israel, met with Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, and Christopher Patten, Commissioner for External Relations. President Arafat also had lunch with the EU Foreign Ministers, who had previously discussed the state of play of the MEPP and adopted some related conclusions. Information on these events is summarised as follows:
Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, met President Prodi and Commissioner Patten in Brussels on 24 January. The main issues on the agenda were: a) the prospects of concluding a Framework Agreement on the Permanent Status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which is due to be adopted by mid February; b) a review of ongoing projects under the EU programme of development assistance to the Palestinian Authority and a commitment to accelerate its implementation; c) President Arafat's recent steps to enhance budgetary transparency, and the need to extend such a courageous approach to the field of rule of law, including declaring an urgent moratorium on the death penalty, and approving the draft law on the independence of the judiciary. Arafat also had lunch with EU Foreign Ministers who adopted conclusions on the MEPP. In this context, Arafat stated that progress in the Syrian Track would help the Palestinian Track as Israel's
THE COUNCIL ADOPTS CONCLUSIONS ON THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
On 24 January, the Ministerial Council of General Affairs adopted conclusions in relation to the Middle East Peace Process, summarised as follows: a) the Council, reaffirming the EU's continuing commitment to the Palestinian Track of the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP), welcomed President Arafat as its guest for an informal exchange of views (...), b) It reiterated its support to the Palestinian Authority and welcomed the recent decree signed by President Arafat on the consolidation of public accounts (...); c) it regretted the hiatus in the Israeli-Syrian negotiations and urged their early resumption; it agreed on the importance also of resuming the Lebanese Track; d) the Council invited the EU High Representative, the Special Envoy and the Commission, to continue consultations with the USA on ways in which the EU can contribute constructively to the Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese Tracks in the current, decisive phase of the MEPP. The three were also asked to prepare a paper on the implications for the EU of the new phase in the peace process, including security aspects.
Source: Euromed Synopsis, 27 January 2000
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