The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)
I attended the European Council meeting on 16 September, with the Foreign Secretary.
The focus of the Council discussion was how to strengthen the EU’s relationships with emerging powers, notably in advance of the EU-China and EU-India summits on 6 October and 10 December respectively.
The Foreign Secretary and I had three clear objectives for the Council.
The first objective was that the Council recognise that trade should be at the heart of the European Union’s engagement with strategic partners. The Council conclusions contain strong language on this.
The second objective was to secure the EU-Korea free trade agreement. This was signed at the EU-South Korea summit on 6 October and will now be put to the European Parliament. It will enter into force on 1 July 2011.
The third objective was to ensure that the European Council conclusions made a clear statement of European support for Pakistan in response to the devastating floods that the country has suffered.
Leaders agreed a declaration on Pakistan which commits the EU to providing humanitarian aid, development assistance and new trade concessions to Pakistan. On trade, the declaration confirms that the EU will grant exclusively to Pakistan the immediate reduction of duties on key imports to the EU. Furthermore, the declaration confirms the EU’s commitment to Pakistan’s eligibility for a package of trade concessions that the Commission estimates to be worth over €1 billion annually known as GSP+.
On 7 October the Commission adopted a significant package of trade measures for Pakistan which suspends tariffs on a further 27% of Pakistani imports into the EU. It is estimated to be worth each year around €100 million in additional trade and €80 million in tariff savings. This will be put to the Council later this month.
The Council also approved a declaration on the middle east peace process. This strongly welcomes the launch of direct negotiations, calls for an extension of the settlements moratorium and offers support for the US-led efforts.
President Van Rompuy gave a progress report on the work of his taskforce on economic governance ahead of wider discussion at the European Council on 28 and 29 October.
Copies of the Council conclusions have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.