Press Releases

Federal Chancellor Schüssel: Getting down to tackling the important issues

Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, President in office of the European Council, and Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, current President of the Council, gave a briefing today on the topics to be discussed at the EU Summit which begins tomorrow in Brussels.

Chancellor Schüssel spoke of a two-pronged strategy for the EU: the implementation of specific projects and political initiatives on the one hand, and continuation of the constitutional process on the other. “The EU Summit will put the themes of transparency and subsidiarity at the centre of the debate on the future of Europe. The Finnish Presidency will then concentrate on the issues of security, common protection of borders, adoption of the Schengen Information System by April 2007, and the integration and migration debate.” He added that the substantial initiatives and outcomes of the Spring Summit – such as the streamlining and concretising of the growth and jobs strategy – will be carried forward by the German Presidency in the first half of 2007.

With regard to the discussion on the constitutional process, the Chancellor said: “The phase of hard talking and seeking results began under the Austrian Presidency and will be continued. In the ideal scenario, this new process should be concluded under the French Presidency in the second half of 2008.”

“Better regulation, the external dimension of energy policy and the sustainability strategy will subsequently be priorities of the German Presidency. With this agenda we want to post a series of concrete results, for which purpose a timetable will also be presented”, Schüssel said.

“In this way we are also hoping to demonstrate that we are listening to what citizens are telling us and that we are getting down to tackling the important issues”, he stressed.

The Summit will also discuss enlargement, the EU’s ability to absorb new members and the future of the individual Balkan countries. Six foreign policy statements are being prepared, as well as an intergovernmental conference to decide on Slovenia’s admission to the euro area on 1 January 2007.