Date of release : 28-01-2005

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

Event : General Affairs and External Relations Council

The next "General Affairs and External Relations Council" of the European Union will meet on 31 January 2005 under the chairmainship of the Luxembourg Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn.

The Council will first hold a public debate on the Operational Programme of the Council for 2005, which was prepared jointly by the Luxembourg and UK Presidencies, and on the Annual Working Programme of the Commission.

On the basis of a questionnaire from the Luxembourg Presidency, the Council will discuss the "cohesion" component of the financial perspectives of the European Union for the period 2007-2013.

During a working lunch, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs will have an exchange of views on the current political situation in the Middle East and Irak.

In the afternoon, the Council is expected to discuss the Action Plan of the Luxembourg Presidency aimed at supporting the initiatives of the European Union and its Members States following the tsunami in Southeast Asia. The Council will also consider the situation in Ukraine, the Western Balkans and the Sudan.

An EU-Tunisia Association Council will meet in the evening of 31 January. The following morning, a meeting of EU-Uzbekistan Cooperation Council will take place.