Date of release : 31-05-2005

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

Event : EU-USA Ministerial Troika meeting

Jean Asselborn, current President of the Council of the European Union and Luxembourg Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration, will lead the EU Troika delegation at the Ministerial Meeting between the European Union and the United States on 2 June 2005 in Washington D.C.

The United States will be represented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. On the European side, the Secretary General of the Council and High Representative for the CGSP, Javier Solana, and the Commissioner in charge of External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, will also take part in the meeting.

The agenda concentrates on preparations for the next EU-US summit, due to take place on 20 June 2005 in Washington, and a number of topical international issues.

The two parties will exchange views on the Middle East (in particular the situation in Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Iran and Iraq), Russia, East Asia, India and Pakistan, as well as Sudan.