IGC Mandate

In the mainly first class House of Commons debate on European Affairs today there were several references to a newly released IGC Mandate from the German EU Presidency, I have searched for a link to this crucial presentation so far without success. It will be posted here when possible as will the Hansard report of the crucial debate (unattended by Labour MPs) tomorrow morning at 0800 am. At least some in Parliament recognise their country has gone and that the last pretences of independence will soon be lost as well. Sad times indeed! Here are the bland terms in which the German Presidency plans to ditch much of Europes' remaining democracy:

20.06.2007

Chancellor Angela Merkel invites the EU Heads of State and Government to the European Council in Brussels

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to the meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 21 and 22 June 2007.

Over the last few months, under the German Council Presidency, we have together made significant progress for Europe. Only together will we succeed in resolving the issues before us at this European Council meeting.

The central issue will be reform of the Treaties. In the Berlin Declaration of 25 March 2007 we reaffirmed together that we wished to place the European Union on a new treaty basis before the European Parliament elections in 2009. The important challenges that lie ahead demand capacity to act and legitimacy on the part of the European Union.

After a two year pause for reflection the European public now expects us to put the necessary reforms of the Union in hand. Following our consultations over the last few months the time has now come to set out the roadmap for the impending reform of the Treaties.

In addition we need to take practical measures that will have an immediate and positive influence on the everyday lives of our citizens. In this regard our conclusions will give important impetus in various areas.

The programme of our meeting is as follows:

We start our discussions at 17.30 on Thursday 21 June with a meeting of the Council in the composition of Heads of State and Government, for a discussion on the accession of Malta and Cyprus to the euro under Article 122(2) of the TEC. The President of the European Central Bank, Jean Claude Trichet, will attend this meeting.

At 18.00 we gather for the traditional family photo, followed by an exchange of views with the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering.

Over dinner, which begins at 19.00, we will have an initial discussion on treaty reform.

At their dinner the Foreign Ministers will discuss the Western Balkans, EU-Africa relations, the EU's relations with Brazil and general questions relating to current and forthcoming EU missions.

The discussions will continue on Friday, followed by discussion and adoption of the European Council conclusions.

Press conferences will then be held.

The Presidency will brief the candidates for accession on the outcome of the discussions.