FM Rupel Calls for Speedy Developments Regarding EU Treaty
Slovenia wants the process of drafting the new reform EU treaty to be carried out as soon as possible as reaching agreement on the document will greatly facilitate the country's approaching spell at the helm of the EU, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said in Brussels on Monday.
Rupel, speaking at the start of the Intergovernmental Conference which was called in order to reach an agreement on the treaty by the end of the year, added that ratification of the document would make Slovenia's stint in the first half of 2008 so much the easier. "This is the start we have been awaiting for a long time, (...) the beginning is important because it puts in motion the scenario agreed at the last European council meeting," Rupel said. According to him, the atmosphere at the start of the conference was slightly subdued because the treaty being discussed is not a constitutional but a reform one. But this is the only way to make the EU move forward, the minister added.
Portugal, which is holding the rotating EU presidency, unveiled today 145 pages of the first draft of the new treaty alongside some 130 pages of additional protocols and declarations, formally launching the talks on the new accord. Portugal wants to complete the new text in time for the October summit in Lisbon. However, the process does not finish there, as countries then have to ratify the document. This procedure prevented the adoption of the defunct constitutional treaty.
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