European Union

The Madrid Ministerial Council of the OSCE is taking place on 28-29 November and the Commission will be represented by Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy. As it looks now, an impressive number of Ministers will attend, which points to the importance of this meeting. The EU delegations in Vienna are working hard to provide the best possible input to support the Portuguese Presidency and of course the Spanish Chairmanship. Delegations already had the opportunity to express high appreciation for the presence of the King of Spain this week. He was here to inaugurate the new OSCE Secretariat building, a beautifully renovated site in the heart of Vienna.

The Board of Governors of the IAEA are meeting during this week from 22 November with Iran, DPRK and other items of major importance on the agenda. I was grateful that the Director General Mr Mohammed ElBaradei still found time in his diary on 19 November for the presentation of my letter from President Barroso accrediting me as the Commission representative to IAEA. Just before that a high level liaison meeting between Euratom and IAEA had taken place in Luxembourg and I had the opportunity to witness the excellent atmosphere in the talks aimed at supporting the implementation of the NPT Additional Protocol.

On 4-5 December we are looking forward to the General Conference of UNIDO where the Commission Delegation will be headed by  the Director General of DG Development, Mr Stefano Manservisi. The work of UNIDO is highly appreciated by our colleagues in Brussels.

The UNODC Major Donors Meeting is another important meeting coming up in the second week of December. 

 Of interest to delegations in Vienna may also be the speech on a new economic Partnership between the EU and Central Asia (in German) as well as the speech on increased energy cooperation between the EU and Turkmenistan. 

The General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) also met this week in Brussels on 19-20 November. If you wish to directly access its conclusions please use this link.