Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-12-16
CONTENTS
[01] PM meets European premiers on sidelines of EU summit
[01] PM meets European premiers on sidelines of EU summit
BRUSSELS (ANA - A. Panagopoulos) Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis had
bilateral talks with the premiers of Luxembourg, Belgium and the
Netherlands on the sidelines of the European Union summit that is
taking place here on Thursday and Friday.
Karamanlis met Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday
morning, Belgian premier Guy Verhofstadt at around midday and Dutch
premier Jan Peter Balkenende on Thursday night after the Summit
dinner.
Also on Friday morning, Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis had a
meeting, requested by himself, with UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and
a brief meeting with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy.
European leaders spent most of Friday morning engaged in bilateral
talks, while British Prime Minister Tony Blair was expected to make
announcements at the summit dinner concerning the results of his
contacts and determine, based on the views that were expressed, when
and if he will present a new proposal for the EU budget in 2007-2013.
Diplomatic sources, meanwhile, report a marginal improvement in the
climate compared with last June and note that all sides seem to be
seeking agreement, though no one can predict the outcome since the
national positions seem entrenched and no one has shown any desire to
change.
Thorny issues during the negotiations, according to the same sources,
are the British rebate and the revision of Common Agricultural Policy.
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