Today's Date:

M. DOUSTE-BLAZY – At 5.00 p.m., the Prime Minister chaired the Interministerial Council on Europe, during which a number of important European issues were discussed.

This is the third meeting of this kind, which is held every month under his chairmanship.

The Prime Minister asked us – Catherine Colonna, Christine Lagarde and me – to present to you the main subjects discussed today.

A quick word first about the WTO negotiations, which Christine Lagarde will come back to in more detail, and the "Television without Frontiers” directive.

The trade negotiations in the WTO framework are extremely important for Europe and our country.

It is very important for Europe that these negotiations:

- are conducted in conformity with Europe's aims and interests, i.e. that they make balanced progress on each of its various issues;

- create the conditions for the development of the poorest countries.

This is the whole purpose of the talks we're having with the Commission on this subject.

But today we're not seeing enough progress being made towards these two goals:

- negotiations on Europe's "offensive” interests have made little progress: this applies to industrial products and the protection of Geographical Indications which, as you know, are so important to our country.

- insufficient headway is being made on the development issue for the poorest countries: on the question of the countries' access to medicines, for example, the issue of transposing the August 2003 agreement into WTO rules still hasn't been settled. This isn't normal. Integrating these countries into international trade is a duty and an opportunity for everyone.

As for the agricultural negotiations, the European Union has made a number of concessions, particularly with the 2003 CAP reform.

Yesterday, the United States made announcements on the agricultural issue through the press. I simply note that these announcements must be accompanied by concrete reforms as the European Union has succeeded in making, and that these declarations by our American partners must not be conditional on unrealistic demands on others, especially on the very sensitive issue of agricultural market access.

I remind you that, contrary to received ideas, the European Union is the trading area by far the most open to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries' exports: the EU imports 80% of the agricultural production of the least-developed countries.

I raised the matter at the General Affairs Council with the foreign ministers of the 25 EU countries. I shall talk about it again at the next Council in November and am certain of being able to count on the support of a significant number of member States. France isn't isolated and our diplomatic network is mobilized to explain our position.

What I'd like to do, emphasize somewhat, compared with what we've heard, particularly from the Commission, again yesterday, after this Interministerial Council meeting and at a time when the WTO negotiations are entering a crucial phase – I want, on behalf of the French government, to reiterate the principles which the European negotiators must adhere to. These are decisions taken by the Council which set the framework for the negotiations. The General Affairs Council in which Catherine Colonna, Christine Lagarde and I participated in July 2005 most recently drew attention to these principles.

The European Trade Commissioner must, firstly, comply with these principles and, secondly, demonstrate that the positions he has expressed in the past few days fully respect this framework, i.e. the measures taken in the CAP framework between 1999 and 2003. Thirdly, it is incumbent on the Commissioner to honour in full the obligation of transparency he has committed himself to, which requires that he inform and fully involve the Council and member States at every significant stage of the negotiation. I also reiterate that the negotiation must be comprehensive and balanced. It's a strategic negotiation for the French economy. This is why it must be comprehensive and balanced. We shall be vigilant vis-à-vis the balance between the three issues, which, as you know, are agriculture, industry and services – without, quite obviously, forgetting development, a subject very important to President Chirac and us.

We also talked about the "Television without Frontiers” directive.

Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres introduced this item. The European Commission is due to present a proposal to revise this directive before the end of the year. It's the only major piece of European legislation on culture and communication.

We took stock of what's at stake in this negotiation. The government's aim is very simple: it is to get the directive extended to include the new television services, such as Video On Demand, available via different media – television, the Internet, mobile phone.

To this end, France wishes the future directive to include legally-binding obligations to ensure all audiovisual services promote cultural diversity.

This position pursues the rationale of the current directive, which guarantees the coherence and regulation of television channels in Europe and above all contributes to the development of independent audiovisual production.

It's also a direct application of the draft convention on cultural diversity, which the European Union supports and we hope UNESCO will adopt by 20 October.

A work timetable has been adopted to maximize contacts between the members of the government and the European Commission in order to win support for our positions.

MME COLONNA – I'd like to give a progress report on an important issue which I'll be talking to you about again – it's on the agenda of the fourth, the next Interministerial Committee –: involving Parliament and the French people more closely in the European decision-making processes. This is no longer in the headlines as the WTO is, nevertheless we absolutely have to do better. One of the messages the French sent us on 29 May is that they wish to be better informed and more involved in decisions affecting them. They told us clearly that they wished Europe to be built in a different way.

The government is taking this message fully on board and intends responding to it. Hence on 15 June the Prime Minister announced to the nation's elected representatives a series of measures to involve Parliament more closely. It will now be consulted on a greater number of texts. There will also be more debates on European matters, and measures to heighten members of Parliament's awareness of these issues during visits to Brussels and Strasbourg. This is something we'll be doing with our colleague Henri Cuq.

Also, on 29 August this year, President Chirac told us of his wish to see the French more closely involved in the European decision-making processes. We have thought about a way of doing this and put proposals to the Prime Minister. He will assess these and convey them to President Chirac. The proposals we're envisaging are designed to involve more closely not just Parliament – I've already talked about this – but also the political parties, both sides of industry, local authorities and representatives of civil society. At each level we shall have not only to endeavour to inform, explain and convince, but also to discuss and listen to our compatriots.

There will obviously have to be very widespread use of the Internet, which we haven't used enough in the past, both to provide information and offer a framework for debate. For example, at the previous Interministerial Council in September, it was decided to create a new portal on Europe. And on Friday, I'll be starting a series of meetings with both sides of industry. We shall come back to this subject. It's important for all the French to understand European issues and be involved in what's going on. We shall discuss this again at the next Interministerial Committee.

A final word on this point. The proposals, which are being drawn up, are obviously complementary to those Michel Herbillon made in his report submitted to the Prime Minister last June, which he entitled "la fracture européenne” ["the European divide”]. The purpose of this report was to improve the way the French are informed about Europe. The action involved is often long term, our proposals complement it; both are necessary. I think, to quote Michel Herbillon, that the silence we have too long maintained on Europe is the worst service we could render it. On the contrary, we have to talk about Europe, talk about it more often, do so not theoretically but concretely, looking at what it's doing and what it isn't doing, as I always say, looking at what it could do, should do, but also, at times, shouldn't do.

MME LAGARDE – I'm just going to add some complementary points, since Philippe Douste-Blazy has very clearly restated the situation concerning, in particular, the mandate of the European Commissioner who, in the WTO dialogue, represents the 25 European Union member States. Vigilance and firmness are required, because there is quite simply an acceleration of the current negotiating process, which has really been a response to a French initiative, since both Dominique Bussereau, for agriculture, and I myself have contacted our European partners in the framework of this WTO dialogue to remind the European Commissioner, who represents the 25 member States, of the red lines of his mandate, i.e. the points beyond which there is no question of him negotiating on behalf of the 25 member States. Following these contacts, the United States, who is an important party in this negotiation and hadn't shifted at all for a very long time, made a new proposal to which the European Commissioner thought he had to respond, probably going a bit beyond the framework of the mandate under which he was operating and probably with insufficient transparency vis-à-vis member States. It is against this background that Philippe Douste-Blazy drew attention to his mandate which is essential.

What must also be appreciated is that we are currently in a phase of drafting proposals and intensive work with all our European partners and a number of other partners who are concerned by the WTO issues, which are, of course, on agriculture, where we wish to ensure that the Common Agricultural Policy as modified in 2003 remains sacrosanct. But there are industrial issues where the French economy has very important "offensive” interests to get across, the services sector where we also have interests to get across for a whole section of the French economy, and then the development question. We wish to encourage access to development for a whole host of developing and less-developed countries which deserve to move forward on this path.

This effort of coalition and dialogue is continuing; I'm going to be in Geneva tomorrow and Thursday meeting a number of my colleagues in this debate, and obviously the French positions restated just now will be vigorously and vigilantly defended.

M. DOUSTE-BLAZY – As you know, the Turkish authorities have slaughtered the remaining birds and the farm has been disinfected. A quarantine zone has been placed around the farm. Turkish laboratory tests have shown that the virus involved was the avian flu virus H5N1 strain. Further analyses are under way at the EU reference laboratory in the United Kingdom. We'll know at the end of the week if it's the H5N1 strain, today no one knows.

As regards Romania, the outbreak was at a small family holding with 53 chickens and 47 ducks, killing 40 ducks and just one chicken. The Romanian health authorities have slaughtered the stock and set up a surveillance zone. Samples are being analysed at the EU reference laboratory.

In both cases, the analysis results will be available at the earliest on 12 October 2005.

Today the European Union activated a safeguard clause, thereby banning the entry of live animals and products from Turkey; Romania has taken similar domestic measures banning the export of live animals and products, which are equivalent to [the activation of] a safeguard clause.

On 8 October 2005, Xavier Bertrand and Dominique Bussereau, health and agriculture minister, respectively, referred the matter to the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA) and asked it to analyse the situation and make any new updated recommendations which are necessary for poultry farms and wildlife.

We ourselves have recommendations.

As regards the affected regions, the French authorities have decided to inform French residents in these areas, and anyone who might wish to go there, of the situation. Caution must be exercised: avoid all close contact with birds in farms and poultry markets.

You know too that the government has taken the decision to provide our embassies and consulates with antiviral drugs and protective masks, so that French nationals abroad can be provided with them.

Given the specific risk in Asia, as a precautionary measure, it has been decided to increase the supplies of these for the embassies of the 12 countries affected by the disease so that all our compatriots can be provided with them.

I draw your attention to the meetings of the 25 health ministers on 20 and 21 October and Agriculture Council on 24-25.

The French authorities wish the Commission to take the initiative of harmonizing information for travellers and for European citizens living abroad, so that common recommendations can be sent to them through member States' embassies and consular services.

Furthermore, as regards the veterinary measures, France is asking the Commission to consider without delay:

- the measures to be adopted in the event of confirmation of the presence of the strain of bird flu virus rampant in south East Asia, Turkey and Romania, both for the protection of poultry farms and in terms of the surveillance of wild birds;

- strengthening the surveillance of native and migratory wild birds in the affected countries, particularly along the known migration routes;

To this end, the French government considers it necessary for the expertise of the European Food Safety Authority to be sought on these different points.

The points on which it seems to us that Commissioner Mandelson went beyond what was compatible and in conformity with the principles of his mandate and his obligation for transparency with respect to member States relate inter alia to the positions he took on the agricultural market, i.e. everything to do with domestic support, export subsidies, and in particular market access. It's on this third issue in the agricultural pillar, market access – subject to the assessment Dominique Bussereau and I are in the process of making in the working group we have set up together – that we are checking whether with this proposal Commissioner Mandelson has stayed on the right side of the red line which he was reminded of very firmly and collectively by a number of member States or whether, with this proposal, he is on the edge or wrong side of the red line./.