Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: EU Informal Council, Energy & Russia, NICE, World Trade Organisation, Clare Short, EU Trading Emissions, Iran, Veils, Working Time Directive, Climate Change and Extradition
EU Informal Council
The PMOS said that the informal format to the Council was very much welcomed and was very much along the lines of the Hampton Court Summit last year. It meant that there was free flowing discussion around the table, leaders could talk over a range of subjects and could focus on issues of concern. The topics built on Hampton Court, particularly energy, which we put on the agenda last year. The Prime Minister, along with the Dutch Prime Minister, had issued a joint letter to the rest of the EU which spoke about the need to treat energy and climate change as two sides of the same coin. The PMOS said that issues to be discussed included the need to build on what had been set up at Gleneagles and Mexico, and the issue of energy supply would also form part of the discussions with President Putin tonight.
The PMOS stated that the Prime Minister wanted a relationship with on energy with Russia but that the relationship needed to be open and transparent, and that this was a two way street. The Prime Minister had asked for Dafur to be put on the agenda, and the Prime Minister would speak after lunch on the issue as he believes that Darfur was at a critical point. The PMOS said that today in Khartoum there was an African Union (AU) mission, made up of leading African countries, meeting President Bashir and that the Prime Minister wanted to send a clear message of support from the EU, but that all sides had to stop the fighting; the Sudanese government had to allow UN troops in and all sides had to engage with Darfur peace agreement. The PMOS said that in 2004, when the Prime Minister was in Khartoum, he had said that the Sudanese government were well aware of the pressure on them to address the situation in Dafur in a meaningful way and that this pressure wasn’t going to dissipate. The PMOS said that today was a good opportunity for the EU to underline that once again.
When asked what aspect was open to the EU to put pressure on the PMOS replied that the Sudanese government needed to be under no doubt that the world community would not stand by, and that through negotiations progress would try to be made. If this did not prove possible then other methods of applying pressure would have to be found. The situation in Sudan was not sustainable, it was critical, 1.9 million people were living in camps, 3 million people dependent on food aid and 200,000 people were cut off from humanitarian systems. Violence over the last few months had increased the tension even more and that there was fault on all sides. But the Sudanese government needed to cease military activity in Darfur, allow UN forces in, and all sides to engage in the peace negotiations. That is the message it was believed that the AU, including President Obasanjo, President Gaddafi, amongst others, are delivering. The message needed to reach President Bashir that the UK will remain personally engaged and the international community would support a cease fire.
Asked if it would be enough for the Sudanese to accept an AU force continuing in the region, the PMOS replied no. It was clear that the AU force had valiantly tried to control the situation but it has not been able to be as effective as it needed to be, which is why the UN was seen as a way of dealing with the situation. The PMOS added that this had been the view of the world community for quite sometime and that this was why the Sudanese government was being pressed to agree to UN troops. The PMOS said what was important was that there was effective action on the ground, the conflict had been going on for a long time and a critical point had now been reached. The AU was in Khartoum today to deliver this message, and the EU needed to show its support.
Energy and Russia
When asked if by his comments earlier, the PMOS had meant that Russia was not open and transparent in terms of energy, the PMOS replied that more progress needed to be made in terms of being certain that EU companies would be able to operate in Russia in the same way as Russia wanted its companies to trade within the EU. The PMOS went on to say that it was in the interests of both sides that such a relationship existed but it had to be a genuine 2-way street. Russia had signed up to the principles of fairness but all these had not yet been put into effect. When asked what incentive would make President Putin abide by these principles the PMOS said that he could not speak for President Putin, but if Russia wanted to be treated as a fair trading partner with the rest of the EU it was in Russia’s interest to allow foreign investment into Russia. Foreign investment would not go into Russia if there were questions over transparency for example.
Asked about other areas of discussion between President Putin and the Prime Minister the PMOS replied that it would be an informal discussion, lead by energy. Other topics may include other issues such as the recently murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya, but the main topics would be energy supply and Darfur. The PMOS added that we valued the relationship with Russia as we had said before, but we felt able to raise concerns when it was necessary to do so. Again asked what incentives were there for Russia to trade in an open and transparent way, given that we are pro-free trade and anti-protection, the PMOS said that the answer lies in the nature of the international markets. Companies would not invest in countries which are not open, transparent and anti competitive. The PMOS said he could not speak for Russia but the nature of international markets was in itself is incentive enough.
NICE
Asked what the Prime Minister thought about cancer suffers in England being denied drugs on cost grounds but were available to sufferers in Scotland the PMOS said that NICE had not yet issued their report and that NICE was as an independent body which assessed drugs on an objective criteria.
World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Asked about Russia’s membership to the WTO the PMOS said that the EU Informal Council was not the setting to discuss such matters.
Clare Short
Asked how much the Prime Minister valued Clare Short as a Parliamentary colleague the PMOS said it was a party matter and he could therefore not comment.
EU Trading Emissions
Asked if the Prime Minister was at the informal council pressing for aviation to be put in to the EU Emission Trading Scheme early, and would that affect airline prices. The PMOS said that aviation would be part of climate change discussions. Part of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme discussions widened the areas that it covered to include transport and other schemes around the world. The PMOS added that California was developing such a scheme and we wanted to explore ways of linking such schemes. Asked again if airline prices would go up the PMOS said that pricing was a matter for airlines.
Iran
Asked about the comments of President Ahmadinejad had said in relation to Israel the PMOS said that the remarks were not new and were no surprise. The remarks were consistent with what President Ahmadinejad had said before about Israel, ‘being wiped off the face of the earth’. The PMOS said that the remarks should not be treated as rhetoric and that the conclusions from Hampton Court last year had shown that calls for violence and for the destruction of any state were manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community and that this had raised serious concerns of Iran’s role in the region.
The PMOS added that comments such as these were why Iran, in general, caused concern and that the possibility of it acquiring nuclear weaponry was taken so seriously. The PMOS said that the Prime Minister believed that the world must be as united in its message to Iran as it had been in its message to North Korea. This was why we would push and work for a UN resolution in New York. Asked if there would be any statement on Iran coming from the Summit in Lahti the PMOS said that it would be a matter for Finland.
Veils
Asked if there would be a Government policy to ban the wearing of veils in schools the PMOS replied that as mentioned before the wearing of veils was a personal matter however it was symptomatic of a broader debate about separation and integration and that this debate would continue.
Working Time Directive (WTD)
Asked about John Monk’s comments on the WTD the PMOS said that the Government approach to the WTD was based on existing working habits within the UK but also the reality of how other countries approached this matter.
Climate Change
Asked what message the Prime Minister wanted to get out from the Summit the PMOS said that the Prime Minister strongly welcomed the Commissions Energy Efficiency Action Plan and look forward to its White Paper. The PMOS said that the hope was to strengthen the EU Emissions Scheme, including transport, setting ambitious targets for zero carbon emissions from new fossil fuel plants, investment in renewable technology, trading clean energy technology with countries such as China and India, and agreeing a roadmap on the main elements of a post 2012 policy. In other words we are building on the work that was done at Gleneagles, trying to translate that into an EU wide approach, using that to help shape the world wide approach. This is an issue where the world, not just a few countries, needs to work together.
Extradition
Asked if the Government was prepared to listen to the concerns of opposition parties, Labour MPs and business leaders on extradition and accept the Lords amendment to the police and justice bill when it returns to the Commons next week. The PMOS said that the time to discuss this was next week and the Home Office would be the lead.
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