Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: European Constitution/European Council and Iraq/Zimbabwe.
European Constitution/European Council
Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting President Chirac and Chancellor Schroeder before the European Council in Brussels later this week, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that European leaders often took the opportunity to meet bilaterally or trilaterally in advance - or in the margins - of European Councils. Nothing had been formally announced at this stage. Were such a meeting to take place, it could happen early Friday.
Questioned about the scheduling of business at the European Council, the PMOS said that as he understood it, normal ‘Council business’ would be dealt with on Friday. The IGC would take place Friday into Saturday. He was unable to guide the travelling press on their laundry requirements as we were only likely to know the duration of the Summit when we were there.
Asked the Government’s position in relation to Spain and Poland and voting weights, the PMOS said we were aware that there were difficult issues that needed to be resolved and about which countries clearly felt strongly. Everyone recognised that this particular matter was probably one of the hardest for the IGC to settle. Indeed, in tabling their first paper at Naples, the Presidency had deliberately omitted that section. It went without saying that the Prime Minister wanted everything to be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. We would have to wait and see whether that could be achieved. Put to him that QMV weighting had been the sticking point at the end of the Nice Summit and that Germany had only reached an agreement after it had been confirmed that the issue would be revisited at a later date, the PMOS said that as he understood it, the Nice formula was due to hold until 2009, unless changed by the IGC. Questioned again about the position of Poland, the PMOS said that as the Prime Minister had indicated in his press conference last week, each country was approaching this matter from its own perspective. We respected that. However, whether everything would be agreed to everyone’s satisfaction in order to reach a deal remained to be seen.
Iraq/Zimbabwe
Asked to explain the difference between Iraq and Zimbabwe in the light of the Prime Minister’s comment this afternoon that change in Zimbabwe had to come from within, the PMOS said that no one could be in any doubt about the British Government’s view of the Mugabe regime and what it was doing to the people of Zimbabwe and the country as a whole. Iraq was different inasmuch as Saddam had, over many years, violated numerous UN Security Council Resolutions on WMD. He was sure journalists did not want him to reprise the history of 1441 and other Resolutions.
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