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» Friday, October 20, 2006

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.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Energy and Russia

Asked about Russia's membership to the WTO the PMOS said that the EU Informal Council was not the setting to discuss such matters.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Clare Short

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.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (6)

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.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

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.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Climate Change

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.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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