64. Notes that the Oporto meeting of the Council of Ministers of the WEU and that in Marseille paved the way for the transfer to the European Union of the WEU's functions required for performing Petersberg tasks, that this has implications for the structure of that organisation and its future, and that this raises the question of the future of its founding Treaty; notes the "transition plan" adopted by the WEU military committee on 17 October 2000 which seeks, while the permanent structures of the European Union take shape, to ensure continuity in crisis management; notes that the WEU Military Staff with its Planning Cell and Situation ...[+++] Centre will disappear once its counterpart is set up in its final form within the EU;

– (FR) Mr President, with regard to defence, the Council which is to be held in Feira on 19 and 20 June will work on the basis of the conclusions of the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Fifteen Member States in the Azores and on the conclusions of the meeting of the Defence Ministers of the WEU Member States.

As a follow-up to the meeting held by the EU Troika in Petersberg (Konigswinter) on 1 April 1999, the EU Foreign Ministers, the EU Commission and ECHO met with the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the OSCE CiO, NATO, the Council of Europe, the WEU, the IMF, the IBRD, the EBRD and the EIB.

Meeting between the EU Foreign Ministers, the Commission and the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey and the UNHCR, the OSCE CiO, NATO, the Council of Europe, the WEU, the IMF, the IBRD, the EBRD and the EIB ( )

In this respect they welcome the decision adopted today by the extraordinary Council of Ministers of the WEU on measures to strengthen the enforcement of the UN embargo on the Danube.

As for the security and defence aspects, Ministers were invited to address the following seven questions: - the Union's aspirations of a common defence policy and common defence; - definition of the tasks; - location in the Treaty of the reference to the Petersberg tasks; - decision-making rights in regard to Petersberg tasks; - the EU/WEU relationship; - future EU/WEU relations; - a possible guidelines competence of the European Council.