The Commission participated in four bilateral informal conferences with the candidates organised by the Presidency at deputies level (in October and November) and in one at ministerial level (in December).

Further deputies conferences were convened with some of the candidates (on 18 October, 24 October and 8 November), and a ministerial conference with Bulgaria and Romania was held on 18 November.

2.2. The April 1999 study of the Committee of Deputies, Group on Road Transport, of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport(7), which was the most recent and comprehensive analysis available, compared Austria, Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Switzerland and Hungary and looked into the intricacies of the taxation framework.

The Governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as follows: Belgium: Mr Willy CLAES Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Denmark: Mr Niels HELVEG PETERSEN Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Jorgen ØSTRØM MØLLER State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Germany: Mr Klaus KINKEL Minister for Foreign Affairs Mrs Ursula SEILER-ALBRING Minister of State, Foreign Affairs Mr ZIEL Minister for the Interior, Land Brandenburg Greece: Mr Theodoros PANGALOS Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Giorgios PAPANDREOU State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Spain: Mr Javier SOLANA MADARIAGA Minister for Foreign Affai ...[+++]rs Mr Carlos WESTENDORP State Secretary for Relations with the European Communities Mr Apolonio RUÍZ LIGERO State Secretary for Foreign Trade France: Mr Alain JUPPE Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Alain LAMASSOURE Minister with responsibility for European Affairs Ireland: Mr Tom KITT Minister of State with special responsibility for European Affairs Italy: Mr Enzo PERLOT Ambassador, Permanent Representative Luxembourg: Mr Jacques POOS Minister for Foreign Affairs Netherlands: Mr P.H. KOOIJMANS Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Piet DANKERT State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Portugal: Mr José Manuel DURÃO BARROSO Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Vitor MARTINS State Secretary for European Affairs United Kingdom: Mr Douglas HURD Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mr David HEATHCOAT-AMORY Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Commission: Mr Jacques DELORS President Sir Leon BRITTAN Member Mr Hans VAN DEN BROEK Member Mr Raniero VANNI d'ARCHIRAFI Member THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA Bosnia - Council declaration "The European Union condemns the continuing Bosnian Serb attacks on Gorazde in violation of Un Security Council resolutions and calls for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire in and around Gorazde and the pullback of Bosnian Serb forces which threaten the security of Gorazde.

The Governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as follows: Belgium: Mr Willy CLAES Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Denmark: Mr Niels HELVEG PETERSEN Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Jorgen ØSTRØM MØLLER State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Germany: Mr Klaus KINKEL Minister for Foreign Affairs Mrs Ursula SEILER-ALBRING Minister of State, Foreign Affairs Mr Jürgen TRUMPF State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Greece: Mr Theodoros PANGALOS Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Spain: Mr Javier SOLANA MADARIAGA Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Carlos WESTENDORP State Secretary for Relations with ...[+++] the European Communities France: Mr Alain JUPPE Minister for Foreign Affairs Ireland: Mr Dick SPRING Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Tom KITT Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with special responsibility for European Affairs Italy: Mr Paolo BARATTA Minister for Foreign Trade Luxembourg: Mr Jacques POOS Minister for Foreign Affairs Netherlands: Mr P.H. KOOIJMANS Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Piet DANKERT State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Portugal: Mr José Manuel DURÃO BARROSO Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Vitor MARTINS State Secretary for European Affairs United Kingdom: Mr Douglas HURD Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mr David HEATHCOAT-AMORY Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office * * * Commission: Mr Jacques DELORS President Mr Hans VAN DEN BROEK Member Mr René STEICHEN Member ENLARGEMENT The Council continued its discussions on the remaining chapter of the negotiations with the four applicants for accession, namely the chapter on institutions and in particular the question of qualified majority voting in the Council.

The Governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as follows: Belgium: Mr Willy CLAES Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Denmark: Mr Niels HELVEG PETERSEN Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Jorgen ØSTRØM MØLLER State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Germany: Mr Klaus KINKEL Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Jürgen TRUMPF State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Greece: Mr Theodoros PANGALOS Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Georges PAPANDREOU State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Spain: Mr Javier SOLANA MADARIAGA Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Carlos WESTENDORP State Secretary for Relations with the European Communities France: Mr Alain LAMASSOURE Minister with special responsibility for European Affa ...[+++]irs Ireland: Mr Dick SPRING Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Tom KITT Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with special responsibility for European Affairs Italy: Mr Beniamino ANDREATTA Minister for Foreign Affairs Luxembourg: Mr Jacques POOS Minister for Foreign Affairs Netherlands: Mr P.H. KOOIJMANS Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Piet DANKERT State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Portugal: Mr José Manuel DURÃO BARROSO Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Eduardo DE AZEVEDO SOARES Minister for Maritime Affairs Mr Vitor MARTINS State Secretary for European Affairs United Kingdom: Mr Douglas HURD Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mr Michael JACK Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Commission: Mr Jacques DELORS President Mr Hans VAN DEN BROEK Member Mr Ioannis PALEOKRASSAS Member Mr Peter SCHMIDHUBER Member Mr René STEICHEN Member ENLARGEMENT The Council continued its discussions of 7 and 8 March on the remaining chapters of the negotiations with the four applicants for accession. For Norway this was mainly the fisheries chapter; for all four applicants it was the chapter on institutions.