Tuomioja content with Feira results

The Intergovernmental Conference is proceeding on schedule and EU countries remain committed to the enlargement process, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja reported at a news breakfast on his return from the EU summit in Feira. With regard to flexibility, he called for further debate on how the flexibility clause in the Amsterdam treaty should be modified.

Mr Tuomioja was satisfied with the results of the meeting in general, and especially with the completion of an interim report on crisis management. Civil crisis management, which has featured prominently on the Finnish agenda, is included in the report, and Mr Tuomioja emphasised Finland´s readiness to actively contribute to its development.

Minister Tuomioja also commented briefly on the tax decision. He stressed that it reflected an EU-wide willingness to control the negative effects of globalisation.