REPORT OF THE THIRD MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF
MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Bucharest, 20 October 2000
BS/FM/R(2000)2
1. The Third Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held in Bucharest on 20 October 2000. It was preceded by the Meeting of the Senior Officials on 18-19 October 2000.
2. The following Member States of the BSEC attended the Meeting:
Republic of Albania
Republic of Armenia
Republic of Azerbaijan
Republic of Bulgaria
Georgia
Hellenic Republic
Republic of Moldova
Romania
Russian Federation
Republic of Turkey
Ukraine
3. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of the Republic of Austria, Arab Republic of Egypt, Republic of France, Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, Republic of Italy, Republic of Poland and Slovak Republic as Observers.
4. The representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the BSEC (PABSEC), the BSEC Business Council (BSEC BC), the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) and the International Center for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS) attended the Meeting as BSEC Related Bodies.
5. The Meeting was also attended as guests by the representatives of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe.
6. The representatives of the NGOs granted sectoral dialogue partnership with the BSEC, namely the Black Sea Region Association for Shipbuilders and Ship-repairers (BRASS) and the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN) attended the Meeting.
The list of participants of the Meeting is attached as Annex I.
7. The President of Romania H. E. Mr. Emil CONSTANTINESCU opened the Meeting with an inaugural address. The unofficial translation of the inaugural address is attached as Annex II.
8. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Mr. Petre ROMAN, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, who made a statement, the text of which is attached as Annex III.
9. The draft agenda of the Meeting was discussed and adopted. The agenda, as adopted by the Ministers, is attached as Annex IV.
10. The texts of the general statements of the Heads of Delegations are attached as Annex V.
RESOLUTIONS, DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
11. Taking into account the new developments in the BSEC since the Second Meeting of the Council and particularly emphasizing its new quality being acquired on the basis of transformation into a full-fledged regional economic organization, the Ministers discussed and adopted the text of the "Draft Resolutions, Decisions and Recommendations" which was submitted to them by the Senior Officials for approval. The respective text is attached as Annex VI.
ENTERING INTO FORCE OF THE HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BSEC AND THE HOST COUNTRY
12. The Council expressed its appreciation to the Republic of Turkey for the completing of the internal procedures that enabled entering into force of the Headquarters Agreement between the Organization of the BSEC and the Government of the Republic of Turkey as of 24 August 2000.
DATE AND VENUE OF THE NEXT MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
13. The Ministers welcomed the offer of the Russian Federation to host the next Meeting of the Council of Ministers in April 2001 to be preceded by the Meeting of the Committee of the Senior Officials.
EXPRESSION OF THANKS
14. The Ministers expressed their sincere thanks to the Government of Romania and personally to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs H.E.Mr. Petre ROMAN, for their contribution to the further promotion of the BSEC goals and for the hospitality extended to the delegations and the excellent arrangements made for the Meeting in Bucharest.
15. The Council expressed thanks to the Observers, Related Bodies, NGOs, granted sectoral dialogue partnership with the BSEC, and guests of the Ministerial Meeting for their participation.
ADOPTION OF THE REPORT
16. This report was adopted by the Third Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BSEC Member States.
THIRD MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Bucharest, 20 October 2000
RESOLUTIONS, DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Bucharest, 20 October 2000
Annex VI to BS/FM/R(2000)2
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC),
Guided by the basic principles and objectives embodied in the Charter of the Organization of the BSEC,
Bearing in mind the provisions of the Summit Declaration on Black Sea Economic Cooperation signed in Istanbul on 25 June 1992, the Statement of the High Level Meeting of the BSEC Participating States adopted in Bucharest on 30 June 1995, the Moscow Declaration of the Heads of State or Government of the Participating States of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation signed on 25 October 1996, the Yalta Summit Declaration adopted on 5 June 1998 and the Istanbul Summit Declaration adopted on 17 November 1999,
Emphasizing that the BSEC consolidation on a basis of its transformation into a fully -fledged international organization requires more forceful and active commitment from each Member State,
Recognizing that the BSEC needs to develop practical contacts with other international organizations and institutions for the enhancement of its role in the Black Sea region in particular and on the international arena in general,
Pursuing the directives and guidance envisaged in the "Resolutions, Decisions and Recommendations" adopted at the Second Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs held on 27 April 2000 in Chisinau,
Taking note of the Reports of the Meetings of the BSEC Subsidiary and Related Bodies, Summary Proceedings of Conferences, Seminars and Workshops,
agreed on the following:
I. RESOLUTIONS
REPORT ON AND CONSIDERATION OF THE DRAFT BSEC ECONOMIC AGENDA
1. The Council highly appreciated the draft "BSEC Economic Agenda for the Future" worked out by the Drafting Group, with the assistance of the Member States, ICBSS and the PERMIS and endorsed it as a solid basis for further consideration and final approval.
2. The Ministers stressed that the document shall enhance the mutually advantageous economic cooperation in the Black Sea region as a contribution to the achievement of a higher degree of integration of the Member States into the world economy.
3. The Council instructed the Committee of Senior Officials to further consider the draft document at a special meeting of the Committee so that it could be adopted at the next Meeting of the Council.
4. The Council took note of the proposals on the BSEC transformation into a project-oriented endeavor and instructed PERMIS to develop it further with a view to have it examined and approved in the framework of consolidation of the draft "BSEC Economic Agenda for the Future".
BSEC-EU COOPERATION
5. The Council reaffirmed the commitment to further promote bilateral political dialogue and appreciated in this respect the contacts of the Romanian Chairmanship-in-Office with EU High Officials aimed at institutionalization of the BSEC - EU relationship.
6. The Ministers instructed the PERMIS to establish working contacts with the European Commission in order to launch cooperation in the development of regional programs and projects in accordance with the priorities defined by both the BSEC and the EU.
7. In this connection they reiterated their appeal to the EU to elaborate a synergy scheme of implementation of the existing instrument, such as: PHARE, TACIS, MEDA, etc. in order to provide assistance to the development of projects and programs of cooperation in the BSEC region.
8. They welcomed with appreciation the initiation by the PABSEC of contacts with the European Parliament in the framework of the BSEC - EU dialogue.
COOPERATION WITH UNITED NATIONS AND UN SPECIALIZED AGENCIES
a) Consolidation of the BSEC observer status with the UN
9. The Ministers shared the view that the BSEC Observer Status in the UN General Assembly should be consolidated in order to become more functional and workable giving greater opportunities of cooperation with the UN and UN Specialized Agencies.
10. They agreed that the delegations of the BSEC Member States to the 55th UN General Assembly would cooperate in promoting the Draft Resolution on Cooperation between the UN and the BSEC and its final adoption by the General Assembly.
11. The Council appreciated the efforts made by Turkey in drafting of the new comprehensive resolution to be submitted for consideration at the UNGA as well as the practical steps taken by the Romanian Chairmanship to that end, and requested the forthcoming Chairmanship in the BSEC to pursue further consolidation of the BSEC Observer Status in the UNGA.
b) The draft Agreement on cooperation between the BSEC and the UNEP
12. The Council approved the draft Agreement between the UNEP and the BSEC and authorized the Secretary General of the BSEC PERMIS to sign it on behalf of the Organization.
c) Cooperation between the BSEC and FAO: consideration and endorsement of the Regional Strategy for Agriculture Development and Programme for Food Security
13. The Ministers reviewed the Summary Report of the Experts Meeting for consideration of the Regional Strategy for Agriculture Development and Programme for Food Security elaborated by FAO as a part of World Food Summit follow-up, convened at the BSEC Headquarters on 6 July 2000 in pursuance of the decision of the Second Meeting of the Council.
14. They appreciated the finalization of the Regional Strategy for Agriculture Development and the Programme for Food Security amended by FAO according to the proposals agreed upon by the Experts Meeting and approved the afore-mentioned documents for further action.
15. In line with the above they appreciated the elaboration of draft project proposals on the basis of the above-mentioned documents, of which a project proposal entitled "Agricultural Trade and Food Security Policy Advice in the BSEC Countries" had been finalized and conveyed to FAO and instructed the PERMIS to continue work with a view to
submit the project proposals to international donors with the understanding that the project proposals are not financially binding for the BSEC Member States, which are not FAO members.
d) Cooperation with the other UN bodies and institutions
16. The Ministers highly appreciated the UN/ECE contribution to the BSEC activities and expressed the view that the existing interaction may be strengthened in an appropriate cooperative framework. To that effect they entrusted the PERMIS Secretary General to negotiate on behalf of the BSEC a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the BSEC and the UN/ECE and report to the Member States on the outcome through the Chairman-in-Office.
17. They were also of the opinion that the Memorandum of Understanding on Facilitation of Road Transport of Goods presented by the UN/ECE could beneficially supplement the steps taken by SECI in this regard in the Balkans and instructed the WG on transport to consider the draft document at the next meeting.
18. The Ministers appraised the progress achieved in development of the BSEC-WMO Black Sea HYCOS project and instructed the PERMIS to contribute to the finalization of the draft project document on a basis of country reports and its consideration at the Second Meeting of the representatives of the participating states.
CONSIDERATION OF THE FINANCIAL REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES OF THE PERMANENT INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION
19. The Council appreciated the work done so far by the Group of Experts in drafting the BSEC Financial Regulations and Procedures and instructed them to pursue the matter further in order to finalize the document by the next Meeting of the Council.
ENLARGEMENT AND OBSERVER STATUS TO THE BSEC
20. Being informed of the request of the Republic of Poland to continue the Observer Status in the BSEC, which comes to an end in October 2000, the Ministers decided to renew it for another period of two years.
21. Being aware of the necessity of further consideration of the issue of applications for membership and observer status in accordance with the provisions of the BSEC Charter and the Rules of Procedure, the Ministers decided to convene a special Meeting(s) of the Committee of Senior Officials with a view to examining this question in all its aspects and implications and make relevant recommendations to the Council.
ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS
a) Auditing of the 2000 Budget of the BSEC
22. The Ministers agreed that a group of Auditors composed of representatives of the Troika members (Romania, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey) would undertake the auditing of the 2000 Budget in January 2001 and submit its report to the Committee of Senior Officials at a Meeting prior to the next Meeting of the Council.
23. The PERMIS will cover the per diem, travel and accommodation expenses of the Group of Auditors, based on regulations for business trips of the PERMIS staff members.
24. They also instructed the Group of Auditors to assess the PERMIS proposals on budgetary disbursements rationalization and present their views on that score to the Committee of the Senior Officials.
II. DECISIONS
CONTRIBUTION OF THE BSEC TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STABILITY PACT FOR SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE
a) Stability Pact Regional Table and other events
25. The Council took note of the initiative of the PERMIS related to the participation of the BSEC in the Regional and Working Tables as well as in pursuance of the respective decision of the Chisinau Ministerial Council.
26. The Council appreciated the involvement of the BSEC related bodies, namely PABSEC, BSEC Business Council, BSTDB and the ICBSS in the BSEC activities related to the Stability Pact and urged them to contribute to its implementation.
27. The Council expressed the opinion that the BSEC participation in the implementation of the Stability Pact should strictly observe statutory goals of the Organization by means of development of programs and projects in its framework beneficial to the BSEC area at large.
b) Updating of the consolidated document on the BSEC contribution
28. The Council took note that the BSEC Member States expressed the willingness to enhance the contribution of the BSEC to the implementation of the Stability Pact of the areas and on the basis set forth in the "Consolidated Document".
29. The Council endorsed the "Consolidated Document" and invited the BSEC Member States and PERMIS to exchange views and ideas in light of the latest developments in South-Eastern Europe with regard to the possible improvement in the future of the content of this document.