No agreement yet on agenda for EU’s summit with Bush in Shannon

THE EU and the Irish Presidency are having problems agreeing an agenda with the US for the summit in Shannon at the end of the month.

The Americans want the Europeans to agree to a programme on stabilising the situation in Iraq during the first visit of President George Bush to Ireland which comes just days before the Iraqi interim government takes over.

However there are demands to include the issue of torture in Iraqi prisons by US and UK personnel and the situation in Guantanamo Bay, along with the Middle East and the US plan on the Broader Middle East and North Africa.

The foreign ministers issued a statement condemning the abuse of prisoners in Iraq prisons last month but the British and the Americans do not want it raised formally at the summit according to a diplomatic source.

The Irish have proposed that the official joint statement always issued after such summits will not be issued this time, a government spokesperson confirmed.

This Irish solution to avoiding diplomatically awkward situations was first used at last month’s EU-Russia summit in Moscow where both sides made their own verbal statement after the meeting.

This overcame the usual row between the two bloc’s on condemning Russian actions and lack of respect for human right in Chechnya. Instead the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, told journalists after the meeting that he had raised the matter with President Putin.

A European Commission spokesperson said it was not expected that the torture issue would be raised at the meeting, especially given that one of the EU’s own member states, Britain, has been involved in prisoner abuse also. However it is understood that France is still anxious the issue be raised with President Bush.

Proinsias de Rossa, MEP and vice president of the Socialist group in the parliament, said it would be disgraceful if the Irish presidency failed to raise the issue. “There is a mandate from the EU to have these issues dealt with. It’s a meeting of partners. Each side brings to the table what they want discussed.”

The president is anxious to show that he is not isolated on the world stage and that he has not soured relations between the US and its closest allies in Europe.

However the French are still holding out for further changes to the UN Security Council motion on Iraq to ensure the US military would not have complete autonomy in Iraq after the handover to the interim government.

Labour is leading opposition to Mr Bush’s visit to Ireland with the party leader Pat Rabbitte saying the message from the Irish people should be, “Don’t count us in as supporters for a re-election campaign bolstered by TV pictures of a misty Irish landscape and grovelling Irish ministers.”