National foreign ministers will on Monday (10 October) hold their first debate on the Middle East since France broke ranks and publicly backed Palestine’s bid for an upgraded status at the United Nations on 21 September. 

France’s move angered other member states as well as Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, who had worked hard to get agreement from the foreign ministers not to take public positions ahead of Palestine’s application. That, Ashton believed, was the only way to prevent the deep divisions between member states from coming into the open.

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The ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, will be briefed about the next steps in the UN procedure. The Security Council has referred the application to a working group for assessment. The process is expected to take several weeks, possibly months.

Ashton will brief the ministers on efforts currently under way to bring Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table. The Middle East Quartet – the UN, the EU, Russia and the US – called for the resumption of direct peace talks after the Palestinians had submitted their membership request.

The foreign ministers will then turn to the situation in Libya, Syria and Yemen. China and Russia on Tuesday (4 October) vetoed a Security Council resolution drafted by France and the UK which condemned the Syrian regime’s crackdown against protesters. This might prompt the EU to extend existing sanctions against the regime – travel bans and asset freezes, as well as an oil embargo.

Tunisia

Ashton will brief the ministers on the first meeting of the EU-Tunisia taskforce – which she co-chairs with Béji Caïd Essebsi, Tunisia’s interim prime minister – held in Tunis last week (28-29 September). The taskforce is supposed to co-ordinate international democratisation assistance to Tunisia.

The meeting launched negotiations on a ‘privileged partnership’ between Tunisia and the EU, and the two sides agreed to open talks on a free trade agreement. The European Commission is now preparing a mandate for the negotiations, which requires the approval of the member states. On 23 October, Tunisians will vote for a new constituent assembly. Its main task is the drafting of a new, democratic constitution.

? General affairs council

Ministers for foreign or European affairs will on Tuesday (11 October) discuss the EU’s cohesion policy and the agenda of a summit of EU leaders scheduled to take place on 17-18 October, devoted to economic matters.