May 27, 2003	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24,1424

PARIS, May 26: The European affairs ministers of France, Germany and Poland issued on Monday a declaration in which they affirm their “intention to pursue their close collaboration, through regular trilateral consultations, in order to agree on common positions with regard to the constitutional process [for the European Union] as well concerning other European subjects.”

Mrs Noelle Lenoir, the French secretary of state for European affairs, along with her German and Polish counterparts, Hans-Martin Bury and Danuta Hubner, issued the statement in Berlin following a visit to Warsaw this morning as part of their consultations undertaken within the framework of the Weimar triangle.

“The ministers stressed that the principal objective of the [European] Convention [which, under the presidency of Valery Giscard d’Estaing is [presently] drafting a new constitution for the enlarged European Union] should be effectively bringing about a greater integration within the enlarged [European] Union.

“The ministers discussed institutional questions posed by the Convention and decided that the institutional triangle and the community method should be reinforced. They reaffirmed that the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission should [have their powers] reinforced and that a permanent presidency of the European Council should be established,” the statement said.