PM for Seville EU summit

Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami will be sitting down to a working lunch with the 15 European Union leaders and heads of government of the other candidate countries at the Seville EU summit on Saturday.

Dr Fenech Adami's delegation will include Foreign Minister Joe Borg and the head of the negotiating team, Richard Cachia Caruana. They will be travelling to Spain on Saturday.

The European Council, which starts on Friday, will focus on the fight against illegal immigration, enlargement, and the future of the EU.

The EU's external relations and the continuity of the economic reform process pushed forward in Barcelona will round off the agenda of a summit that marks the end of the Spanish presidency.

The Council will tackle the problem of illegal immigration within the broader context of the common policy on asylum and immigration. It will look in particular at common management of the EU's external borders and the integration of the migration policy into the EU's external relations.

With regard to enlargement, the council will review the progress of the accession negotiations over the six months of the Spanish presidency, with a view to reaching common EU positions in accordance with the road map proposed by the European Commission and approved by the council.

The 15 member states will also examine a report from the presidency on the reform of the Council, and will hear an initial assessment by Valery Giscard d'Estaing on the work of the Convention on the Future of Europe.

Dr Fenech Adami and his delegation are expected back on Saturday night.