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Annex to the letter written by Commissioner Oreja in October 1996.
1. Legal basis: Article N.2 of the Treaty of Maastricht
2. Purposes of the conference:
- to overhaul the Treaty so as to bring it closer to the ordinary citizen and make it more democratic and effective;
- to equip the Union with the resources to conduct a proper common foreign and security policy and common defence policy;
- to prepare the ground for the expansion of the union to include the 12 countries which have applied to join it.
3. Procedural stages:
- 24 June 1994: the Corfu European Council, which set up a Reflection Group to draft the topics for the Conference;
- 2 June 1995 (40 years on from the Messina Conference, which prepared the ground for the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and the Euratom Treaty);
- 15 December 1995: meeting of the Reflection Group with Mr Westendorp, a Spanish minister, in the chair;
- 8 January 1996 - 29 March 1996: the official decision to call the Conference, the drafting of opinions by the Commission, the European Parliament and the other institutions in preparation for the Conference;
- 29 March 1996: the Turin European Council, which opened the Conference, and the first meeting of the Group of Representatives;
- 24 June 1996: the Florence European Council;
- 5 October: Dublin European Council I;
- 13 and 14 December 1996: Dublin European Council II, which is due to consider a detailed draft of amendments to the Treaty;
- June 1997: Amsterdam European Council, which will probably be the end of the Conference.
The work of the Conference is going forward ontwo levels:
- Foreign Ministers, who meet once a month;
- Ministers' representatives (State Secretaries or Ambassadors + a Member of the Commission), who meet once a week.
For further information, please contact M Denuit, Secretariat at the European Commission, Directorate General X on fax: +32 2 299 49 90.
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