In order to cope with the increasing problems of international politics,
the necessary reinforcement of European Political Cooperation must be ensured,
in particular by the following measures:
intensified consultations with a view to permitting timely joint action
on all major foreign policy questions of interest to the Ten as a whole;
prior consultation with the other Member States in advance of the
adoption of final positions on these questions. The Heads of State or
Government underline their undertaking that each Member State will take full
account of the positions of its partners and give due weight to the adoption
and implementation of common European positions when working out national
positions and taking national action;
development and extension of the practice by which the views of the Ten
are defined and consolidated in the form of common positions which then
constitute a central point of reference for Member States' policies;
progressive development and definition of common principles and
objectives as well as the identification of common interests in order to
strengthen the possibilities of joint action in the field of foreign policy;
coordination of positions of Member States on the political and economic
aspects of security;
increased contacts with third countries in order to give the Ten greater
weight as an interlocutor in the foreign policy field;
closer cooperation in diplomatic and administrative matters between the
missions of the Ten in third countries; the search for common positions at
major international conferences attended by one or more of the Ten and
covering questions dealt with in Political Cooperation;
increasing recognition of the contribution which the European Parliament
makes to the development of a coordinated foreign policy of the Ten.
