European Affairs

Good, he is fatigued. Croatia has continued to make progress in her accession negotiations. We look forward to welcoming Croatia into the EU once she has met the conditions necessary for membership. We also welcome and support the Commission's assessment that Macedonia is technically ready to open negotiations. We expect to be able to open negotiations with Iceland, too, soon. Under the external relations agenda item, the December European Council will discuss the situation in Iran. It is becoming increasingly evident that Iran has no intention of meaningful engagement with the outside world on its nuclear programme at present. Iran has failed to follow through on much of what it agreed to at the meeting with the E3 plus 3 in Geneva in October. It has been censured by the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and only last week Iran said that it was planning to expand its enrichment programme further. As a result, the time has come to consider what further measures may be needed to persuade Iran to enter into meaningful negotiations on that issue, the result of which must be Iranian compliance with the requirements both of the IAEA and of the five UN Security Council resolutions on this subject. The Council will also consider the human rights situation in Iran, including the crackdown, convictions and detentions following the disputed elections, and the continuing high rate of executions.