Meeting of the Council of the European Union in its General Affairs and External Relations configuration held on 23 February 2004 in Brussels. From left to right: Sandra Kalniete, Latvian Foreign Minister; Teresa Gouveia, Portugese Foreign Minister; Ana de Palacio, Spanish Foreign Minister; and Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian Foreign Minister.

Meeting of the Council of the European Union in its General Affairs and External Relations configuration held on 22 March 2004 in Brussels.

On 12 July 2004, the General Affairs and External Relations Council meets the Iraqi Foreign Minister to discuss the political, economic and social reconstruction of Iraq. The photograph shows, from left to right: Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP); Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi Foreign Minister; Bernard Bot, Netherlands Foreign Minister; and Chris Patten, External Relations Commissioner, during an interim press conference.

Seats reserved for the Council Presidency at the meeting of the Council in its General Affairs and External Relations configuration held on 12 July 2004 in Brussels. From left to right: Tom de Bruijn, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands and President-in-Office of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II); and Bernard Bot, Netherlands Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council.

On 23 May 2005, General Rolando Mosca Moschini, President of the Military Committee of the European Union (EUMC) (left), and General Jean-Paul Perruche, Director-General of the European Union Military Staff (EUMS), attend a meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) on the European security and defence policy (ESDP).

On 3 October 2005, the Council gives the go-ahead to the opening of accession negotiations with Croatia on the basis of a positive assessment of Croatia’s cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). This photograph shows Ivo Sanander, Croatian Prime Minister and Head of the Croatian Delegation, and Carla del Ponte, ICTY Prosecutor, at the press conference held following the opening of the Accession Conference in the margins of the Council.

Council press conference held on 3 October 2005 to brief accredited journalists on the outcome of the meeting of the Council in its General Affairs and External Relations configuration.

After each ministerial meeting, the Council President holds a press conference to brief journalists on the decisions adopted by the Council. He is often joined by the relevant European Commissioner. This photograph, taken at the press conference following the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 21 November 2005, shows Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary and President-in-Office of the Council, with Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy.

During Council meetings, the Presidency may often count on the mediation efforts made by the Commission in order to secure an agreement between the members of the Council. This photograph, taken at the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 20 March 2006, shows Gregor Worschnagg, Permanent Representative of Austria and President-in-Office of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II), and Ursula Plassnik, Austrian Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council, talking to Margot Wallström, European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication.

During Council meetings, the Presidency is assisted by the General Secretariat of the Council. This photograph, taken at the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 17 July 2006, shows Eikka Kosonen, Finnish Permanent Representative and President-in-Office of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II), and Erkki Tuomioja, Finnish Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council, talking to Pierre de Boissieu, Deputy Secretary-General of the Council.