(17 Dec 2004)

1. Various, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arriving for EU meeting
2. Various, delegates in conference room
3. Panning shot of conference room
4. Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi
5. Various, delegates

STORYLINE:

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was the guest on Friday of the 25 European Union leaders holding a second day of talks in Brussels.

The EU's support is critical for Annan's plan to revamp the United Nations' outdated 1945 structure and give more clout to the power brokers of today.

Europeans are also anxious to discuss the UN role in monitoring elections next month in Iraq, where Annan has been reluctant to reinforce his scant team of experts.

The European Union has been among Annan's staunchest supporters as he tries to ward off criticism among US conservatives over UN supervision of Iraq's oil-for-food programme, from which billions of dollars were skimmed by Saddam Hussein's regime.

In Brussels, Annan is likely to lobby Europe's leaders for a plan to expand and reshape the Security Council and to set clearer guidelines for its members to use pre-emptive force.

Annan commissioned the report last year after the months-long diplomat battle preceding the US-led war against Iraq, and
unveiled the 95-page report two weeks ago.

The 15-nation Security Council, with its exclusive five-nation club at its core, needs to be reviewed to reflect the shifting power centres since the end of World War Two when the United Nations was created.

In other developments at the EU summit, European Union leaders offered Croatia a conditional April 2005 starting date for talks on entering the EU - but only if it hands over indicted war criminals to the UN war crimes tribunal.

The 25 EU leaders were to offer the Balkan country the starting date for entry talks "if it is confirmed that Croatia fully cooperates with the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia," they said in a draft statement.

Friday's decision on Croatia followed Thursday's historic decision by the EU to open entry talks with Turkey next year.

European Union leaders agreed late on Thursday to open talks with the country on October 3, 2005, aimed at eventual EU membership.

The European Council was meeting in Brussels on Friday for a second day of talks.

The European Council is the name given to the regular meetings of heads of state and government of EU member states, and sometimes foreign ministers, and the President of the European Commission.

It is convened in principle four times a year, twice during each six-month Presidency.

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