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The new EU member states should participate in the intergovernmental conference where final decisions concerning the EU institutional reforms will be made, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis said at the meeting of the European Union’s General Affairs and External Relations Council on 16 June in Luxembourg. According to the Minister, the conference will be over before the elections for the European Parliament in 2004, but the ten countries of the Middle and the Southeast Europe that will become fully-fledged members of the Union in May next year should participate fully and on equal footing in affirming and signing the conference’s agreements. In Minister Valionis’ words, the intergovernmental conference should base on the compromise on the EU structure and power distribution among its institutions reached at the Convention on the Future of the European Union, nevertheless the decisions of the conference should be independent. It is believed that the present EU member states and acceding countries may be represented by their foreign ministers at the conference. The Lithuanian Minister also drew attention to the issues of control of the future EU external border. In Minister Valionis’ opinion, the mechanism for sharing long-term financial burden should be endorsed at the EU Summit in Saloniki.