271. The representative of Switzerland said that, in his view, paragraph 17 was factual. As to the concern that the topic had not been a standing item on the Council's agenda, he said that the first sentence of the paragraph made this clear by stating that this item has been put on the agenda at the request of the European Communities. He therefore believed that its current wording should be acceptable to Members, considering that the report should remain purely factual. He would be very hesitant to recommend the inclusion under this item of Members' substantive positions, since this would require that Members' positions be reflected also under other items covered by the report.
