FOLLOWING the IGC discussion Mr Bruton opened the debate on justice and home affairs, noting that the fight against drugs was a key priority of the presidency.
Mr Kohl welcomed the presidency initiative on organised crime, which he said was a huge challenge. The two big messages of the summit were that they had fixed the framework for monetary union and were sending out a signal of their determination in the fight against crime.
Mr Chirac said he shared the presidency's priorities. The common joint action on harmonising approaches to drug addiction did not go far enough - France and Holland are at loggerheads over the latter's liberal approach but he was willing to back it as a first step.
He said that France still felt unable to remove its border controls on other Schengen countries, provoking a protest from Mr Dehaene, who went on to emphasize the need for concerted joint action on the trafficking of children and paedophilia.
Mr Kok said that he hoped the debate on different national approaches to addiction continued - what mattered was the effect of policies in terms of public health. He fully supported action against international crime.
Mr Malcolm Rifkind, the British Foreign Secretary, said that Britain attached great importance to the area, especially the fight against drugs. The expansion in the role of Europol must be done in such a way as to complement the work of national forces, not conflict with them.
He made a series of suggestions for yet deeper co-operation - in the sharing of intelligence, simplifying the handling procedures for dealing with criminals, and ratification of the extradition convention. And he backed Spanish calls to ensure that EU nationals could not claim asylum in a fellow member-state.
Mr Guterres stressed the need to encourage alternative forms of production to drugs in the Caribbean.
Mr Santer praised the achievement of the Irish presidency in the field particularly new police and judicial exchange programmes.
Mr Ahtisaari emphasised the need to involve the applicant countries of eastern Europe in the fight against drugs, a call backed by Mr Simitis.
Mr Bruton, summing up, said that the Conclusions would reflect the strength of comments made and stress the need to move forward even with the current decision-making system. Their work should not be held up by the IGC.