Foreign Affairs Council/General Affairs Council

Monday 24th March 2014 Written Statements

[The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington)]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs attended the Foreign Affairs Council on 17 March, and I attended the General Affairs Council on 18 March. The Foreign Affairs Council was chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, and the General Affairs Council was chaired by the Greek presidency. The meetings were held in Brussels/Luxembourg.

Commissioners Füle (Enlargement) and Oettinger (Energy) were in attendance for some of the discussions at the FAC. Commissioners Reding (Justice) and Füle (Enlargement) were in attendance for some of the discussions at the GAC.

Foreign Affairs Council (FAC)

A provisional report of the meeting and conclusions adopted can be found at:

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/141614.pdf.

Middle East Peace Process

Baroness Ashton briefed Ministers on work to prepare the “unprecedented package” of incentives promised in December’s Council conclusions. Following the FAC, Baroness Ashton stated publicly that the EU would offer “huge opportunities” for market integration and co-operation on security, research and innovation, and that the EU could support the parties in the fields of transport, energy, water, the environment and people-to-people links.

Iran

Baroness Ashton briefed Ministers on her 8-10 March visit to Iran. She had met human rights activists and the Iranian Government had signalled their disapproval. She noted that the EU’s special representative for human rights would visit shortly. Baroness Ashton also noted that E3+3 talks with Iran would resume on 18 March to continue discussions towards a comprehensive agreement on the nuclear file.

Middle East and North Africa

On Syria, Baroness Ashton noted that UN Special Envoy Brahimi was pushing for further talks between the regime and opposition. On Iraq, Baroness Ashton explained that the security situation made a full election observation mission of the 30 April elections impossible. Instead, the EU would send election experts to work with domestic observers. On Libya, Baroness Ashton thanked Italy for organising the 6 March Rome Ministerial meeting.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Baroness Ashton briefed on her 12 March visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). She had passed a strong message that BiH needed leadership and that progress could not wait until after elections. The EU should consider stepping up engagement with BiH, which should encourage leaders to respond to the socio-economic demands of recent protests. Baroness Ashton stated that she expected conclusions to be prepared for the April FAC.

EU-Africa Summit

Baroness Ashton briefed the Council on preparations for the fourth EU/Africa summit, which is to take place in Brussels on 2-3 April under the theme “Investing in people, prosperity and peace”. In addition, there will be an EU/Africa Ministerial meeting on 1 April, in advance of the summit. Conclusions were adopted on a number of African files, including on responding to the security challenges of the Gulf of Guinea, the situation in South Sudan, the Sahel and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Ukraine

The Foreign Secretary updated the House on 18 March on the situation in Ukraine, including on the actions agreed by the Foreign Affairs Council, 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 650. At the FAC, Ministers strongly condemned the holding on 16 March of an illegal “referendum” in Crimea on joining the Russian Federation, in clear breach of the Ukrainian constitution. The EU does not recognise the illegal “referendum” and its outcome.

In line with the statement of the EU leaders of 6 March, the FAC adopted the package of sanctions against 21 individuals in Crimea and Russia who were threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The targets include Crimean political leaders, Russian parliamentarians, and Russian military commanders. Baroness Ashton outlined EU support to Ukraine and Ministers endorsed the signing of the political chapters of EU/Ukraine association agreement at the 20-21 March European Council. Conclusions were agreed setting out EU concerns, noting the sanctions, and repeating existing language about possible further measures.

Ministers also emphasised the importance of signing the association agreements with Georgia and Moldova.

Energy diplomacy

Ministers discussed EU energy diplomacy over a lunch which Commissioner Oettinger attended. As well as focusing on the immediate situation in Ukraine, Ministers considered the issue from a strategic viewpoint. The Foreign Secretary stressed how energy security would play an increasingly prominent part in the future of foreign policy, and encouraged consideration of options for decreasing dependency on any single particular source.

Other business

Ministers agreed without discussion a number of other measures:

The Council adopted a decision on the amendment of a specific protocol to each of the euro/Mediterranean association agreements as concerns the concept of “originating products”.

The Council updated the EU’s common military list, which defines the scope of EU rules on arms exports as set out in Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing the control of exports of military technology and equipment.

The Council approved revised guidelines on the appointment, mandate and financing of EU special representatives.

The Council amended the restrictive measures against the Democratic Republic of the Congo so as to implement changes decided in UN Security Council resolution 2136 (2014) of 30 January 2014.

The Council adopted a crisis management concept for a civilian mission under the common security and defence policy to assist the internal security forces in Mali so as to enable the Malian state to ensure law and order and fight against terrorists, organised crime and cross-border trafficking.

The Council authorised the opening of negotiations for an agreement on the participation of the Swiss confederation in the EU integrated border management assistance mission in Libya (EUBAM LIBYA).

The Council approved conclusions on West Africa’s Economic Partnership Agreement Development programme.

The Council adopted the conclusions on the EU common position for the first high-level meeting of the global partnership for effective development co-operation, which will take place in Mexico City on 15-16 April 2014.

The Council adopted conclusions on the European Court of Auditors’ special report No. 9/2013 on EU support for governance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

General Affairs Council (GAC)

The 18 March GAC focused on: preparation for the March European Council; the European semester; and the Commission’s communication on the rule of law.

A provisional report of the meeting can be found at:

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/genaff/141629.pdf.

The Preparation of the March European Council

The GAC discussed the March European Council (20 and 21 March), both in the plenary session of the General Affairs Council and over lunch with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.

The main focus of this European Council is the situation in Ukraine. In addition, the Council has a full agenda covering: the energy and climate 2030 package; the European semester; industrial policy; and EU/Africa relations including the preparations for the EU/Africa summit to be held on 2 and 3 April.

Following the Foreign Affairs Council’s extensive discussion on Ukraine on 17 March, the GAC concentrated more on the other European Council agenda items, though there was a substantial discussion at the Ministerial lunch. On the climate and energy 2030 package, I again stressed the importance of aiming for an ambitious outcome at the March Council, but made clear that member states needed flexibility to de-carbonise in the most effective way. The issue is not only about climate, but also ensuring Europe’s long-term energy security needs are met. On industrial policy, I said that it was important to create the right conditions to encourage re-shoring and investment in Europe by reducing unnecessary burdens in key industrial sectors and creating a regulatory environment that drives innovation, industrial growth and competiveness. The GAC also discussed widening the scope of the EU/Africa discussion to include trade, development and economic partnership.

The European Semester

The GAC endorsed the presidency synthesis report on the 2014 European semester for further discussion at the March European Council.

Commission Communication on the Rule of Law

The GAC received a presentation by the Commission of its communication on the rule of law mechanism and had a preliminary exchange of views. I made it clear that the focus on political dialogue and systemic threats was a step forward from earlier ideas but noted the need for further discussion after member states had considered the communication in detail.

Subsidiarity

Over lunch, ministers had a discussion on the principle of subsidiarity, following interventions by different member states, including the UK, at previous Council meetings. Germany and the Netherlands said that the EU needed to focus in the areas of its competence where it could add most value. I agreed and said this was a crucial debate at the right time given the upcoming institutional refresh.