General Affairs Council: June 2017

Monday 26th June 2017 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Mr Steve Baker)]

My right hon. Friend, Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE, Minister of State for Exiting the European Union, has made the following statement:

The General Affairs Council (GAC) met in Luxembourg on Tuesday 20 June 2017. It was the last GAC under the Maltese presidency. I represented the UK.

The main items on the agenda were: preparations for the June European Council on 22 and 23 June; the eighteen-month programme of the Council; the European semester; and inter-institutional agreements with reference to the Commission’s Work Programme.

A provisional report of the meeting and the conclusions adopted can be found on the Council of the European Union’s website at: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/gac/2017/06/20/.

Preparation of the European Council, 22 to 23 June 2017

The Heads of the EU’s 28 member states, the European Council President and the President of the European Commission assembled at the European Council meeting on 22 and 23 June 2017. To prepare for this meeting, the General Affairs Council examined the second draft of conclusions on the proposed agenda items for the European Council. The agenda included: security and defence; migration; the Paris climate accord; jobs growth and competitiveness; external relations; and digital Europe.

On security and defence, the discussions at the General Affairs Council focused on the European Defence Fund and permanent structured co-operation, to enable member states to develop capability on security and defence matters. Ministers also discussed counter terrorism proposals.

On migration, the Council discussed: internal migration; external migration; measures to address the central Mediterranean route: and the need to work with countries of origin.

On jobs, growth and competitiveness, the Council debated how to secure free and fair trade: the use of defence instruments. Ministers also discussed their ambitions for the single market; the Capital Markets Union; the services sector; and the Digital Single Market.

Ministers were informed that during the external relations discussion, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission would update the European Council on recent meetings and summits and leaders would reaffirm their commitment to the Paris Climate agreement.

I intervened to thank colleagues for all the messages of support after the recent terror attacks in London and Manchester. I confirmed that the UK was broadly content with the language on defence but that the proposals on counter terrorism should go further to include references to data retention as a vital tool to fight terrorism.

I underlined the need for a strong EU commitment to free trade and also supported all those who called for ambition and implementation on services, the Digital Single Market and single market strategies.

Eighteen-month programme of the Council

The Council endorsed, without any deliberation, the eighteen-month work programme devised by the incoming Estonian, Bulgarian and Austrian presidencies of the Council of the European Union. The programme will run from 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2018.

European semester

The Council approved the country specific recommendations of the European semester, which is the EU’s cycle of economic and fiscal policy co-ordination, for endorsement at the June European Council.

Inter-institutional agreements

Ministers had a brief exchange of views on the proposals for the 2018 Council Work Programme. The proposals will be formally introduced with the publication of the Commission’s Letter of Intent on 13 September.

The UK also lifted its reservation on the mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework that had been in place during the purdah period and the file was adopted.

[HCWS11]