Foreign Affairs Councils: November 2016

Alan Duncan Excerpts

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Minister for Europe and the Americas (Sir Alan Duncan)]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs will attend the Foreign Affairs Council on 14 November. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence will attend the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) on 15 November. The Foreign Affairs Council and Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) will be chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. The meeting will be held in Brussels.

Foreign Affairs Council

The agenda for the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is expected to include the Eastern Partnership and the security and defence implementation plan (SDIP). The meeting will potentially also cover a range of countries from the southern neighbourhood including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran and Yemen. It is expected that Libya will also be covered.

Eastern Partnership

Ministers are expected to exchange views on recent developments in the six Eastern Partnership states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

Syria

Ministers will discuss Syria. The EU has already imposed sanctions against the Assad regime to restrict their capacity to wage war on the Syrian civilian population. The October Foreign Affairs Council agreed to impose further restrictive measures and 10 new sanctions listings have since been agreed. The October European Council Conclusions declared the EU to be

“considering all available options, should the current atrocities continue.”

The EEAS has proposed a revised EU Syria strategy and the UK will press for this to recognise that a political transition in Syria is vital to our shared interests on counter-terrorism and migration, and make recovery/reconstruction project funding conditional on a political transition. It is important that any EU strategy for Syria does not delay an EU response to the current situation inside Syria. We will encourage an EU approach that focuses on supporting the UN-led process, seeking a lasting political solution to the conflict and pursuing robust action against those who stand in the way of peace.

Libya

Discussions are expected to cover the latest developments in the Libyan political process. On 31 October the UK and US co-hosted a ministerial meeting which discussed Libya’s economic challenges and how to support the implementation of the Libyan political agreement. We will encourage the EU to consider how it can best continue to support the Presidency Council and Government of National Accord.

Security and Defence Implementation Plan

EU Foreign and Defence Ministers will discuss the security and defence implementation plan—part of the follow up to the European global strategy. We anticipate Council conclusions welcoming the SDIP and agreeing to take forward its proposals.

Foreign Affairs Council (Defence)

The FAC(D) will discuss the European Defence Agency, including the budget for next year; the Commission’s European defence action plan, where the Commission will update member states on progress; EU/NATO co-operation, where we will welcome progress so far and call for greater momentum; and ongoing CSDP operations and missions.

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