General Affairs Council

Steve Baker Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2017 Written Statements

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

Lord Callanan, Minister of State for Exiting the European Union, has made the following statement:

I will be attending the General Affairs Council in Brussels on 12 December 2017 to represent the UK’s interests. Until we leave the European Union, we remain committed to fulfilling our rights and obligations as a full member.

The provisional agenda includes:

Preparation of the European Council, 14 to 15 December 2017: Draft conclusions

The Estonian presidency will present the final draft conclusions on the agenda for the December European Council.

European Council follow-up

The presidency will provide an update on the implementation of the October European Council (OEC) conclusions. The OEC agenda included: migration; digital; defence; and external relations, which involved discussions on Turkey, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran.

Legislative programming—joint declaration on interinstitutional programming

Following the exchange of views on the 2018 Commission work programme at the November General Affairs Council, the presidency will present the “joint declaration” of the European Parliament, European Commission and Council of Ministers, which sets out the priorities for 2018.

European Semester 2018—annual growth survey

The Commission launched this year’s European Semester on 22 November and is due to present this year’s annual growth survey.

[HCWS336]