Brussels, 13/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Member states' European Affairs ministers and secretaries of state have been meeting in Gödöllõ, near Budapest since Thursday evening for talks mainly on preparation of the European Council on 4 February which will be devoted, in the main, to energy (and innovation) and the Hungarian Presidency's work programme. The meeting opened on Thursday evening with a dinner hosted by Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, and will close on Friday afternoon (14 January). Hungarian European Affairs Minister delegate Enikõ Gyõri, who will chair the debates, has also scheduled a discussion on the new role of the General Affairs Council (GAC) now that the Lisbon Treaty has come into force. Foreign ministers have lost their former central role in the preparation of European Councils, now that there is a permanent president of the European Council who sets the agenda for summits. The Treaty states, nevertheless, that the General Affairs Council “shall ensure consistency in the work of the different Council configurations” and that it “shall prepare and ensure the follow-up to meetings of the European Council, in liaison with the president of the European Council and the Commission”. So that the GAC can fulfil this coordination role, “many issues have to be clarified,” said Gyõri. The Hungarian Presidency would like, thus, to help reduce “tensions between the institutions”, she said. Former MEP Gyõri underlined, too, the Presidency's commitment to close cooperation with the European Parliament, especially with a view to having the Commission's six legislative proposals on enhancing economic governance - one of the Hungarian Presidency's main priorities - adopted before the end of June.
Applicant countries invited. Representatives of the accession application countries (Croatia, Turkey, Iceland, FYROM and Montenegro) were invited to the dinner on Thursday evening. This was to demonstrate the EU's commitment to continuing the enlargement process and to remaining open to applicant countries which are willing and able to carry out the necessary domestic reforms to meet the accession criteria, the Hungarian Presidency said. (H.B./transl.rt)