Brussels, 17/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - Preparation for the European Council on 20-21 March, the European semester budgetary process, and the communication on the rule of law mechanism are the three items on the agenda of the General Affairs Council in Brussels on Tuesday 18 March.
The General Affairs Council will be chaired by Evangelos Venizelos, Greece's deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister. Over lunch, the ministers will have an exchange of views with the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. Afterwards, the General Affairs Council will discuss the principle of subsidiarity (a working document from the Greek Presidency will be presented on this topic).
European Council. The Council will assess the draft conclusions ahead of the European Council on 20-21 March. The issues on the agenda are: - growth, competitiveness and employment (concluding the first phase of the European semester, and discussing industrial policy and the climate and energy framework for 2020-2030); - external relations (the European Council will speak about the next EU-Africa summit and especially the situation in Ukraine).
Rule of law. The Commission will present a communication to the Council providing for a new framework to confront systematic threats that could weigh on the rule of law of the EU countries (see EUROPE 11036). This new rule of law framework must be the connecting link between the infringement procedures - should EU law be breached - and the so-called Lisbon Treaty Article 7 procedure, which, in extreme situations, permits the suspension of voting rights should there be a “serious and persistent” breach of EU values by a member state.
European semester. The ministers will review the European semester 2014 budgetary process over the course of which - on the basis of the European Commission's annual growth assessment - the member states will present their national economic reform and stability programmes by the end of April, which will be the subject of the Commission's country-specific recommendations. A document from the Greek Presidency gathers together the positions of the various sectoral Councils on the implementation of the EUROPE 2020 strategy. (MB)