The foreign affairs ministers of the member states of the EU will meet in Brussels on Monday 14 November for a Council with a packed agenda: the results of the American elections, Turkey, the eastern and southern neighbourhoods and the implementation of the EU global strategy.
The day before this Council, the foreign ministers will meet for an informal dinner in Brussels to hold an initial reflection meeting, as one European source described it, on the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States and the consequences of this for transatlantic relations (see EUROPE 11664).
On Monday, the Council will begin formally with a discussion on Turkey, by request of several delegations. With the European Commission having presented its 2016 enlargement package, which came in for some strong criticism from Ankara, as recently as on 9 November (see EUROPE 11665), the discussions at the Council are not expected to include any stoppage to the accession negotiations. It is expected to run on a much broader basis, dealing with recent developments in Turkish interior policy, the fight against terrorism and the revision of customs union.
This discussion will most certainly be tough and may get heated, as there are a number of differences of opinion between the states, a diplomat told us. Some want to go a very long way, he added, pointing out that the Austrian foreign minister, Sebastian Kurz, had called for the accession negotiations with Turkey to be halted. This opinion is reported to be shared by other member states and various members of the European Parliament.
The Council will then hold a discussion on the Eastern Partnership, a year and a half after the Riga Summit (see EUROPE 11320). Conclusions are expected to be adopted. The discussions will cover the preparations for the 2017 summit in Brussels, multilateral issues and bilateral relations with each of the six partner countries. The Dutch foreign minister, Bert Koenders, may take this opportunity to announce his government’s proposals on the ratification of the EU-Ukraine association agreement (see EUROPE 11660).
Lunch will be given over to the situation in the Middle East. The ministers will mainly discuss Syria, with particular reference to the work of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherni in support of UN Special Envoy for Syria Steffan de Mistura to try to put the political transition back on track. The Council may also touch upon Libya, upstream on the meetings in Rome and in Mosul (Iraq), with a sizeable humanitarian crisis potentially brewing, and upon the action the Europeans may take to respond to it.
During the afternoon, the ministers will be joined by their opposite numbers for Defence. Together, they will debate the EU global strategy. The Council will focus in particular on the implementation of the security and defence aspects of this strategy, to be presented to them by Mogherini. Conclusions will be adopted, although the talks on the content of these are expected to be tough, tricky and complicated, according to various European sources. One diplomat said that the discussions were especially complex on three issues: the financing of the missions and operations of the EU, the reform of the command and control structure of these and the development of the European defence industry.
It is also worth noting that the foreign ministers will adopt conclusions on Iran and a joint communication entitled “New proposals to improve the EU’s support for security and development in partner countries”.
Meeting of the defence ministers. On Tuesday 15 November, it will be the turn of the defence ministers to meet. They will start the day with the traditional meeting of the steering committee of the European Defence Agency. The Council will then be joined by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to take stock of EU-NATO cooperation. Finally, the ministers will review the military operations and missions of the EU, with particular attention to be paid to the situation in Libya and the central Mediterranean (for more details, see our bulletin Europe Diplomacy & Defence). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Jan Kordys)