The visit of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will precede the discussions on the political situation in the Middle East, as well as the debates on Africa (see EUROPE 11921), at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday 11 December.
Israel. The day will begin with an informal working breakfast that is also to be attended by Netanyahu. This meeting comes against a tense backdrop, with US President Donald Trump's statement on 6 December on the status of Jerusalem coming under strong fire on the international political scene – especially from High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini (see EUROPE 11921).
As Netanyahu's visit was planned before Trump made his statement, the issue of Jerusalem is not strictly expected to be at the centre of discussions. The parties nevertheless plan to discuss the Middle East peace process, bilateral EU-Israel relations and the development of the political situation in the region.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will take part in an informal meeting on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 22 January.
Middle East. The ministers will then discuss the political situation in the Middle East – this time in their classic format, without Netanyahu. They might therefore address the conflict in Yemen, which has taken a new turn with the murder of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh by Houthi forces (see EUROPE 11919). The EU's foreign ministers are expected to state that they support the UN Security Council resolutions to reach a negotiated political solution between the different parties (see EUROPE 11760).
This meeting will also be the opportunity to discuss the political situation in Lebanon after the return of Prime Minister Saad Hariri to Beirut. The EU advocates maintaining stability. A new electoral law was recently adopted to preserve the political co-existence of different communities (see EUROPE 11811).
The EU's foreign affairs ministers are also expected to work on the Syrian issue at a time when the negotiations as part of the Geneva peace process are going around in circles. The EU will host a conference on future support for Syria next spring.
New strategy in Iraq. The Council will furthermore focus on the preparatory work for the EU's new strategy on Iraq, which is due to be presented by High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and the European Commission in January 2018. In order to strengthen the fragile stability of al-Abadi's government after the military victory over Islamic State, the EU Council launched a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) civilian mission on 16 October, supporting the Iraqi authorities in the implementation of their national security strategy (see EUROPE 11884).
The consequences of the 25 September referendum in Kurdistan are also due to be discussed (see EUROPE 11870).
Permanent structured cooperation. The Council will then adopt the formal decision establishing permanent structured cooperation (PeSCo). This instrument, which has been authorised since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, was the subject of an inter-institutional agreement with the European Parliament in mid-October. The Parliament then officially voted in favour of it on 30 November (see EUROPE 11916).
In this framework, 25 member states (all except Malta, the UK and Denmark) – with the Irish and Portuguese parliaments having voted in favour of this PeSCo initiative – will jointly develop defence capabilities. Initially, 17 control or logistics training projects should be launched in the coming months, the Council states. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau with Camille-Cerise Gessant)