On Tuesday 8 December, the EU Ministers for European affairs will take stock of the negotiations with the United Kingdom, prepare for the EU summit on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 December and discuss the enlargement process.
Ministerial discussions on the post-Brexit EU-United Kingdom relationship will depend on the negotiations still ongoing in London, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson were to determine the way forward on Monday evening, 7 December (see other news).
Brexit is not officially on the agenda of the EU summit, a diplomatic source said on Monday. The EU27 will, however, be invited to consider the contours of a possible agreement. Otherwise, the European Council could ask to speed up preparations for a definitive departure without agreement (‘no-deal’ Brexit).
The hours and days ahead will be “decisive” for the fate of the negotiations, the diplomat added.
EU budget. The EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 and the Economic Recovery Plan are not formally on the agenda of the General Affairs Council. However, Ministers could raise it in the light of the ongoing negotiations and in the context of the examination of the draft conclusions of the European Council.
“We cannot exclude that the rapid adoption of the MFF and the Recovery Plan will become an important issue” during the European Council, the European source confirmed on Monday.
The German Presidency of the Council was tasked with finding a solution to the problem raised by Hungary and Poland on the mechanism linking the disbursement of European funds to respect for the Rule of law (see EUROPE 12616/1).
“At this stage, I cannot say whether we will be able to overcome the problem or not”, the European diplomat said. “We need an agreement or clear signals from Hungary and Poland by Monday or Tuesday”, he added, if the MFF and Recovery Plan are to be implemented across the EU from January 2021. In case of failure, it will be necessary to move on to plan B, i.e., adoption of the Recovery Plan with 25 countries, without the two countries blocking, confirmed this source.
Among the solutions envisaged are the establishment of enhanced cooperation under Article 122 of the Treaty or an intergovernmental agreement among 25 Member States.
Enlargement. The German Presidency is expected to take brief stock of EU enlargement. Despite several discussions at the level of Member States’ ambassadors and an attempt at German mediation, Bulgaria is still blocking an agreement on the negotiating box with North Macedonia. As a result, some Member States are blocking the adoption of the negotiating box for Albania, believing that the two frameworks should go hand in hand.
According to this diplomat, the German Presidency is “frustrated”, as the latter had wanted to organise the first intergovernmental conferences with the two candidate countries by the end of 2020. The source said it was “somewhat unhappy” that Bulgaria is blocking the process over bilateral issues.
While Council conclusions are traditionally adopted on the enlargement countries at the General Affairs Council in December, it seemed that this would be hard to accomplish at the time we went to press. “Work is ongoing, but time is very limited. It is not yet clear what will happen”, explained another source. For a third source, due to the Bulgarian veto, it was decided not to make progress on the adoption of the conclusions.
Legislative Programme 2021. The German Presidency will present the results of the interinstitutional work on the Commission’s legislative work programme for 2021 and on the strategic objectives and priorities for the period 2020-2024.
In its work programme, the Commission advocates six priorities for completing the ecological and digital transitions (see EUROPE 12584/19). In a draft interinstitutional declaration, the legislative trio takes them on board. It also reaffirms its commitment to implement the roadmap on the introduction of new own resources in the EU budget.
See the draft interinstitutional declaration: https://bit.ly/39P6Rry
Member States could be invited to adopt conclusions on 2021-2024 policy objectives and priorities. In draft conclusions dated end of November, the Member States stressed that “the future of our Union will depend on our capacity to defend our common values and strengthen our democratic model”, saying they were “firmly committed to the principle of the Rule of law on which our democratic system is based”.
See the draft conclusions: https://bit.ly/3oztww3
Democracy. Finally, the Commission will present its recent Action Plan for European Democracy, which aims to ensure that technological advances, such as digital platforms and social networks, do not undermine democratic foundations (see EUROPE 12615/1). This plan also includes measures in favour of media freedom and pluralism (see EUROPE 12615/2). (Original version in French by the editorial staff)