The European Affairs Ministers will meet in Brussels on Tuesday 21 September to review relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom and the Covid-19 pandemic health situation.
Although not on the Ministers’ agenda, the current crisis between Paris, Washington and Canberra, arising from Australia’s cancellation of a giant nuclear submarine purchase contract with France, and its possible impact on EU-Australia trade negotiations, could also be on the Ministers’ table.
United Kingdom. Ministers will take stock of the state of relations between the EU and the UK as the two sides continue to try to find solutions to facilitate the implementation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland and the Commission is due to table new proposals at the end of the month or early October (see EUROPE 12788/18).
Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič will brief Ministers on the latest developments, but “the EU’s position has not changed: we are not going to renegotiate the protocol”, a diplomatic source said on Monday 20 September. But the EU remains committed to finding “practical” and “long-term” solutions with the UK, the source said.
With this government, however, it will “not be so easy to fix the problems”, said another source, noting that Boris Johnson’s government needs to bring Brexit to life and create “identity” for the country.
This source was referring in particular to the British Prime Minister’s regular threat to activate Article 16 of the Protocol, which allows the UK withdrawal agreement to be suspended if trade is too disrupted.
Covid-19. The Ministers will then review the health situation in the EU and the measures taken in this regard at European and national level.
Discussions are expected to focus on the administration of third or booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines (see EUROPE 12782/22), international sharing of these vaccines (see EUROPE 12791/1), as well as rules regarding travel, a European diplomat said.
According to a note from the Slovenian EU Council Presidency dated 13 September and circulated to national delegations in preparation for the meeting, Ministers are also expected to discuss the need to “urgently address hesitation and disinformation about vaccines”.
The issue of mandatory vaccination for certain professional groups, such as health workers or teachers, could also be addressed. “It would be useful for Member States to share their experiences in this regard, in particular those that have already started to implement measures to this effect”, the Presidency said in the note, a copy of which was obtained by EUROPE.
On the subject of travel, the Slovenian Presidency also stresses that further work and coordination will be needed on the acceptance by the EU-27 of health certificates issued by third countries, especially in countries using vaccines that have not been approved by the European Medicines Agency (see EUROPE 12774/7).
Finally, as regards the use of health certificates for access to restaurants, events and other public places, “this remains a purely national decision”, the preparatory note states.
Work Programme 2022. The Commission will present to Ministers its work programme for 2022, which was unveiled last week during the State of the Union address by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
See the Commission’s letter of intent: https://bit.ly/2Zgee8n
The Commission will also present to the EU Council its 2021 Outlook Report in which it identifies 10 strategic areas of action for the EU to strengthen its strategic autonomy (see EUROPE 12786/17).
European Council. The Ministers will discuss preparations for the European summit on 21 and 22 October. European leaders will take stock of the evolution of the pandemic and the European coordination measures to respond to it. They will discuss the digital agenda up to 2030 and prepare the UN meetings COP26 on climate and COP15 on biodiversity, as well as the upcoming EU/ASEM (25-26/11) and Eastern Partnership (15/12) summits.
In accordance with its strategic agenda up to the end of 2021 (see EUROPE 12749/9), the European Council will have participated in the summit with the Western Balkan countries by then, on 6 October in Ljubljana, preceded by a EU-27 dinner on Afghanistan, China and international trade the day before.
Several countries are also calling for the inclusion of ‘migration’ on the summit agenda.
Conference on the Future of Europe. Finally, the General Affairs Council will be informed about the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which held its first citizens’ panel on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 September (see EUROPE 12791/13). The Conference is expected to deliver first conclusions in Spring 2022, under the French Presidency of the EU Council.
Switzerland. Bilateral relations, at a standstill since Switzerland abandoned the draft framework agreement on 26 May, will also be the subject of a Commission briefing (see EUROPE 12727/14). For the Ministers, it will be an opportunity to find out “where” this bilateral relationship “is going” and perhaps to hear from the Commission on the general assessment of these relations that the institution is undertaking, a diplomatic source said.
However, the subject should not give rise to a “major debate”. (Original version in French by the Editorial staff)