On Tuesday 14 December, the European Affairs Ministers of the EU Member States will discuss the process of EU enlargement to include the countries of the Western Balkans, take stock of the Rule of law situation in Poland and Hungary, and prepare for the European Summit on Thursday 16 December.
Enlargement. The Ministers will seek to approve the conclusions on the enlargement, stabilisation and association process. After 5 weeks of intense negotiations, the discussion nevertheless looks difficult (see EUROPE 12851/19). Member States are still divided on the draft text on the table. Four of them reportedly have objections: Croatia, to Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria, to North Macedonia; and Cyprus and Greece, to Turkey.
Last year, Bulgaria’s blocking of North Macedonia prevented the adoption of conclusions (see EUROPE 12626/20).
It should be noted that an intergovernmental conference opened on Monday with Montenegro, and another will open on Tuesday morning with Serbia.
Rule of law. It is not in the form of specific hearings, but in the context of a broader discussion that the ministers will hear the European Commission take stock of the Rule of law situation in Hungary and Poland.
The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU has scheduled a discussion on the so-called ‘Article 7’ procedures for the two countries, which were initiated by the European Parliament at the end of 2017 for Poland and in September 2018 for Hungary.
“Many developments have taken place in both countries” since the last hearing under the Portuguese EU Council Presidency on 22 June, a diplomatic source said on Monday 13 December (see EUROPE 12746/1).
And these developments have not been positive, another diplomatic source commented on Friday 10 December.
Indeed, since the end of June, the situation has only worsened, particularly in Poland, where the Constitutional Court issued a judgment questioning the primacy of European law. Nor did Commissioner Didier Reynders’ visit to Warsaw on 18 and 19 November help to smooth things over (see EUROPE 12835/15). And Poland’s justice minister has threatened the EU with a veto on his country’s contributions to the EU budget if the European Commission formally activates the regulation on the conditionality of EU funds.
There is an ongoing dialogue between the European Commission and the Polish government on the reform of the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court, but without sufficient progress for the moment.
In this context, the European Commission did not give its green light to the Polish recovery plan. It is not expected to do so by the end of 2021 for the Polish or the Hungarian recovery plan (see EUROPE 12848/7).
The discussion could in any case lead to “frank discussions”, another European source said on Monday.
At the meeting, the French Presidency of the EU Council for the first half of 2022 is also expected to unveil its intentions on the subject.
European summit. The Ministers will also prepare for the European Summit on Thursday 16 December, which has a very full agenda.
EU leaders will discuss the pandemic, including the emergence of the Omicron variant of the virus responsible for Covid-19, public hostility to vaccination, and the EU’s solidarity effort towards vulnerable third countries (see EUROPE 12850/22). They will have a further discussion on rising energy prices in light of preliminary assessments by the European agencies ACER and ESMA, and possibly about potential joint gas purchases (see EUROPE 12850/9). They will discuss the external dimension of European migration policy, the EU’s relations with Russia and Ukraine, preparations for the EU/African Union summit on 17-18 February 2022, and security and defence issues.
See the draft conclusions dated 7 December: https://bit.ly/3EFP2rE
Work Programme for 2022. The ‘General Affairs’ Council is expected to approve an interinstitutional declaration on the legislative programme for the year 2022.
As we enter the second half of the 2019-2024 legislature, the institutional triangle wants to see conclusive decisions and the implementation of well-founded agreements. Not surprisingly, it sets out the following strategic priorities: - the European Green Deal: ‘Fit for 55’ package; - the digital transition: DSA/DMA, data, AI, industrial strategy; - an economy that works for people: support for the recovery, platform workers, the European Year of Youth, robust trade policy based on multilateral rules, the capital markets union, and international tax reform; - a stronger Europe in the world: the Global Gateway, security and defence, and combating hybrid threats; - promoting our European way of life: the health union, the Pact on Migration and Asylum, and the Schengen area; - strengthening democracy and defending European values: the Rule of law, media pluralism, and gender equality.
Furthermore, the three institutions recall their commitment to implement the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan, to create new own resources for the EU budget, and to reinvigorate the EU accession process.
See the draft declaration: https://bit.ly/3dNQ09y
See its detailed annex: https://bit.ly/3s0L9db
The French, Czech and Swedish delegations will present the work programme of the new three-Presidency team of the EU Council.
See the three Member States’ programme document: https://bit.ly/3EVC9tC
Conference on the Future of Europe. The Slovenian Presidency will brief the Ministers on the ongoing discussions at the Conference on the Future of Europe. Work is progressing well, with the citizens’ panel on European values and democracy unveiling its recommendations.
However, the plenary meeting at the end of December was postponed due to the health situation. According to the Slovenian Presidency, however, this postponement is not likely to alter the planned timetable, according to which the Conference should produce recommendations in early spring 2022.
Fundamental rights. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights will present its report on antisemitism incidents between 2010 and 2020 to the Ministers (https://bit.ly/3ILcJ45 ). At the beginning of October, the European Commission presented a strategy on combating antisemitism in the EU (see EUROPE 12805/26).
European Semester. Finally, the roadmap setting out the various interinstitutional deadlines for the ‘European Semester’ budgetary process will be briefly discussed: https://bit.ly/3ynVtNJ (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant, Solenn Paulic and Mathieu Bion)