The French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, gave a brief update on the progress made in discussions involving the Council of the European Union on priority legislative texts for the French Presidency.
“At the end of March, we hope that an agreement will be possible between the Council and the European Parliament on the ‘DMA’ proposal on digital markets (see EUROPE 12885/7) as well as on the proposal on minimum wages in the EU (see EUROPE 12894/14)”, said Mr Beaune.
He welcomed the fact that Germany had recently ended its block on the text to introduce quotas for women on the boards of large European companies (see EUROPE 12575/19). According to him, there may also be a European Parliament-EU Council agreement on the proposed directive on pay transparency in the coming weeks (see EUROPE 12847/3).
In the area of trade, Mr Beaune hoped that at the extraordinary European summit on 10-11 March, the Member States would formulate a political assessment “at least to support the mechanism” for carbon adjustment at the EU’s borders (see EUROPE 12882/2). He hoped for an interinstitutional agreement in April on legislation introducing more reciprocity in public procurement inside and outside the EU. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)