The Ministers for European Affairs of the European Union countries will prepare, on Monday 6 February during a ‘General Affairs’ Council, the discussions on European competitiveness, migration and Ukraine that the European leaders will have on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 February in Brussels. They will also discuss the state of talks with the UK on the Northern Ireland Protocol and hear about the priorities of the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council.
On migration, a discussion without ‘taboos’. The ministers are expected to devote a significant part of their meeting to the preparation of the debate on migration at the EU summit.
Although they will not go into detail on the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ and the legislative dossiers, which will be the subject of a specific meeting on 7 February between the various presidencies (previous and future) of the EU Council and the European Parliament’s rapporteurs, they are expected to address all the problems currently posed by the increase in migratory flows, including the problem of the possible financing by the EU of the construction of ‘anti-migrant’ fences.
Several countries, such as the Netherlands and Italy, have circulated concept notes (see related article) and it is indeed expected that some leaders will raise this particular issue. Austria has recently been a strong advocate of European funding for physical infrastructure, but it was unclear on Friday 3 February whether the European Council conclusions would contain any concrete language on this point.
According to a diplomatic source, Monday’s discussion, but also that of the European leaders, will be important in that it will also serve as a reminder that “European funding already exists for things related” to physical infrastructure and border protection. “We don’t just protect with barbed wire”, noted this diplomatic source.
But the migration issue is “very complicated” and reforms have failed so far, so “there are no longer any real taboo subjects”, the source added.
The latest provisional draft conclusions, dated 2 February and expected to change over the weekend, do not, however, mention such physical infrastructure to be financed from the EU budget.
According to one source, this part of the conclusions on migration was to remain stable, in principle.
At this stage, the leaders are expected to reinforce the actions of the Frontex agency, particularly with third countries, and to re-emphasise international cooperation on returns and readmissions, calling for the use of all levers of pressure, such as visa policy, trade policy, diplomacy, legal migration and investment.
The EU27 will also reportedly call for better data on migration flows to ensure that all migrants arriving in the EU are properly registered.
On the Pact on Migration and Asylum, leaders will continue to call on co-legislators to speed up work. If necessary, the European Council will take up the issue of migration again.
IRA. The ‘General Affairs’ Council will also discuss the EU’s response to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), after the Commission presented its draft ‘Green Deal Industrial Plan’ to create the regulatory and financial conditions to stimulate the development of a competitive EU industry in the future ‘net zero’ economy (see EUROPE 13112/1).
According to the draft conclusions dated 2 February, the reference to the creation of a European financial tool based on the SURE model, which was set up to support national unemployment insurance schemes at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, has been deleted (see other news).
See the draft conclusions of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/57w
United Kingdom. Ministers will also be briefed on the state of discussions with the United Kingdom on the Northern Ireland Protocol by the Vice-President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič.
After press reports in early February that an agreement had been reached with the British government (see EUROPE 13112/6), the Commission denied this and discussions continue.
According to an EU diplomat, as these discussions are still ongoing, it is not certain that Mr Šefčovič himself will be able to provide the ministers with many details.
Swedish priorities. The Swedish Presidency will present its priorities for the ‘General Affairs’ Council in the first half of the year.
Last week in the European Parliament, Minister Jessika Roswall had hoped to reach an agreement with MEPs on reforming the statute for European political parties and their foundations (see EUROPE 13108/16). Sweden also intends to forward the European Parliament’s request for EU institutional reform once the Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs has finalised its work on specifying the reforms that MEPs want.
The Swedish Presidency will hold two specific dialogues on the Rule of law with Slovakia and Finland, which will complete a first comprehensive overview of the situation in the EU27 Member States, and will then begin a second round with Belgium, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Mathieu Bion)