On Tuesday 21 February, the EU’s European Affairs Ministers will begin preparations for the European Council Spring Summit, and will react to the European Commission’s recommendations on the EU’s resilience to disasters.
At this stage, Member States only have an annotated agenda for the EU summit on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 March. The EU27 will continue discussions on strengthening the EU’s competitiveness in the ‘net zero’ industry (see EUROPE 13118/2), taking stock of actions taken in the energy field (lowering gas prices, reforming the electricity market, preparing for the winter of 2023-24) and the management of migration flows to the EU. They will also discuss the reform of the European economic governance framework (see EUROPE 13121/3).
See the annotated agenda of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/5ew
The ‘General Affairs’ Council is expected to reach a formal political agreement in principle for the EU to ratify the Istanbul Convention, after receiving the green light from EU Member States’ ambassadors. The Council will then have to seek the agreement of the European Parliament, which renewed its support for the ratification of the text at the last plenary session (see EUROPE 13122/9).
Ministers will also be informed by the European Commission of its communication and recommendations to Member States on EU and EU27 objectives for resilience to natural and man-made disasters with transboundary repercussions. According to the EU institution, a rapidly changing risk landscape requires prevention and better preparation in the framework of civil protection, at national level and collectively, for these major disasters which will increase in intensity and frequency (see EUROPE 13117/5, 13119/4).
Over lunch, the ministers will discuss the ten areas for action to maximise the synergy between the climate and digital transitions, such as access to critical raw materials to develop the technologies of the future, which the Commission has identified in its 2022 outlook report (see EUROPE 12982/22). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion, Hélène Seynaeve, Aminata Niang)