On Tuesday 19 September in Brussels, the European Affairs Ministers of EU countries will debate Spain’s request to grant Basque, Catalan and Galician the status of official languages of the EU (see EUROPE 13251/26). They will also discuss respect for the Rule of law in the EU and begin preparations for the European summit on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 October.
Ahead of the General Affairs Council, the Ministers will have breakfast with Olha Stefanishyna, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. On this occasion, Mrs Stefanishyna could take stock, with her counterparts, of her country’s progress in meeting the seven criteria set by the European Commission, which must be met before the Commission is in a position to recommend the opening of negotiations for Ukraine’s accession to the EU (see EUROPE 13206/3).
The Commission’s report should be published next month and a unanimous decision taken by the European Council by the end of the year.
Multilingualism. A unanimous agreement by the Member States on granting official EU language status to three Spanish regional languages is not expected on Tuesday. A number of Nordic countries are raising the issue of costs and fear that a Pandora’s box will be opened because of the high number of regional languages in the EU.
Spain has indicated that it is prepared to bear the full cost of translating the acquis communautaire into the three languages.
Link to the document for the Council: https://aeur.eu/f/8n9
Rule of law. The Ministers will also hold their annual dialogue on respect for the Rule of law in the EU, based on the Commission’s report presented in July (see EUROPE 13216/8).
This report, with its 27 national chapters, examines developments in all Member States in four specific areas: the judicial system, the anti-corruption framework, media pluralism and freedom, and other institutional aspects relating to the balance of power. According to the Commission, there were no major setbacks to the Rule of law in 2022, despite persistent difficulties in some Member States.
The EU Council will then hold a debate in October on the specific situation of the Rule of law in Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland and Greece.
Work Programme for 2024. Following the State of the Union address by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (see EUROPE 13249/1), the General Affairs Council will hold an exchange of views on the Commission’s work programme for 2024, on the basis of the letter of intent sent to the Member States.
See the letter of intent: https://aeur.eu/f/8iu
Future of Europe. At lunch, the Ministers will discuss the future of the EU, whether it be the issue of institutional operation of an enlarged EU of more than thirty members or the EU’s absorption capacity, a topic on the agenda of the informal European summit in Granada on Friday 6 October.
The report of the Franco-German group of experts on the future of the EU set up in January (see EUROPE 13105/9) will be presented at the event.
European Council. Finally, the General Affairs Council will prepare for the European Council on 26 and 27 October. The work of the EU27 will focus on the revision of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, which provides for €50 billion in multiannual macro-financial aid to Ukraine (see EUROPE 13205/1, 13205/9), the challenge of migration (see other news) and the progress made in boosting European competitiveness in the face of international competition.
See the annotated agenda of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/8na (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion, Solenn Paulic, Camille-Cerise Gessant)