On Monday 29 January, the EU ministers responsible for European affairs will discuss the ‘defence of democracy’ legislative package and take part in a hearing on respect for the rule of law in four Member States.
Presented last December, the 'defence of democracy' package includes a proposal for a directive on the transparency of interest representation activities carried out on behalf of third countries (see EUROPE 13335/28). This legislative proposal requires Member States to keep national registers to guarantee the transparency of these activities and to designate independent authorities to monitor their application.
The aim is to hold “an initial ministerial discussion” and then set guidelines for the “intensive” work that will be carried out by the EU Council working group, according to a European source on Friday 26 January.
The ministerial discussion will be public.
Rule of Law. On Monday, the ministers will continue their annual dialogue on the rule of law with a discussion on the situation in Spain, France, Croatia and Italy.
The exchange of views will cover the main developments in terms of the independence of the judiciary, media freedom and the balance of checks and balances. This will be the eighth round of country discussions.
For each Member State, the Commission will present the main findings of the country-specific chapter in its 2023 report on the rule of law (see EUROPE 13216/8).
On Friday 26 January, the EU institution said it was ready to supervise the Spanish dialogue aimed at ending the deadlock over the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (see other news).
EU2024BE. In addition, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU will present its political priorities for the work of the General Affairs Council in the first half of 2024.
It wishes to highlight: - respect for the rule of law; - the enlargement process, while a decision on Bosnia-Herzegovina will be made at the European Council (see EUROPE 13334/18) and in May the EU will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the accession of ten Central and Eastern European countries; - continued reflection on the internal reform of the EU, which will have to take place in parallel with the enlargement negotiations; - preparing the EU’s strategic agenda for the next legislative cycle.
PE2024. Over lunch, the ministers will exchange views on the level of participation in the European elections in June, with the aim of encouraging an exchange of best practice on measures to encourage voters to fulfil their civic duty.
Contrary to the usual role of the General Affairs Council, the ministers will not be preparing the European summit on 1 February, which is largely devoted to support for Ukraine (financial aid via the revision of the EU budget, military aid). As this is an extraordinary summit, in addition to the services of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, it will be prepared by the Member States' ambassadors to the EU on Monday 29 and Wednesday 31 January. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Solenn Paulic)