General Affairs Council March 2019

Thursday 28th March 2019 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Mr Robin Walker)]

Lord Callanan, Minister of State for Exiting the European Union, has made the following statement:

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr Lidington), represented the UK at the General Affairs Council (GAC) meeting on 19 March in Brussels. A provisional report of the meeting and the conclusions adopted can be found on the Council of the European Union’s website at:

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/gac/2019/03/19/

Multiannual financial framework 2021-2027

The presidency presented a progress report outlining the latest developments on MFF-related sectoral proposals, which Ministers agreed to send to the European Parliament.

Ministers discussed the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027. Ministers agreed that funding migration policy should be a priority in the next MFF. However funding for the internal and external aspects of migration policy was still to be decided. Member states broadly agreed the Commission’s proposed 25% target of EU expenditure on climate objectives across all programmes. The new proposal aims to build on the last MFF by having 25% of the Union budget expenditures supporting climate objectives, instead of the 20% from the last MFF, in order to implement the Paris agreement and achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals. Some member states stated that higher targets within the common agricultural policy (CAP) and cohesion policy programmes would be more difficult to achieve under proposed cuts for these programmes.

The Commission encouraged member states to be adaptable in their positions in order to reach an agreement on the negotiations in autumn 2019. The shared goal was to provide a simplified draft position in preparation for leaders to discuss at the June European Council.

Instrument for pre-accession assistance

Ministers were presented with the partial general approach on the regulation establishing the instrument for pre-accession in assistance (IPA III). The IPA III is part of the MFF and supports EU enlargement policy by providing funding and support for implementing key political, institutional, social and economic reforms to comply with EU values, rules, standards and policies. The beneficiaries of the IPA III are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovinia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Turkey. After formal adoption of the mandate at a future Council, discussions are expected to begin between the Council, European Commission and European Parliament under the Finnish presidency.

Preparation of the European Council 21-22 March 2019: Conclusions and European Council follow-up

The Council discussed preparations and draft conclusions for the 21-22 March European Council. These included climate change, the upcoming EU-China summit, tackling disinformation and strengthening the European economic base. Member states were unanimous in calling for a wide-ranging discussion on the single market and industrial policy. As such, there were broad calls from member states for the Commission to produce an integrated 2030 industrial strategy by March 2020.

Member states welcomed the recent Commission - European external action service communication on China. Member states also welcomed the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the fifth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, and many member states highlighted the need to counter the threat of disinformation, especially in the run up to the European Parliament elections.

The UK welcomed the joint communication on China, supported the addition of language on Crimea and restated our commitment to the policy of non-recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. We also welcomed the inclusion of the issue of disinformation on the agenda and highlighted the need to build resilience against hybrid threats.

European semester

The presidency presented a report on the discussions and main political messages from the different Council configurations on 2019 European semester package. The Council noted that although the European economy had entered its sixth year of growth, further action is needed to tackle global instability and economic challenges. The Commission welcomed the presidency’s report and the emphasis on country-specific recommendations.

[HCWS1460]