Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva participated in the General Affairs Council and conferred with the First Vice President of the EC Frans Timmermans
16 May 2017 News
Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva took part in the General Affairs Council, in Brussels on May 16th, 2017. The Council started preparations for the upcoming meeting of the European Council in June, which will focus on several key subjects: migration, security and defence, jobs, growth, and competitiveness
In June, the European Council with approve recommendations specific for each member state, thus completing the European Semester for 2017. Under the section on “Migration”, the leaders will review what has been accomplished in the implementation of measures for averting migratory pressures. The Council will also discuss the reform of the Common European Asylum System. The Heads of state and Government will also make an assessment of the cooperation with third countries with a view to eradicating the root causes of illegal migration.
Bulgaria has always insisted on a comprehensive approach to dealing with the migration crisis, in both its external and internal aspects, said Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva in her statement. We should continue to monitor closely the developing situation along the two main migration routes: across the Central and across the Eastern Mediterranean, she emphasized. Bulgaria believes that the Common European Asylum System should be reformed in such a way as to provide a fair mechanism of solidarity and shared responsibility among the member states.
At the General Affairs Council, the European Commission informed the ministers about the follow-up to the White Paper on the future of the EU. Two additional thematic documents have been appended to it: on the social dimension of integration and on the management of the globalisation processes. The debate on the future of the EU is still pending and will surely have an impact on the context in which Bulgaria will take over the Presidency of the EU in 2018.
Within the framework of the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva also spoke with Frans Timmermans, the First Vice-President of the European Commission. The two discussed the progress in the judicial reform and the fulfilment of recommendations made in the 10th annual report on progress under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
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