A regular meeting of the EU General Affairs Council is held in Brussels
24 September 2024 News
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elena Shekerletova today represented Bulgaria at the regular meeting of the EU General Affairs Council, which took place in the Belgian capital. At the beginning of the meeting, the Hungarian presidency presented its priorities, after which the Council discussed the preparations for the regular October European Council meeting and held a discussion on the state of the rule of law in the Union as well as in 4 candidate countries from the Western Balkans.
Within the discussion on the priorities of the Hungarian rotating presidency, the Bulgarian side focused on the following topics and expectations: the abolition of controls at Bulgaria's internal Schengen land borders by the end of this year, joining the euro area, maintaining strong support and solidarity with Ukraine, EU enlargement based on the principle of own merits and strict implementation of commitments and conditions by the candidate countries, migration and others.
The ministers discussed the Fifth Annual Report on the Rule of Law in the EU, published by the European Commission on 24 July 2024. It covers four key areas: the judiciary, the fight against corruption, media freedom and institutional issues related to the balance of powers. The report contains 27 sections for each Member State. For the first time this year it includes chapters on four candidate countries (Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro). The ministers for European affairs of the four countries also took part in the discussion. General trends in the four areas of the Rule of Law Dialogue were discussed: the judiciary, the fight against corruption, media pluralism, and the balance between institutions. ‘The inclusion of the four candidate countries in the rule of law monitoring process will contribute to accelerating the reforms related to the EU membership of these countries’, Deputy Minister Shekerletova noted in her statement. She referred to the need for the full practical implementation of all aspects of the judicial reform in the Republic of North Macedonia and the importance of respecting ethical and professional standards in the media in this country.
The Council also discussed draft conclusions for the forthcoming October regular European Council meeting. The leaders are expected to discuss and adopt a conclusion on the following topics: Ukraine, Middle East and Competitiveness. The COP29 and COP16 meetings, events in Georgia and Moldova, migration, security and defence will also be discussed. ‘We strongly condemn the Russian military actions against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, in particular energy infrastructure. It is very important to have an operational and working Ukrainian Assistance Fund as soon as possible, as well as other measures to support the country’s defence capabilities’, the Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister stressed. On the situation in the Middle East, the Bulgarian representative stressed the need to support the peace efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt and the non-proliferation of the conflict in the region. ‘It is extremely important for European leaders to discuss the competitiveness of the European economy, the measures outlined in Mario Draghi’s report and the need for additional investment in technology, education and industrial innovation’, Deputy Minister Elena Shekerletova said in her speech on the topic. She highlighted as one of the main problems the high prices of energy resources, which seriously undermines the competitiveness of European industry.
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