A regular meeting of the EU's General Affairs Council took place in Brussels
18 March 2025 News
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Elena Shekerletova, represented Bulgaria at the regular meeting of the EU General Affairs Council. European ministers focused on preparations for the upcoming European Council meeting on 20-21 March, EU-UK relations, the European Semester, and legislative programming.
The Council discussed the draft conclusions that European leaders are expected to adopt at their upcoming meeting. The topics they will address include: Ukraine, the Middle East, defence, competitiveness, the Multiannual Financial Framework and new own resources, migration, multilateralism, and the state of the oceans. The Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasised the need to provide sufficient security guarantees to Ukraine within the framework of the upcoming negotiations. She highlighted the issues of competitiveness, migration and the Multiannual Financial Framework as important for Bulgaria. "The EU must urgently increase its competitiveness by reducing unnecessary and burdensome regulations for businesses," stressed Deputy Minister Shekerletova. Another significant factor she noted is the development of the energy market and the prevention of price fluctuations that further burden businesses and private consumers. "We will also support the proposed text in the migration section, which includes all elements in the fight against illegal migration, improving the effectiveness of EU return policy and seeking new solutions," she added. Turning to the situation in the Middle East, the Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed the need for sufficient guarantees for Israel's security and the provision of effective assistance to the Palestinian population. On the subject of defence, Bulgaria expects the publication of the White Paper on the Future of European Defence, prepared by the European Commission.
The ministers also discussed EU-UK relations. They identified foreign policy, defence and security, youth mobility, maintaining the status quo on fishing rights for Member States, migration, energy and climate as topics of mutual interest.
The Council discussed the Summary Report on the Council's contribution to the European Semester for 2025 and heard an updated roadmap for 2025 presented by the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU. The roadmap sets out the deadlines for the key steps in the Semester process – publication of country reports, including in-depth reviews under the macroeconomic imbalances procedure, draft Council-specific recommendations for countries and the dates for their discussion in the various Council formats.
The Council also adopted a Joint Declaration on the EU's legislative priorities for 2025, which sets out the key legislative priorities of the European institutions.
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