The first meeting of the General Affairs Council has led to concrete results
The General Affairs Council met today for the first time since the beginning of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. On the agenda: a presentation of the programme for the Presidency, followed by a series of discussions concerning a variety of subjects, among other things Iceland’s application for membership of the EU as well as the establishment of the European External Action Service.
The discussions that took place during this first session of the General Affairs Council led to concrete results in terms of decisions.
The General Affairs Council welcomed the opening of negotiations with Iceland in view of its membership of the Union. It adopted the general position that the EU will support during these negotiations.
Another point approached by the Council during this session: the European External Action Service, whose assignment consists in assisting the High Representative of the European Union, Ms Catherine Ashton, in her work for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (FASP) of the Union. This subject has been the focus of debates since the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009. Today the General Affairs Council took a considerable step forward on the subject. Not only did it decide to establish this service, but it also defined the rules that will govern its operation and its organisation in a more concrete way.
Finally, the Council adopted a regulation aimed at strengthening the measures applicable to the use of statistical data within the framework of the EU procedure concerning excessive deficits. The objective of these strengthening moves in the direction of an improvement in the quality and reliability of the statistical data used to determine the figures for the public deficit and the public debt.
Should you wish to have a more detailed idea of these decisions, please do not hesitate to consult the documents annexed to this article.
