Alternate Foreign Minister Nikos Xydakis participated in yesterday’s meeting, in Brussels, of the EU General Affairs Council (GAC) – the first under the Netherlands Presidency of the Council of the EU. The main items on the GAC agenda were the presentation of the priorities of the Netherlands Presidency and preparation for the February 2016 meeting of the European Council. The refugee crisis, innovation and job creation, fiscal health and economic policy, energy and climate change were the main points of reference of the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands and chair of the GAC, Bert Koenders.
In his remarks during the Council proceedings, Mr. Xydakis stressed that “the ambitious and, due to the refugee crisis, heavy agenda Holland is starting with coincides with a very difficult state of affairs in which the EU’s cohesion, unity and integrity are being challenged. What is needed,” he continued, “is the upgrading of the European value framework and a cohesive vision. The tool-box, short-term policies need to give way to mid- and long-term policies.”
Mr. Xydakis expressed the conviction that “only in this way will we be able to give the lie to the ‘too little, too late’ of the EU’s detractors and of extreme Euroscepticism.”
Finally, Mr. Xydakis strongly welcomed Netherlands Foreign Minister Bert Koenders’ proposal for upgrading the General Affairs Council into an organ with more substantial competencies.
January 19, 2016