Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos will travel to Brussels on Sunday, 14 December, to participate in the EU Foreign Affairs and General Affairs Councils (FAC/GAC).
On Sunday, Mr. Venizelos will participate in an informal meeting on the margins of the FAC, during which there will be a discussion with UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura of developments in Syria, and at a working dinner with the External Relations Commissioners there will be an exchange of views on the strengthening of coordination between the Council and the Commission regarding external relations issues. Also on Sunday, Mr. Venizelos will take part in a meeting of the Friends of Ukraine group.
The agenda for the FAC, which will take place on Monday, 15 December, includes developments in Iraq and the situation in Syria (conclusions will be adopted), in the shadow of ISIS actions. During the working luncheon, there will be a discussion of developments in Libya and the prospects for a ceasefire and dialogue within the framework of the efforts of the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative, Bernadino Leon.
There will then be a discussion of the security situation in Ukraine – ahead of the EU High Representative’s visit to Kiev – and of developments in Bosnia-Herzegovina, on which subject conclusions will be adopted.
On 16 December, Mr. Venizelos will participate in the GAC, during which Conclusions will be adopted regarding Enlargement and the Stability and Association Process. The GAC will also look at preparations for the European Council of 18 and 19 December 2014, the main subject of which will be the European Investment Plan, in implementation of Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s initiative for bolstering investments and growth.
Finally, the GAC agenda includes strengthening of the inter-institutional annual and multiannual legislative programming, the makeup of the Committee of the Regions, the interim revision of the Europe 2020 Strategy, the roadmap for the Latvian Presidency’s European Semester 2015 and the discussion regarding the implementation of the European Council’s strategic agenda.
December 12, 2014