The General Affairs Council of the EU was held today in Luxembourg and was attended by Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi. The meeting was convened to finalise the preparations for the European Council meeting scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Brussels, and which will discuss COVID-19, External Dimension of Migration, and a number of external relations matters.
While welcoming the discussion at an EU leaders’ level on migration, something which has not been dealt with by EU leaders since 2018, Parliamentary Secretary Zrinzo Azzopardi insisted that such a discussion alone is not enough, and a higher level of ambition is needed. Recalling the importance of work with countries of origin and transit, Parliamentary Secretary Zrinzo Azzopardi highlighted the importance of implementation. The migration issue, therefore, requires concrete actions such as continued and enhanced capacity building support to the Libyan government to monitor its southern border and flexible financial assistance adapted to the realities on the ground .
Turning to the COVID-19 discussion, Parliamentary Secretary Zrinzo Azzopardi noted that the discussion at the European Council would take place against the background of an advanced vaccination rollout, improving epidemiological situation and a gradual lifting of restrictions. He reiterated that any decisions should remain guided by the best available science and the EU should step up its efforts to guarantee an acceleration of vaccine production and to secure the availability of booster doses.
On the Conference on the Future of Europe, Parliamentary Secretary Zrinzo Azzopardi recalled that citizens should remain at the heart of the conference. In this respect, the Parliamentary Secretary regretted the fact that citizens were not present for the plenary. He called for the inclusion of EU citizens in the next plenary as the actual and active involvement of citizens is what the whole exercise is about.
The General Affairs Council was also informed on the latest state of play on the EU enlargement policy and another round of debate was also held on the ongoing Article 7 proceedings on Hungary and Poland
