Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva will chair meetings of the General Affairs Council and the General Affairs Council (Article 50)
27 February 2018 Diplomatic CalendarDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva will chair the forthcoming meetings of the General Affairs Council and the General Affairs Council (Article 50). The Councils will be held on February 27, in Brussels.
The programme begins with the General Affairs Council, which main focus will be the preparation for the European Council in March. The Ministers will discuss the draft agenda of the Council, which will be presented to the leaders. At the beginning of the meeting Minister Zaharieva will present the priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The European Commission will present its Reasoned proposal in accordance with Article 7 (1) TEU regarding the rule of law in Poland.
The Ministers will continue in format EU-27. The EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier will inform the Council on the state of play of the Brexit negotiations with the United Kingdom. The Ministers will begin the preparations for the March European Council meeting (Article 50) by examining the draft agenda. The 27 EU leaders are expected to adopt additional guidelines on the framework for future relations with the United Kingdom.
Minister Zaharieva is expected to give a statement to the media ahead of the Councils in Brussels, at about 08:40 local time (09: 40 local time in Bulgaria).
The press conference of the Deputy Prime Minister after the end of the GAC meeting is expected to start at about 11:00 local time (12:00 local time in Bulgaria), and after the end of the GAC (Article 50) - at about 13:30 pm local time (14.30 local time in Bulgaria).