Bulgaria expressed support for the priorities of the Luxembourg Presidency at the General Affairs Council
24 July 2015 News
The informal meeting of General Affairs Council was held on 23-24 July 2015 in Luxembourg. Bulgaria’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Rumen Alexandrov participated in the meeting.
Ministers and State Secretaries for European Affairs exchanged views on the priorities of the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU Council (1 July - 31 December 2015). The Council has also invited the EU candidate countries to take part in the meeting. The participants expressed support for the main priorities in EU’s political agenda, including growth and employment, strengthening the social dimension of EU policies, migration, combating terrorism, strengthening the link between freedom, justice and security, enhancing EU’s role on the international scene. The candidate countries together with a number of Member States called for keeping the focus on EU’s enlargement process.
Bulgaria expressed support for the Presidency's priorities, focusing on the problems of increased migratory pressure. Deputy Minister Alexandrov underscored Bulgaria’s efforts to ensure the security of the external borders of the Union and the link to the Schengen accession. He also called for continuation of the EU’s enlargement process, ading that it should be based on the individual progress of each country to meet the necessary criteria, including maintaining good neighborly relations.
During the informal Council meeting the participants exchanged views on the preparation and setting up of the priorities in the 2016 annual work programme of the European Commission. The Member States' positions will be considered in the preparation of the Commission’s work programme.
Over lunch, Ministers and State Secretaries for European Affairs discussed the Five Presidents’ Report on completing the Economic and Monetary Union.