European Council

Weekly schedule of President Charles Michel, 17-23 April 2023

The Council imposed restrictive measures on the Wagner Group and RIA FAN in view of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

The Council adopted a €1 billion assistance measure under the European Peace Facility for the reimbursement of ammunition donated to Ukraine.

G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, met in Washington D.C., and issued a statement on global economic and financial sector developments.

Minister Donohoe to represent the Eurogroup at the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group in Washington, DC.

Afghanistan: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on Taliban banning Afghan women from working for the UN.

Member states agreed today on a mandate for the presidency to start negotiations with the European Parliament on two regulations that aim to phase-out substances that cause greenhouse gas emissions and deplete the ozone layer.

President of the Eurogroup and Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, will travel to Athens today to participate in a conference on the Greek economy - “Resilience, Progress, Perspective” on April 4th, hosted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The Council decided to modify several Council acts concerning EU restrictive measures, so as to introduce provisions on a humanitarian exemption.

The Council today adopted a regulation that extends the member states’ voluntary 15% gas demand reduction target, for one year. The regulation, adopted by written procedure, maintains the possibility for the Council to trigger a ‘Union alert’ on security of supply, in which case the gas demand reduction would become mandatory.

Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/572 of 13 March 2023 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

The Council and the Parliament negotiators today reached a provisional political agreement to raise the share of renewable energy in the EU’s overall energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030 with an additional 2.5% indicative top up that would allow to reach 45%. Each member state will contribute to this common target. This provisional political agreement will now need to be endorsed by both institutions.

European Council President Charles Michel sent a written contribution to the Summit for Democracy plenary session.

In his debrief to the European Parliament on the March European Council, President Michel highlighted the main topics discussed by the EU leaders including support to Ukraine and EU’s competitiveness. The economic and financial situation was discussed during a Euro Summit in inclusive format.

European Council President Charles Michel gave a speech at the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement ceremony that took place at the European Parliament.

Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2023/646 of 20 March 2023 implementing Decision 2011/235/CFSP concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Iran.

The EU issued a statement on Myanmar condemning the decision to dissolve forty political parties.

Member states reached agreement on the Council’s negotiating mandate for a proposed law to ease the access of national authorities to financial information.

The Council agreed its negotiating mandate for a proposed EU law to digitalise the visa procedure.

Provisional agreement reached on EU Drugs Agency regulation. Council and European Parliament agree to turn the existing European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction into a fully-fledged agency and strengthen its role.