European Union

Remarks by President Charles Michel after the Central Asia Leaders’ Meeting.

President Michel attended the second regional high-level meeting held in Kyrgyzstan, together with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

In the margins of the European Political Community meeting held in Moldova, President Charles Michel hosted a meeting with Meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz

President Michel addressed the press before the start of the second European Political Community meeting held in Moldova

The Council has approved the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

The Council has reached a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on new rules to bring the EU’s fisheries control system in line with the Common Fisheries Policy.

The Council imposed restrictive measures against 7 individuals over attempts to destabilise the Republic of Moldova and undermine the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

On 30 May, President Michel met with President Zourabichvili of Georgia.

The Council approved its annual report on public access to documents.

The Council adopted three regulations aimed at implementing the joint solutions agreed with the UK regarding public, animal and plant health issues, medicines and certain steel products.

The Council decided to provide €295 million of macro-financial assistance to Moldova.

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Monday (5 June), amid speculation that the White House will use the visit to vet her as the first female NATO secretary-general.

Three more Europeans have been released by Iran in return for Iranian diplomat Asadollah Assadi as part of a prisoner swap in which Iran released Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele last week, a spokesperson for the Belgian government said.

After a rocky start to a week of negotiations, around 170 countries agreed to develop a first draft by November of what could become the first global treaty to curb plastic pollution by the end of next year.

The EU's financial aid provided to the 'frontline' countries neighbouring Ukraine has been controversial, with the €100 million support package funded with Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) money to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia extensively criticised by all sides.

The control of the EU’s food traditions should remain firmly in the hands of the EU executive, according to the European Parliament, which adopted its position on overhauling the EU’s food quality scheme on Thursday (1 June).

One year after EU governments backed Ukraine’s status as a candidate to join the bloc, Kira Rudik, a senior lawmaker in Kyiv, says that the country is on track for EU accession - but it needs political support from the bloc as much as ever.

Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton reiterated his support for nuclear, calling it a promising sector and a means to decarbonise the EU, as French MPs questioned him on the EU response to the US Inflation Reduction Act on Thursday (1 June).

In a sign that world geopolitics is shifting before our eyes, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said ahead of the ongoing summit of the BRICS states that the global order needs a rebalancing away from the Western powers, asserting the BRICS' wish to provide the necessary counterweight. 

Any further restrictions on auto emissions need to be imposed carefully and only after serious deliberation, with concern shown for both manufacturers and consumers.