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BRUSSELS – The Council of the European Union for General Affairs did not adopt today, at its last session this year, the text of the conclusions on the enlargement of the Union, Danish Minister for European Affairs Mari Bjere announced. “We tried to reach Council conclusions, but unfortunately that was not possible. Hungary is blocking us from reaching conclusions. Our attempts to find a solution were rejected and I am very sorry about that,” Bjere said at a conference in the EU Council.
She pointed out that some members of the Council indicated that this sends the wrong signal to the candidate countries for membership. “We want them to choose the EU and not Russia, and we regret this. Especially when you take into account that enlargement is very important for all the other member states, and also that the candidate countries are achieving results within the merit-based accession process,” Bjere said. She added that the EU Council will now “transform” the draft text of the conclusions into the conclusions of the Presidency of the EU Council, with the support of 26 member states of the Union. Bjere stated that at today’s session, in addition to enlargement, they also discussed preparations for the European Council meeting, at which the key issue will be ensuring continuous financing for Ukraine, including the European Commission’s proposal for reparation loans based on immobilized Russian assets. “This is in many ways a historic and crucial week for Europe. It is an absolute imperative for Ukraine and for European security that we find a solution for Ukraine,” Bjere assessed.
One of the topics at the meeting was also the multiannual financial framework, that is, “achieving a basis for progress” in that area. She stated that the EC presented three reports on the principle of simplification and strengthening competitiveness, stressing that these were a key element of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Bjere expressed satisfaction that support was given to this agenda and emphasized that with the adoption of the conclusions there is now support for systematic monitoring of the economic consequences every six months. “This will help shape future work on simplification,” Bjere concluded. (16 December)