| FM State Secretary and European Director Gábor Iván held discussions in Brussels with Olivier Chastel and Diego Lopez Garrido, the European state secretaries of Belgium and Spain, on preparations for the European Union 2010-2011 team presidency. The aim of the consultation was to review possible forms of co-operation and to outline tasks for the next few months. Among these, they surveyed business that comes under the influence of the team presidency, including seeing to the arrangements of the Lisbon Treaty and the Union’s new functions, as well as the 2009 European Parliamentary and European Council elections. Belgium, one of the founding members of the European Communities, Spain, which counts as a “big member-state”, and Hungary, which is assuming the presidency for the first time, are preparing - on the basis of inherent similarities - an efficient team presidency that will be progressive from the point of view of the Union’s future as well as serving the interests of the entire Union. They stressed that the programme of the team presidency must underpin Europe’s interests. They said that they were committed to a team presidency which features common policymaking, continuity, close co-operation as well as creating unity. They wish to work closely with Union institutions, member states and the preceding French, Czech, and Swedish team presidency as well as the trio of Poland, Cyprus and Denmark which follows. The programme of the 18-month team presidency expects to include among its primary themes: steering the launch of the new competitiveness strategy following the Lisbon strategy which expires in 2010; concluding a review of the common budget; starting council discussions on the framework for the post-2014 financial perspectives. Highlighted themes are expected to include legal and illegal immigration in the framework of internal and justice co-operation and further issues in connection with climate and energy policy. The Spanish and Belgian partners agreed that the expansion of the European Union, the Western Balkans’ path towards Europe and the development of European neighbourhood policy are expected to feature on the team presidency’s agenda. The Spanish-Belgian-Hungarian trio will be the first team presidency after the Lisbon Treaty comes into force. The state secretaries shared the view that the effective fulfilment of the Treaty is in the team’s common interest. They considered it important that they should work together to create a traceable practice for the next presidency. At the suggestion of State Secretary Gábor Iván, the trio agreed to create structured co-operation in their preparations and transactions in the interest of realising their common aims. It was agreed that the experts of the three member states should put forward proposals for the framework of their co-operation in the course of June. The state secretaries will continue consultations in Madrid in September on the main points of the team’s presidency programme. (May 8, 2008) |