General Affairs Council (Art. 50), 20/11/2017, 20 November 2017

Main results

Brexit

The Council, in EU27 format, was informed by the EU Brexit Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, of the progress reached so far in the negotiations with the UK after six rounds of talks. Ministers then started the preparations for the European Council (Article 50) in December 2017 by examining the annotated draft agenda.

• Brexit - Background information and timeline

EU agencies relocation

EU27 ministers selected the new seats for the two EU agencies currently based in the UK which need to be relocated in the context of Brexit. Amsterdam (the Netherlands) was selected as the new location for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Paris (France) for the European Banking Authority (EBA).

The selection took place in the margins of the General Affairs Council (Article 50) meeting, in accordance with the procedure endorsed by the EU 27 heads of State and Government on 22 June 2017.

"The European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority play a key role respectively in protecting the safety and health of our citizens and in ensuring the proper functioning of the EU banking sector. We need to guarantee that their work is not affected by relocation. After a fair and thorough process, we now have two cities selected for the new seats in good time for an efficient and swift relocation." Matti Maasikas, Estonia's Deputy Minister for European Affairs

The Commission will prepare legislative proposals for adoption under the ordinary legislative procedure with the involvement of the European Parliament. The Council and the Commission are committed to ensuring that these legislative proposals are processed as quickly as possible in view of the urgency of the matter.

• Relocation of the UK-based EU agencies (background information)