General Affairs Council, 18 March 2014

Spring European Council to focus on Ukraine, industry competitiveness and energy

The General Affairs Council meeting on 18 March focused on preparing of the upcoming European Council meeting, which will take place on 20-21 March.

Boosting economic growth through industry competitiveness

The main focus, apart from discussions on the situation in Ukraine, will be on the economy, including growth, competitiveness and jobs. "Enhancing industrial competitiveness as a pre-condition for economic growth and creation of jobs is a key priority for the Greek presidency and for all European societies", said Evangelos Venizelos, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece.

Climate and energy will be discussed in connection with industry competitiveness. The Council will examine how to implement policies that can provide affordable energy prices to boost European industry competitiveness and sustain economic growth. Differences in energy prices compared with the United States and among European countries need to be addressed. The Council will also discuss how to ensure energy security and diversity and how to reduce dependency on third countries.

The European Council will also conclude the first phase of the European Semester, the half-yearly cycle of economic policy coordination between the member states.

Single resolution mechanism

On the basis of work done in Council and in trilogues with the European Parliament, leaders will evaluate the results of legislative work and the Intergovernmental Conference.

Taxation of savings income

The Council expects the EU leaders to call for the adoption of a directive to strengthen EU rules on the exchange of tax information.

EU-Africa relations

Ministers also discussed the preparation of the forthcoming EU-Africa summit, at which the Council would like leaders to focus on peace and security.

Other topics on the agenda

Over lunch, ministers exchanged views with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, on the principle of subsidiarity.

European semester

Ministers also approved the Presidency's synthesis report on the European Semester 2014 established on the basis of the Annual Growth Survey (AGS). The survey sets out the broad EU economic priorities for the coming year and, more generally, gives an indication of what action is necessary to implement the Europe 2020 strategy.

Rule of law mechanism

Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, and EU-Justice Commissioner, introduced a new Commission initiative to safeguard the rule of law in the 28 member states. The initiative is aimed at better safeguarding the Union's fundamental values, to protect democracy and fundamental rights at national level in the Union.

It establishes an early warning tool to prevent the escalation of infringements of EU law and the application of the so-called Article 7 procedure under the Lisbon Treaty, which allows for the suspension of member states' voting rights in the Council.