General Affairs Council, 21/04/2015, 21 April 2015

Main results  

The Presidency informed the Council of the discussions of foreign and interior ministers on migration issues at a joint meeting convened by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Presidency on 20 April 2015.

From good intentions we now have to move forward to concrete action. Edgars Rinkēvičs, Latvian Minister for Foreign Affairs 

Ministers welcomed the increased determination to act on migration, in particular in regard to three main areas:

• reinforcing the fight against people smuggling
• strengthening EU action to save lives at sea
• reinforcing cooperation with third countries 

Ministers considered that this discussion constituted a good basis for the extraordinary European Council called by President Donald Tusk on migratory pressures in the Mediterranean on 23 April 2015.

The Council agreed to increase advance payments under the youth employment initiative by almost€1 billion in 2015. This is to allow member states to roll out quickly measures for the fight against youth unemployment.

"The significant increase in advance payments reflects our strong commitment to tackle youth unemployment in Europe. In fact, the lack of pre-financing is currently one of the main hurdles preventing the €6.4 billion from the youth employment initiative from being quickly mobilised. The Latvian presidency will now work with the European Parliament to ensure that the new rules are adopted as quickly as possible", said Jānis Reirs, Latvian Minister for Finance.

The Council revised the EU's multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020 to preserve funds for promoting growth and jobs. "With this revision we have met all the preconditions so that the allocated resources can be used to their full extent and thus ensure a smooth implementation of programmes supporting growth and jobs", said Edgars Rinkēvičs.

• Outcome of the Council meeting