The Diplomat
The Secretary of State for the European Union, Juan González-Barba, defended yesterday at the EU General Affairs Council (GAC) the enlargement of the Union in the Western Balkans by boosting the accession processes currently underway with Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro.
The GAC was held in Luxembourg and had an agenda marked by enlargement-related issues, the rule of law, the Conference on the Future of Europe and the preparation of the European Council tomorrow and Friday. In the margins of the GAC, Spain signed, together with numerous Member States, a declaration against the legislative amendments recently adopted by the Hungarian Parliament on LGTBIQ persons.
In addition, the ministers of European Affairs addressed the Enlargement, Stabilization and Association process and held Intergovernmental Conferences with Serbia and Montenegro, in the framework of their EU accession processes. During his intervention in this chapter, González-Barba defended the enlargement of the EU, supported the efforts of the Portuguese Presidency to make progress in the negotiation frameworks with Albania and North Macedonia and insisted on the importance of setting a date for holding the Intergovernmental Conferences with these two countries.
The GAC meeting also served to prepare the next European Council and allowed for an exchange of views on the coordination measures for the fight against the pandemic, the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plans and the review of the EU’s economic governance, as well as the migratory situation, especially with regard to the external dimension of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, and relations with Turkey, among other issues of the Union’s foreign policy.
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the creation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, González-Barba also conveyed Spain’s support for the proposal of the Committee of the Regions and the Atlantic Arc Commission for the establishment of an EU Strategy for the Atlantic Region, which would involve the Atlantic seaboard regions of Spain, Portugal, France and Ireland. The General Affairs Council also allowed the holding of hearings with Poland and Hungary within the framework of the procedures for the application of Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union.
