Implementatie Verdrag van Lissabon eerste punt op agenda ministers van Europese zaken (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Spaans voorzitterschap Europese Unie 1e helft 2010 i, gepubliceerd op maandag 11 januari 2010.

On Wednesday, the ministers for Europe will begin a two-day meeting in La Granja (Segovia) to examine important issues that will centre the work of the Spanish Presidency during the next six months. The preceding evening, the Secretary of State for the EU, Diego López Garrido will host a dinner in the Parador de La Granja for the delegations in attendance.

During the first work session, López Garrido will present the general outline of the Spanish Presidency of the EU to his colleagues. The full text of the program, which the Secretary of State described as 'highly ambitious and complex', is available on this Web site in the 'Presidency' section.

The second session of the morning will be dedicated to the Treaty of Lisbon, which came into effect on 1 December. The objective of this new treaty is to modernise the functioning of the EU, making it more transparent and democratic and strengthening its role in the world. The ministers will tackle setting up the European External Action Service which, according to a European Council decision, must be launched before April this year, a deadline which the Presidency intends to meet. This session will be chaired by Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Spanish head of the General Affairs Council.

During lunch, the ministers will discuss the concept of European citizenship, an issue which Spain has always endorsed and which 'must be at the heart of Europe in the 21st century' according to López Garrido. The lead speaker will be Felipe González, who chairs the Reflection Group on the Future of Europe. In the afternoon, the ministers will continue with their discussions on the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon, and more specifically, the citizens' legislative initiative, the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights and the solidarity clause.

The session on Thursday will be wholly dedicated to the EU 2020 strategy that the Presidency wants to promote as a way of restarting economic growth and creating employment in the EU. This new plan, based on sustainable growth, must be outlined in the coming months and will succeed the Lisbon strategy.

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