I. Korčok: Talks at EP Beneficial for Calibration of Presidency’s Priorities

Ivan Korčok, the State Secretary at the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Government Plenipotentiary for the Slovak Presidency of the EU Council, met the Chair of the EP’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Robert Gualtieri, the Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Giovanni la Via i, the Chair of the Committee on International Trade (INTA) Bernd Lange i, as well as MEPs from the EP’s political group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) on what was the first day of the Slovak official’s working visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Their talks centred on the programme and priorities for the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU, upcoming visits to Bratislava of delegations representing committees and of the leaders of the EP’s political groups, and on current legislative proposals and reports dealt with by the EP. “The discussions confirmed that the European Parliament, being our partner in the legislative process, expects us to secure agreement at the level of the Council and to put forward concrete proposals for solutions,” Mr Korčok said after the talks.

Meanwhile, issues addressed during Mr Korčok’s talks with ALDE’s coordinators were migration, security agenda, economic growth and unemployment, climate change, social rights, transport connections in Europe, the EU’s trade relationships with foreign partners, the rule of law, and human rights.

On the second day of his working visit to the EP in Strasbourg, Mr Korčok met Elmar Brok i, the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), Vicky Ford i, the Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), Manfred Weber i, the Chair of the Group of the European People's Party, and Markus Winkler, the head of Cabinet of the EP’s President.

The officials discussed perspectives vis-à-vis the referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union in June, visa liberalisation for Turkey, and mutual links between development and security set against the backdrop of the current migrant crisis. Mr Korčok and Ms Ford talked about further course of action in work on the Single Market and Digital Single Market strategies. Mr Korčok’s discussions with Mr Weber, who heads the EP’s largest political group, EPP, focussed mainly on migration and cooperation between the Slovak Presidency and the European Parliament.