Videoconference of European Affairs Ministers: Focus on EU-UK relations on Tuesday
EU ministers for European Affairs will meet on Tuesday, 8 December, via videoconference under the auspices of Germany’s Council Presidency. German Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, will chair the virtual meeting.
Ministers will begin with an exchange of views on the upcoming meeting of the European Council on 10 and 11 December, when EU leaders will gather in Brussels to discuss topics such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including the coordination of restrictions and vaccinations, the EU climate targets for 2030 and internal security and external relations.
EU-UK relations will then take centre stage. After having formally left the European Union in February 2020, the UK is now reaching the end of the transition period and will leave the customs union and the single market on 31 December, 2020. Ministers will discuss the state of play in the negotiations on the future relationship between the EU and the UK.
The German Council Presidency will also brief ministers on EU legislative priorities for 2021 and policy objectives and priorities for the period from 2020 to 2024, which are agreed between the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament.
Lastly, the EU Commission will inform ministers about its recent European Democracy Action Plan, which aims to strengthen European democracies through measures to promote free and fair elections, support media freedom and pluralism, and counter disinformation.
Info
The statement upon arrival of Minister of State Michael Roth will be livestreamed at 09.00 on Twitter (@AuswaertigesAmt and @GermanyDiplo). Further information on the Videoconference of European Affairs Ministers, which begins at 10.00, can be found on the website of the Council of the EU. A livestream of the press conference at 14.30, after the meeting, can be seen on the same site.