(L-R) Laurence Boon, French Secretary of State for Europe; Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight; Credit: MAEE

Luxembourg hosted the General Affairs Council (GAC) of the European Union on Tuesday 27 June 2023.

The Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, participated in the GAC meeting, which took place on Tuesday.

Minister Asselborn and his European counterparts first focused on the preparation of the European Council meeting on Thursday 29 June and Friday 30 June 2023.

With regard to the economic aspect, Minister Asselborn recalled that the internal market is at the heart of the economic resilience of the European Union, stressing that it forms the basis of the competitiveness and open strategic autonomy of the EU.

With regard to migration, Minister Asselborn recalled the discussions on the agreement reached at the last Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA), stressing the need to maintain the current balance of the draft conclusions.

Concerning Ukraine, Minister Asselborn highlighted the importance for the European Council to send a strong message of continued support from the EU.

During the working lunch that followed, the ministers had an informal exchange of views with the Foreign Minister of Moldova, Nicolae Popescu, on the EU accession process.

Subsequently, the ministers responsible for European Affairs were informed by the Swedish Presidency of the state of play of the discussions on the European electoral law.

As part of the 2023 European Semester, ministers then approved the country-specific recommendations for 2023, while the future trio of presidencies (Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian) presented their eighteen-month programme, covering the period from 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2024.

Lastly, Minister Asselborn had bilateral meetings with the State Secretary for European Affairs of Slovenia, Marko Štucin, the Minister for European Affairs of Italy, Raffaele Fitto, as well as the State Secretary of the Ministry of of Slovakia, Peter Mišík, in order to take stock of bilateral relations and the main European issues.