GAC endorses 18-month Council of the EU programme

At a meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC) 11 December 2018 in Brussels, the EU member states endorsed the 18-month programme of the Council of the EU for 1 January 2019-30 June 2020

At a meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC) 11 December 2018 in Brussels, the EU member states endorsed the 18-month programme of the Council of the EU for 1 January 2019-30 June 2020. The programme was prepared by Croatia, Finland and Romania as the future presiding trio, in cooperation with the Council of the EU General Secretariat and the European External Action Service.

Croatia welcomes the endorsement of the programme. We are pleased to note that it to a large extent encompasses all of the priority measures and activities that Croatia has been pushing for during its preparation. We see today’s endorsement as an important step on our journey of preparing for the first Council of the EU presidency.

We are also pleased that the member states supported the programme, which offers a framework within which three future presidencies will act and outlines priority issues which the EU will deal with in the next 18 months, while at the same time leaving enough room for adjustment after the European elections and the start of the new institutional cycle.  

The programme focuses on strengthening cohesion (economic, social and territorial) and highlights its importance for the development of the EU as a whole, notably in boosting competitiveness. Even-handed regional development of all member states, reducing inequality and strengthening convergence in the sense of economic growth and development is one of the key challenges as well as added value of the Cohesion Policy.

Croatia places great importance on the three presidencies’ commitment to strengthening European unity and consensus by promoting joint and inclusive initiatives of benefit to all the member states and their citizens.  

The programme, along with the topics contained within the EU Strategic Programme, includes the measures and activities that Croatia has particularly been pushing for in various areas – from growth, development and jobs, with special emphasis on the issue of youth unemployment, investing in labour market-adapted education and promoting transport connections, to security and the EU enlargement, including the announcement of an EU-Western Balkans summit to be held in Zagreb during Croatia’s presidency. Croatia has also included some specific policies and cooperation areas in the programme, such as tourism, sports, health etc.

Croatia believes that defining the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, as the basic tool for achieving the EU’s common goals, will be one of the three presidencies’ key tasks and is prepared to give its contribution.

In adherence to the programme and based on national priorities, the Croatian government will prepare by end-2019 the programme of Croatia’s 1 January-30 June 2020 Council of the EU presidency which will, apart from the measures contained in the trio programme, list and elaborate in detail all other measures and activities that Croatia wants to advocate and address as priorities during its presidency.

 

Press releases