The General Affairs Council met on 26 July for the first time since the beginning of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. On the agenda: a presentation of the programme for the Presidency, followed by a series of discussions concerning a variety of subjects, among other things Iceland’s application for membership of the EU as well as the establishment of the European External Action Service.

The discussions that took place during the first session of the General Affairs Council held under Belgian presidency led to concrete results in terms of decisions.

The General Affairs Council welcomed the opening of negotiations with Iceland in view of its membership of the Union, and adopted the general position that the EU will support during these negotiations.

New Regulation on statistics for excessive deficit procedure

Also, the Council adopted a regulation aimed at strengthening the measures applicable to the use of statistical data within the framework of the EU procedure concerning excessive deficits. The aim is to allow the Commission and the member states to work together more effectively in improving the quality and reliability of statistical data used to determine government deficit and debt figures.

This follows recurrent discrepancies and shortcomings in figures notified to the Commission by Greece in relation to its public finances, and repeated calls by the Council for it to improve the collection and processing of its statistical data. The new regulation is also intended to strengthen the role of Eurostat when verifying the quality of data in cases where significant risks or problems with respect to the quality of the data have been clearly identified.

Creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS)

Another key point approached by the Council during this session was the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS), whose assignment consists in assisting the High Representative of the European Union, Ms Catherine Ashton, in her work for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (FASP) of the Union. This subject which has been the focus of debates since the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009, has now taken a considerable step forward on the subject. Not only the Council has decided to establish this service, but it also defined the rules that will govern its operation and its organisation in a more concrete way.