DUBLIN – An informal meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union started today in the capital of Ireland, hosted by the current Irish Presidency. One of the main topics on the agenda of the meeting, which will last until tomorrow, will be the enlargement of the European Union.
Minister of State of the Government of Ireland for European Affairs Thomas Byrne said ahead of the first roundtable discussion that he had a meeting with Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos this morning and that the representatives of all enlargement countries are coming to Dublin to participate in the meeting as well.
“That is a very important issue for us, and we want to inject fresh momentum into the process of enlargement following on from a record number of intergovernmental conferences in July”, Byrne said.
He confirmed that the objective of the Presidency is to close all negotiating chapters with Montenegro by the end of this year, and that there is a separate discussion on the Accession Treaty that all EU members would have to ratify.
“We will also have a discussion on the safeguards in terms of accession of EU candidate countries”, Byrne said.
He added that he hoped to open all negotiating chapters with Ukraine and Moldova by the end of the Irish Presidency, but that this would require unanimity, which is not there yet.
He also said that the goal of the Presidency is to complete the negotiations on the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework by the end of the year.
