COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION update

Meetings Wednesday 2 March 2022

● Council of the EU   02/03/2022 22:51 | MEETING | Main results - Informal video conference of agriculture ministers, 2 March 2022   EU agriculture ministers discussed the market situation for agri-food products in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Council of the EU Informal video conference of agriculture ministers, 2 March 2022 Main results Agriculture ministers held an extraordinary meeting via videoconference to discuss the risk of significant pressures facing the agriculture and agri-food sectors in the wake of the Ukraine invasion. The aim of the meeting was to share initial information and forecasts on supply and prices, identify issues requiring particular vigilance, and consider measures that could be taken both internally and in terms of international cooperation. The terrible events taking place in Ukraine cast a tragic light on the need for us to strengthen our food sovereignty so as to ensure food security in times of crisis, both within the European Union and around the world.Julien Denormandie, French Minister for Agriculture and Food Ministers began by expressing their unanimous solidarity with Ukraine and calling for the necessary food and humanitarian aid to be mobilised. They then discussed the potentially significant impact of the current crisis on the market situation for agricultural products, as well as on access to agricultural raw materials and inputs. Following the meeting and the statements by ministers, the EU commissioner for agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, expressed his intention to: activate crisis monitoring tools, in particular the European food security crisis preparedness and response mechanism set up by the Commission, and the high-level working group on the pigmeat sector announced at the Council meeting on 21 February; consider introducing exceptional measures under the Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation aimed at the sectors most affected by the rise in input costs; consider adopting measures aimed at securing and freeing up Europe’s production capacity in 2022, such as using fallow land for protein crops. These measures will be discussed by the Special Committee on Agriculture as well as at the next Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 21 March. A number of member states also called for a more long-term strategy and set of tools to be put in place as soon as possible with a view to improving the EU’s resilience and food sovereignty, and for food sovereignty to be incorporated into the EU’s agricultural policy. Attention was also given to food security in the Mediterranean and in more vulnerable countries. In this regard, ministers stressed the importance of mobilising all relevant international fora, including the OECD, the G20, the G7 and the FAO, to analyse the issue and to consider short- and medium-term responses. Ministers observed in particular that the next meeting of the AMIS Rapid Reaction Forum, a market observatory set up by the G20 in 2011, would provide a state of play of the situation. Meeting information Meeting n°VTC-AGRI-020322 Video conference 2 March 2022 15:30 Outcome documents List of participants

 

Meetings Wednesday 2 March 2022

● Council of the EU   02/03/2022 23:35 | MEETING | Main results - Informal video conference of economy and finance ministers, 2 March 2022   EU economy and finance ministers met via video conference to discuss the economic and financial consequences of the situation in Ukraine, following Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military invasion.

Council of the EU
Informal video conference of economy and finance ministers, 2 March 2022

Main results

EU economy and finance ministers met via video conference to discuss the economic and financial consequences of the situation in Ukraine, following Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military invasion. In response to this aggression, the EU imposed a series of restrictive measures. In addition to sanctions on Russian individuals and entities, the EU also agreed to impose economic sanctions as well as restrictions on economic cooperation with Russia.

EU economy and finance ministers discussed the current state of play of implementation of the sanctions, as well as the consequences of those sanctions on European economies.

The Commission presented its preliminary analysis of the impact of the measures on Russia in terms of financial markets, currency, its central bank and its commercial banking system. Ministers agreed to coordinate national measures, as was done during the covid crisis, to protect Europeans and European companies, in the context of higher energy prices.

Member states agreed to further investigate actions to avoid any circumvention of the sanctions, especially by the use of crypto assets.

Ministers welcomed the European Commission’s communication on the 2023 Fiscal stance and the fact that the General Escape Clause will continue to apply in 2022, which will allow fiscal policy to adjust to the evolving situation. The deactivation of the General Escape Clause will be reassessed on the basis of the Commission 2022 Spring economic forecasts.

Finally, Ministers agreed to increase the financial support to Ukraine and further coordinate with the IMF, EBRD, EIB and other multilateral development banks.



The 27 Member States expressed their total unity and determination in their economic and financial response to the Russian aggression, and in their financial support to Ukraine. The European economic sanctions have already proven to be very effective. They have disorganised the Russian financial system and they have paralysed the Russian Central Bank. We have decided to work on complementary measures, in order to avoid the bypassing of our sanctions. Concerning the protection of our economies, we want close coordination at a European level, as we did during the covid crisis.Bruno Le Maire, French Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and Recovery
EU restrictive measures in response to the crisis in Ukraine (background information)


Meeting information


Meeting n°VC-ECOFIN-02032022
Video conference
2 March 2022
15:30
Outcome documents
List of participants

Meetings Thursday 3 March 2022   ● Council of the EU   03/03/2022 08:41 | MEETING | Background brief - Justice and Home Affairs Council, 3-04/03/2022   Background brief - Justice and Home Affairs Council, 3-04/03/2022 Meetings ONGOING Council of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, 3-4 March 2022 Live streaming Live streaming 3 March 2022 TBC Arrivals 09:35 Public session (Home Affairs) 17:05 Public session (Home Affairs) TBC Press conference (Home Affairs) 4 March 2022 TBC Arrivals 10:05 Public session (Justice) TBC Press conference (Justice) Estimated schedule Agenda Highlights Home affairs (Thursday 3 March) Situation in Ukraine EU home affairs ministers will examine the European Commission's proposal to activate the temporary protection scheme for people fleeing the war in Ukraine and seeking refuge in the EU. Since the Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, over 650,000 people have fled to neighbouring EU countries. The temporary protection directive was specifically conceived to give immediate protection to the persons who need it and to avoid overwhelming Member States' asylum systems. Commission proposes temporary protection for people fleeing war in Ukraine (press release, 2 March 2022) Temporary protection directive (EU legislation) Schengen EU home affairs ministers will discuss the situation in and political governance of the Schengen area. Ministers will seek to agree on a general approach regarding the proposed Council regulation on the Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism. The Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism ensures an effective, consistent, timely and transparent application of Schengen rules by member states. The proposed revision of the mechanism will help foster common trust in the implementation of the Schengen rules. Schengen: new rules to make the area without internal border controls more resilient (European Commission) Strengthening the EU's external borders (background information) Migration and asylum Home affairs ministers will review the progress achieved on asylum and migration. As part of a more general reform of EU migration and asylum rules, on 23 September 2020 the European Commission proposed a new pact on migration and asylum. The proposal provides for a comprehensive common European framework for migration and asylum management, including several legislative proposals that are currently in discussion at the Council and European Parliament. EU migration policy (background information) EU asylum reform (background information) New pact on migration and asylum (European Commission) Civil protection and climate change Infographic - Climate change costs lives and moneySee full infographic The Council will aim to adopt conclusions on civil protection work in view of climate change. Climate change is causing an intensification of extreme weather events. Through the EU civil protection mechanism, the European Union helps countries respond to floods, forest fires and other climate-related emergencies. In 2020 and 2021, the EU civil protection mechanism was activated 23 times for climate-related events: 10 times for forest fires 7 times for extreme weather or storms 6 times for floods EU civil protection (background information) Justice (Friday 4 March) E-evidence EU justice ministers will assess progress on the e-evidence proposals. Discussions on the proposals are ongoing between the Council and the European Parliament. Electronic evidence, or 'e-evidence', refers to digital data that are used to investigate and prosecute criminal offences. Getting access to e-evidence is not always a straightforward matter for law enforcement authorities because it is often stored in another country. The main goal of the new rules proposed by the Commission is to speed up access to e-evidence regardless of the location of the data. Better access to e-evidence to fight crime (background information) Hate speech and hate crime Ministers will discuss the proposal for a Council decision on hate speech and hate crime. Hate speech and hate crime have seen a sharp rise across Europe and have become particularly worrying phenomena. These are especially serious offenses as they undermine EU common values and fundamental rights. However, there is currently no legal basis at EU level to criminalise them. On 9 December 2021, the European Commission proposed to include hate speech and hate crime in the list of EU crimes in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The proposal aims to harmonise the rules on the definition of and sanctions for these criminal offences at EU level. Commission proposes to extend the list of ‘EU crimes' to hate speech and hate crime (European Commission) Fundamental rights Justice ministers will exchange views on fundamental rights with Michael O'Flaherty, the director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, and will aim to adopt conclusions on combating racism and antisemitism. Protection and promotion of human rights (background information) EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (website) Meeting information Meeting n°3850 Brussels 3 March 2022 09:30 Preparatory documents List of A items, legislative deliberations List of A items, non-legislative activities Provisional agenda Background brief