On December 16, 2025, a meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union (EU) will be held in Brussels, where Latvia will be represented by the parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artjoms Uršulskis.
At the meeting, there will be an exchange of views on the next EU multi-year budget to prepare for the leaders’ discussion on 18-19. December European Council. The European Commission will inform about what has been done and outline the further work directions in the process of simplifying the EU regulation. The adoption of the joint declaration of the EU Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission on EU legislative priorities for 2026 is planned.
The representatives of the member states will also discuss the draft conclusions of the European Council, which include such issues as Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, security and defense, the next EU multiannual budget, EU enlargement, migration, as well as geo-economics and competitiveness.
There will also be a discussion on the enlargement of the EU, assessing the progress achieved by the candidate countries during the last year, and discussions on the 2026 European Semester process, which coordinates the economic, fiscal, employment and social policies of the EU member states, will also be initiated.
The General Affairs Council of the EU examines issues that affect more than one EU policy, such as negotiations on EU enlargement, preparations for the European Council, the EU’s multi-annual budget, as well as rule of law, institutional and administrative issues.
