On 8 December 2020, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, took part in the European Union’s General Affairs Council in a video-conference format.
The EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michael Barnier, informed the participants of the state of play in negotiations on the future relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom. Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica underlined the urgency of the current situation and noted: “We appreciate all the hard work done by the EU’s Chief Negotiator and his team throughout the Brexit process.” We are at a critical juncture – the future model of our cooperation depends on the ability to agree, she underlined.
Significant progress has been achieved today in a common understanding on the implementation of the agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. The UK has undertaken to recall the contested issues of the draft legislation that breach the withdrawal agreement. A meeting between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resolve the remaining differences is expected in the near future.
At the meeting, representatives from Member States made preparations for the meeting of the European Council to be held on 10-11 December. The European Council is expected to agree on a new EU emissions reduction target and on coordination of efforts in response to COVID-19, and address foreign affairs issues with a special focus on relations between the EU and Turkey and EU-U.S. relations following the elections in the United States.
It is important that Heads of State and Government agree on raising the EU’s climate ambition already this year, the Parliamentary Secretary underlined in the discussion. The European Council is expected to pass a decision on a binding EU target of a net domestic reduction of at least 55 % in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The earlier target was 40%.
During the meeting, the European Commission provided information about the European Democracy Action Plan issued on 3 December. The plan seeks to strengthen the resilience of EU democracies and maps out measures to promote free and fair elections, strengthen media freedom and pluralism, as well as fighting disinformation. Due to Latvia’s involvement and participation, a commitment to strengthen the European External Action Service’s StratCom Task Forces has been included in the Democracy Action Plan.
Regarding elections, the European Commission is expected to put forward legislation on the transparency of political content and advertisements in the coming two to three years. In the media field, the Commission shall issue a recommendation on the safety of journalists as well as ensuring sustainable financing for projects on legal and practical assistance to journalists.
Through the use of the New Media Ownership Monitor, stronger information transparency rules are to be imposed concerning media ownership and State advertising. The measures laid down in the plan concerning the fight against disinformation in online platforms are directly related to the forthcoming Digital Services Act, which the European Commission plans to present on 15 December.