EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council will gather in Brussels on Monday. Ministers will exchange views on the Commission’s communication on The Future of Food and Farming focusing on the Common Agricultural Policy added value, resources, objectives and subsidiarity. The Council will then give updates on the market situation for the main agricultural sectors, with a focus on sugar, milk, and pork meat products. The ministers will also receive briefings on international agricultural trade issues.
The General Affairs Council will meet in Brussels on Monday. The EU27 ministers are expected to adopt a new set of negotiating directives for Brexit negotiations, which will, in particular, give details on the EU27 position on the transition period. The adoption of negotiation directives will give a mandate to the Commission, as the EU negotiator, to discuss with the U.K. the transitional arrangements to be included in the withdrawal agreement.
Following the Commission’s decision to trigger Article 7 against Poland, as the country is considered clearly at risk of breaching European values, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee will vote on a resolution on the rule of law and democracy in the country on Monday in Brussels.
The European Council President Donald Tusk will meet with Prime Minister of Portugal Antonio Costa and President of Romania Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday.
On Thursday in Brussels, a public hearing with key MEPs, national experts and activists will take stock of the situation on citizens' rights following the European Council announcement that sufficient progress has been achieved in the negotiations for the withdrawal of the U.K. from the EU to move on to the next phase. Parliament has called for the withdrawal agreement to incorporate the full set of rights that citizens currently enjoy and to ensure reciprocity, equity, symmetry and non-discrimination for EU citizens.
-Last week at World Economic Forum in Davos
Over 3,000 participants from more than 110 countries and more than 340 public figures, including more than 70 heads of state and government and 45 heads of international organizations attended the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.
Under the theme, Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World, the meetings focused on finding ways to reaffirm international cooperation on crucial shared interests such as international security, the environment, and the global economy.
U.S. President Donald Trump was booed after he called the press "nasty", "mean", "vicious", and "fake" in Davos. The World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevedo at the Forum on Thursday urged countries to refrain from taking measures towards protectionism in reference to Trump’s comments.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Davos on Wednesday stressed the importance of multilateralism and global cooperation. French President Emmanuel Macron also in Davos warned of rising protectionism.
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek called for investments in Turkey while addressing a meeting on Thursday in Davos. He was accompanied by Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci Simsek at the forum.