On 19 September 2023, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andris Pelšs, attended the meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union (EU) in Brussels, which focused largely on the EU’s rule of law dialogue and its evaluation.
Latvia supports the EU’s annual rule of law dialogue aimed at fostering the culture of respect for the EU’s core value, the rule of law, in the Union, State Secretary Andris Pelšs noted. The dialogue allows Member States to share their experience in the areas such as the efficiency of the judiciary, the anti-corruption framework, media freedom and pluralism, and other institutional issues related to checks and balances.
Andris Pelšs also reflected on current work in the assessment of the effectiveness and methodology of the rule of law dialogue, which will make it possible to improve the existing and new effective mechanisms for protecting the rule of law in the EU. It is essential to assign civil society a broader role in the rule of law dialogue in the Member States, the State Secretary noted. He also expressed support for the proposal to include EU candidate countries in the future Rule of Law Report in order to strengthen their reform efforts.
Representatives from Member States also started preparations for the European Council meeting on 26-27 October, as well as discussing a proposal by Spain to expand the EU’s language regime by including the Catalan, Basque and Galician languages. The Council was also made acquainted with the course of preparations of the 2024 Commission work programme and the ongoing mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027 as well as discussing matters related to the future of Europe.
The meeting also included an exchange of views with Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stefanishyna, on Ukraine’s efforts to carry out recommendations in the context of EU enlargement.