- EU Council. Foreign Affairs Council (13 July). Agenda includes Ukraine Middle East and Black Sea. An informal breakfast on civilian detainees from Ukraine and a working lunch devoted to the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council high-level forum on regional security and cooperation are also in view, as well as a short discussion on EU-UN affairs, as part of the Current Affairs.
- Comment: Since the ongoing wars continue in the EU’s neighbourhood, the two points regarding Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East continue to figure as the prominent points on the FAC agenda. The agenda usually takes on another discussion point, this time the Black Sea, one year after the launch of the Black Sea Strategy in May 2025. The EU-UN affairs figure under Current Affairs (namely, a short point) in view of the UN General Assembly week in September. The informal breakfast and working lunch informally complete the agenda (with a note to the working lunch, all the more relevant in the current security situation, also following the disintegration of the ceasefire between the US and Iran). To watch the debate on the Middle East, where, as press report, ministers will debate as regards possible trade measures against the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, based on a confidential document with various options, elaborated by the European Commission.
- EU Council. General Affairs Council (14 July). Agenda includes the priorities of the Irish Presidency (this is a recurrent item: at the beginning of each Presidency, its priorities are presented in each of the Council formations), simplification and rule of law. Under AOB, there is an information from the Presidency on the management of the Council’s work on the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework.
- Comment: This appears as a GAC with no particular thorny issue. The AOB is useful as regards its connection with the MFF. More importantly, however, Ukraine and Moldova will open yet another cluster during their accession negotiations process. This is not done under GAC, but under an Intergovernmental Conference (one for each) that takes place in the margins. Why is the opening of cluster 6 (external relations) important? Other than the chapters included in this cluster (external relations and CFSP), important in themselves, it shows the continuation of a process in Ukraine’s and Moldova’s negotiations, since the first cluster was opened last month.
- EU Commission. Meeting of the College of Commissioner (17 July). The College of Commissioners debates on Friday the energy package, which includes the electrification action plan
- Comment: The Commission’s push to electrify Europe’s economy moves into focus, with energy prices, grid investment and industrial competitiveness at the centre of the debate. The electrification action plan should be seen as part of this set of initiatives aimed at shifting the EU away from fossil fuels (and, thus, from dependency on third actors, some of them malevolent) and towards other forms of energy (where electricity plays an essential role, with numerous applications in transport, industry etc.). As such, the debates around the energy package and not only are aimed to reinforce the EU’s strategic autonomy, while, at the same time, maintain its competitiveness. The debates on future legislative proposals should be seen circumventing the same narrative.
The Brussels Brief | Week Ahead – Week of 13 July 2026
The Brussels Brief 
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