- 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.
Good to Know – Week of 13 July 2026
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