Consultations of directors-general for European affairs of Slovenia and France
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Permanent Representation to the European Union Brussels
Director-General Barbara Sušnik during consultations | Author Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve
The pair drew attention to the 10th anniversary of the signing of the political declaration on strategic partnership, which contributed significantly to the consolidation of cooperation between Slovenia and France at the bilateral, European, and multilateral levels. They advocated the continuation of regular and close dialogue at the political and expert levels, which is essential to the two successive EU Council presidencies, as Slovenia will pass the Presidency baton to France in January 2022.
The directors-general for EU Affairs focused on exchanging views on key topics that will mark the successive EU Council presidencies and are mainly related to dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, building the EU's resilience and its strategic autonomy, and the future of Europe. Ms Sušnik stressed that Slovenia supports further coordination of COVID-19 mitigation measures between the EU Member States. She assessed that the EU should be giving greater attention to effective management of a range of crises, not only in the case of health emergencies but also other forms of modern security threats, such as large-scale cyberattacks. These issues will feature among Slovenia's EU Council Presidency priorities.
The counterparts went on to discuss global targets towards which Slovenia and France are aiming within the EU in confronting climate change.
They called for a successful Conference on the Future of Europe, which will be launched on 9 May 2021 in Strasbourg, continue during the Slovenian Presidency and close in spring 2022 during the French Presidency.
Underpinned by a high-quality debate with citizens, the Conference will play a pivotal role in the future of the Union, and Slovenia and France will thereby devote particular attention to it.
Ms Sušnik and Mr Cvach exchanged views on efforts being undertaken to secure agreement on the proposal for the New Pact on Migration and Asylum and called for a comprehensive functioning of the Schengen area. They emphasised the importance of the EU enlargement policy, whereby Director-General Sušnik pointed out that the progress of the Western Balkans will be high on the Slovenian Presidency’s agenda.
She also highlighted the importance of further successful economic cooperation between the two countries, underlining that the motor industry and the company Revoz d.d. play an important strategic role in the Slovenian economy.