Against this background, they discussed Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, EU security and defence, energy, economic issues, COVID-19, preparations for the EU-China Summit, and the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. State Secretary Dovžan welcomed the EU’s efforts to bring an end to the military aggression and underlined the importance of continued support and material assistance to Ukraine. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, he highlighted the coordination of measures on non-essential travel and the removal of bottlenecks currently impacting EU vaccine donations.

The GAC members went on to focus on the French Presidency’s synthesis report and the timetable for the European Semester. They also discussed draft recommendations for the economic policy of the euro area. The State Secretary expressed his agreement with the economic policy priorities of the EU and the euro area as reflected in the European Semester documents, explaining that Slovenia will continue its efforts towards completing the Banking Union, strengthening the international role of the euro and supporting the establishment of a digital euro.

The ministers and state secretaries for European affairs also took note of the topical information on the Conference on the Future of Europe and discussed the process of preparing the possible political conclusions of the Conference, to be presented at the high-level event in Strasbourg on 9 May 2022. The State Secretary expressed his expectation that the conclusions would be based on the expectations of citizens, who should be actively engaged in the process. He also welcomed the participation of Ukrainian representatives in the latest Conference Plenary and advocated the involvement of representatives of the Western Balkans in future plenary sessions.

The Council members also endorsed the partial general approach regarding the proposal for a revision of the Regulation on the statute and funding of the European political parties and European political foundations, presented by the European Commission on 25 November 2021 as part of a package of legislative proposals aimed at strengthening democracy and protecting the integrity of elections and open democratic debate. 

Under AOB, the European Commission briefed the ministers and state secretaries on two proposals for a regulation on autonomous measures linked to the future relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom.