European Union

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

During the handover ceremony, incoming European Council President Charles Michel thanked outgoing President Donald Tusk for his work during his mandate expiring on 30/11/2019.

In his handover speech in front of press and Council staff, President Donald Tusk looked back at the main challenges of his term in office.

Lars-Gunnar Wigemark appointed as Head of Mission of EULEX KOSOVO until 14 June 2020.

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/1721 of 14 October 2019 amending Decision (CFSP) 2016/1693 concerning restrictive measures against ISIL (Da’esh) and Al- Qaeda and persons, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them.

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/1722 of 14 October 2019 amending Decision (CFSP) 2018/1544 concerning restrictive measures against the proliferation and use of chemical weapons.

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/1790 of 24 October 2019 amending Decision 2010/638/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against the Republic of Guinea

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/1663 of 1 October 2019 amending Decision (CFSP) 2015/1333 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Libya.

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/1788 of 24 October 2019 amending Decision (CFSP) 2015/1763 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Burundi.

The Council today adopted conclusions on the role of space-based services in ensuring a sustainable Arctic region.

Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat has voiced his intention to resign after the political and legal crisis stemming from the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Times of Malta reported on Friday. The paper reported that Muscat visited president George Vella on Friday morning when he seems to have given notice of his intention to quit. This week, two ministers and Muscat's chief of staff also resigned.

A trial over the deaths of 862 people during the 1989 anti-communist revolution in Romania started on Friday at the High Court of Justice in Bucharest, the daily BalkanInsight reported. The former Romanian president Ion Iliescu, former deputy prime minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu and former air force head Iosif Rus are accused of crimes against humanity, since they allegedly used security agencies to cause a generalised mood of terror.

British police shot dead a man on Friday after a series of stabbings in the London Bridge area, the Guardian reported. "We believe a number of people have been injured," police said. "I'm being kept updated on the incident at London Bridge and want to thank the police and all emergency services for their immediate response," prime minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.

Finnish presidency approach on the economy of wellbeing was a milestone for a successful reorientation of health services towards a multisectoral approach in designing, building and delivering people-centred care, said Anna Żakowicz, Director of Programs at AHF Europe.

Greenpeace have accused the incoming European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen of preparing draft new climate and environmental laws whose measures are "too weak, half-baked or missing altogether".

Ursula von der Leyen’s speech in Strasbourg this week touched on the idea of a ‘geopolitical Commission’ without specifically mentioning Africa. But that’s not a surprise or a slight.

Ursula von der Leyen and her new team of commissioners will have their first meeting on Wednesday. In the meantime, Malta descends into political turmoil over the death of an investigative journalist.

The outgoing president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, appeared before the press for one last time on Friday (29 November) and said he regretted that the Spitzenkandidaten system that landed him the top job in 2014 was not upheld this time.

The new European Council President Charles Michel called on Friday (29 November) for a more assertive role for Europe in the world, and promised to be “more cautious” on Twitter than his predecessor Donald Tusk.

Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden will join the INSTEX mechanism for trade with Iran, the six countries declared in a joint statement on Friday (29 November) ahead of further talks between parties to the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna next week.