H.E. Dr. Gints Apals:

Thank you, Chairman. I assure the committee that the Latvian Presidency intends to work in full conformity with the provisions of the Lisbon treaty, respecting the competences and prerogatives of all the parties involved in the EU decision-making process, which is collective by default. The priorities of the Latvian Presidency have been developed in close co-operation with the other members of the trio, namely, Italy and Luxembourg, as well as all the European institutions and member states, duly respecting their interests and positions.

The general priorities of the Latvian Presidency have been presented in Dublin on several occasions. Committee members will recall that the Latvian Presidency has two broad objectives. First, to steer the work of all relevant council formations to fully overcome the economic and financial crisis. Second, to promote stability, security and development in the neighbourhood and the world in close co-operation with the European Commission, the European External Action Service and all the member states. To reach these two objectives we intend to promote three main themes, namely, competitive Europe, digital Europe and engaged Europe. Naturally, while speaking before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade I will focus on the external dimension and the major issues pertinent to the common foreign and security policy, the common security and defence policy, external trade, economic relations and the enlargement process.

The Presidency will extend all possible support to the President of the European Council and the High Representative in her role as the President of the Foreign Affairs Council, to help her to conduct the common foreign and security policy and co-ordinate all external action of the Union. This will be done through chairing appropriate meetings upon invitation from the High Representative, organising numerous events in Latvia and lending our knowledge and expertise in specific fields of external relations.

During the coming five months the Latvian Presidency will put particular emphasis on EU relations with the Eastern Partnership countries and central Asian countries. As committee members are aware, the European neighbourhood policy will remain the key EU instrument when it comes to framing relationships with neighbouring countries. Ongoing conflicts and instability in the broader neighbourhood are a cause of great concern for all member states and institutions. More than ever, the neighbourhood countries need EU attention and support. Hence, Latvia is keen to enhance the effectiveness of the EU policy in addressing political and security challenges in the eastern and southern neighbourhoods. To achieve this, we will support a comprehensive review of the European neighbourhood policy aimed at better effectiveness through increased differentiation.

Latvia intends to contribute to the strengthening of the Eastern Partnership as an inclusive platform and the promotion of a more individual approach to each partner country, respecting their ambitions and objectives. We are keen to strengthen political association, economic integration, enhanced trade, improved mobility, people-to-people contacts, education co-operation, and engagement with civil societies, as appropriate. In co-operation with the President of the European Council and relevant EU institutions, Latvia will host the 4th Eastern Partnership summit in Riga on 21–22 May 2015. We maintain the summit will provide an excellent opportunity to review the progress that has been achieved since the Vilnius Eastern Partnership summit as well as set the way ahead.

Latvia will support the European External Action Service in further developing the relationship with the southern neighbourhood region, contributing to stability and security of the region based on the principles of democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and the rule of law. Latvia will also support the efforts of the High Representative to strengthen EU engagement with central Asian countries, as we see a need to intensify our relations with that part of the world. To this end, Latvia is keen to promote EU-central Asia dialogue and co-operation in areas of importance for both sides, including energy security, transport, sustainable development, the rule of law and education. In this regard, the review of the EU-central Asia strategy in March 2015 will be of the utmost importance. The scaling-down of the international security presence in Afghanistan in 2015 as well as instability in Iraq and Syria require greater EU attention towards central Asia to meet such common challenges as terrorism, border security and drug trafficking. The implementation of regional co-operation programmes, namely, the border management programme in central Asia and the central Asia drug action plan, will be crucial in this regard.

While noting the strategic importance of enlargement policy in promoting political stability and economic prosperity in Europe, the Presidency remains committed to moving forward with the ongoing accession negotiations with Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey with a view to achieving further sustained progress. The Presidency will pursue an enlargement policy based on the principles of conditionality and each country's merits. These principles will also guide the Presidency's work in advancing the European perspective for other western Balkan countries according to respective stages of their integration, while keeping EU membership as the ultimate goal of the process.

My country fully supports the efforts aimed at increasing the effectiveness and visibility of the common security and defence policy. Latvia will contribute to the preparations for the European Council of June 2015 and will underline the importance of continued progress on the security and defence agenda. In this regard, Latvia deems it important to advance the work towards better and more efficient civilian and military capabilities, including EU battle-groups and better civil-military co-operation to address maritime security risks and threats. We will also support enhanced civil-military co-operation when it comes to improving cyber defence awareness and protection. Of course, appropriate attention will be paid to the challenges faced by the European defence industry as well.

Latvia will highlight the crucial nature of co-operation with international organisations and individual partners as part of the CSDP, in particular, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations and the United States. Close co-operation with NATO in capability development, rapid response, training and exercise requires our attention. Naturally, Latvia will promote co-operation between the EU and the US in the light of emerging security challenges in many parts of the world. The Presidency is keen to pay particular attention to problems related to external aspects of counter-terrorism such as foreign fighters, financing of terrorism, radicalisation and recruitment. We are keen to address these issues in the first instance through better implementation of the already-agreed EU instruments and policy measures in all member states.

Open and fair external trade is vital for all of Europe. Greater market openness as well as more active trade and investment flows are essential for promoting growth and economic recovery throughout the union. The Presidency will contribute, therefore, to achieving further progress on the World Trade Organization multilateral negotiations and the Doha development agenda. The Presidency attaches great importance to the ongoing WTO accession negotiations, including, but not limited to, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan and Serbia.

It will support the preparations for the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference of 2015.

The Presidency will support also the ongoing work on bilateral trade agreements. I assure the committee that Latvia considers the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement and Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Japan and Vietnam as top priorities for the coming five months. The implementation of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements with Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine will be high on our agenda. In addition, Latvia will promote the approval of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, with Canada and the bilateral trade agreement with Singapore.

The year will be of crucial importance for progress on a universal post-2015 agenda for sustainable developmentand the eradication of poverty. The Presidency will work energetically to advance consultations on comprehensive EU contribution to international negotiations leading to the UN Summit in September 2015, facilitating the adoption of a new framework, including a set of globally-applicable sustainable development goals, SDGs, which will succeed the millennium development goals, MDGs. In that context the Presidency sees gender equality and women’s empowerment, good governance, the rule of law, human rights, and inclusive, sustainable growth to be of particular importance, including in regard to the European Year for Development 2015.

The Presidency will also contribute to preparations that lead to agreed EU position for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in July 2015. The partnership agreement between the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific, ACP, countries and the EU is due to expire in 2020. Therefore, the Presidency will work with the European External Action Service, EEAS, and the European Commission to advance EU reflection on future relations with the ACP countries. Together with the EEAS and the Commission, the Presidency will closely monitor the ongoing and emerging humanitarian crises, as well as disease outbreaks, of which addressing the Ebola epidemic will be of paramount importance. The Presidency will help to further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of EU humanitarian aidand to advance EU humanitarian advocacy vis-à-visthird countries and international organisations. The Presidency will support the necessary follow-up for preparations for the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit.

I have outlined probably the most important policy areas, which we regard as a priority and the committee will understand that the work programme of the Presidency and the EU as a whole is extremely broad. I will gladly answer any questions members may have on any of the subjects I mentioned and I will also gladly go beyond the area of external relations should that be necessary. I thank the members for their kind attention and we can now move on to the members' questions and comments.