Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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39. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the issues discussed at the recent EU Foreign Affairs Council; the outcome of such discussions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53909/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I attended the most recent EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Monday 11 December, where developments in the Middle East, including the Middle East Peace Process, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Libya were discussed.

The Council had a good exchange of views on the Middle East Peace Process and developments in the wider region. We discussed what more the EU can do to promote peaceful solutions to the various challenges facing the region. Ministers discussed the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. I spoke of the need for the EU to look at ways to step up its political engagement in seeking a negotiated solution to the conflict. I outlined that the EU must also redouble its efforts to press for access of humanitarian aid for those in dire need.

Over lunch, I participated in a discussion with Foreign and Development Ministers and the Foreign Ministers of the G5 Sahel countries. Following this, Foreign and Development Ministers had a discussion on the follow up to the EU-AU summit at the end of November. I welcomed the direct EU-AU political engagement which underlines that our relationship with Africa is at a turning point and requires sustained political engagement, with joint ministerial meetings a first step.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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40. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Prime Minister Netanyahu met the EU Foreign Affairs Council; if so, the outcome of such discussions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53910/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Brussels on 11 December preceded the Foreign Affairs Council, and was not therefore a meeting with the Council itself. The meeting was an informal breakfast meeting, essentially an exchange of views, and so there was no formal outcome as such. High Representative Mogherini hosted the meeting, and a similar encounter with Palestinian President Abbas has been scheduled for January.

Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed himself in particular on regional security issues in the Middle East, and on the opportunities to improve relations and trade between the EU and Israel. In the light of the announcement by the United States on Jerusalem, which took place after the meeting had been scheduled, he also restated Israel’s longstanding position on Jerusalem as its capital, and hoped that EU countries would follow the US lead.

Led by HR Mogherini, the EU and its Member States restated our firm commitment to a two state solution which must include finding a way through negotiations for Jerusalem to serve as the future capital of two states – Israel and Palestine. More broadly, the EU side took the opportunity to restate to PM Netanyahu our chief concerns in relation to Israeli Government policies on Palestinian issues.

For my part, I also stressed to him the destructive impact of continued settlement building both on Palestinian lives and on the viability of the peace process.