Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on the recent meeting of the General Affairs Council of the EU, which he attended on 26 June 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37912/25]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence Thomas Byrne attended the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 24 June 2025.

Ministers commenced the Council meeting by preparing the agenda of the European Council, which took place in Brussels on 26 June. The agenda for this meeting included Ukraine, the Middle East, European defence and security, competitiveness, the EU's trading relations with the US, China and others and EU climate targets. Other items included in the Council conclusions were migration, the Republic of Moldova, the Western Balkans, internal security, preparedness, and hybrid activities, however no discussion of these topics took place.

Minister Byrne welcomed the EU leaders’ discussion of these topics, noting in particular the need to focus on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, to press forward with Ukraine’s EU accession, and to ensure a continued focus on the EU’s internal competitiveness agenda.

Ministers also engaged in the annual Rule of Law Dialogue, which focused on Finland, and approved the horizontal note on the integrated country-specific recommendations as part of the European Semester 2025.

The Danish Minister presented her country's Presidency priorities, and Minister Byrne welcomed Portugal’s calls to ensure adequate funding for the European University Institute. Belgium presented a non-paper on European Baseline Requirements to strengthen resilience across the Union.

Minister Byrne also took the opportunity to engage in a broader programme of meetings during the GAC in Luxembourg and Brussels in advance of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2026.

The Minister met informally on 24 June with the Ministers of the other two countries that will be in Ireland's Presidency 'trio', Greece and Lithuanian, to begin to look ahead to how the Trio might work together to deliver a positive agenda for Europe over the 18 months of 2026-2027.

The Minister met with the Irish community in Luxembourg on 24 June before travelling to Brussels ahead of the European Council where he undertook an extensive programme of engagements. This included an address on the Irish perspectives on European security and enlargement at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and meetings with Enterprise Ireland and Irish companies operating in Belgium, as well as a meeting the Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, David McAllister and an informal briefing with Irish MEPs.

Minister Byrne also met with European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration Piotr Serafin to present Ireland’s priorities for the next Multiannual Financial Framework and to discuss EU careers for Irish citizens.