EU Council General Affairs Council - 14 July 2026 - Main results

 EU Council  General Affairs Council

General Affairs Council, 

14 July 2026

Main results

Ministers responsible for European affairs heard a presentation by 

the presidency on its priorities and work programme for the 

second half of 2026 with a focus on those specifically falling within 

the remit of the General Affairs Council. The Council also heard a

 presentation and held an exchange of view on the state of play 

and future orientation of work on the EU’s simplification agenda. 

Finally, the Council approved conclusions on the evaluation of the 

rule of law dialogue.

Today, I shared the Irish presidency priorities for the next six months with my ministerial colleagues, centred on three pillars: competitiveness, values and security. We have already made progress on a number of key issues at the General Affairs Council. I also set out the overarching priority of delivering a timely agreement on a long-term EU budget that matches the Union’s ambitions for the years to come. I am proud to steer the work of the General Affairs Council during the Irish presidency, in progressing a positive European agenda.

Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for European affairs and defence of Ireland

Presidency priorities

In public session, the presidency presented its priorities and 

work programme for the second half of 2026 with a focus on 

those specifically falling within the remit of the General Affairs 

Council.

Through the General Affairs Council, the Irish presidency will 

promote its horizontal priorities of competitiveness, values 

and security, while ensuring a coherent approach across the 

work of all Council configurations. Delivering on the 'One Europe, 

One Market' roadmap and advancing simplification are central to 

this work.

The presidency will also advance work on the next EU’s long-term 

budget (MFF) 2028-2034, with a view to enabling EU leaders to

 take the necessary decisions by the end of 2026. Other priorities 

include enlargement, the rule of law, relations with the UK, 

the EEA and EFTA countries, and cohesion policy. On 16 June 

2026, ministers endorsed the Council’s 18-month programme 

covering the period from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2027.

• Priorities of the Irish presidency of the Council of the EU 
• Eighteen-month programme of the Council (1 July 2026 – 31 December 2027) 

Simplification

The Council heard a presentation by the presidency and held an 

exchange of views on the state of play and future orientation of 

work on the EU’s simplification agenda.

The Irish presidency intends to follow up on the task given by the 

Leaders through the ‘One Europe, One Market’ Roadmap, striving

 to close the Omnibus packages VII to X (on digital policy, environment, automotive, and food and feed safety, respectively) by the end of 

the year, assuming the European Parliament is ready to negotiate 

swiftly, and beginning the work on the two new packages on taxa-

tion and energy products, respectively.

In this context and based on a steering note prepared by the 

presidency, ministers discussed the strategic aspects of how to 

boost the EU’s long-term competitiveness through further simplification. Ministers exchanged views on possible waysto collectively sustain 

the momentum with the simplification agenda to meaningfully 

reduce the administrative burden and support EU competitiveness, without undermining EU policy goals. Ministers also shared their 

thoughts on policy areas that should be prioritised for further simplification at the EU level in pursuit of these objectives, and 

how the Council could best keep the focus on simplification to deliver quick results.

• Omnibus simplification legislative packages, progress report, 12 
• June 2026 
• Simplification of EU rules (background information)

Rule of law dialogue

The Council approved a set of conclusions on the evaluation of 

the annual rule of law dialogue highlighting its continuous commit-

ment to this dialogue. The text of the conclusions is identical to the draft 

that, due to the absence of consensus, led to the presidency 

conclusions of 12 December 2023, which laid down the reinforced

 structure of the rule-of-law dialogue in the Council. Meanwhile, 

Poland stated its support at a Coreper meeting on 20 December 

2023 and Hungary stated that it could also support the text at the

General Affairs Council of 26 May 2026.

The conclusions consolidate the existing approach to the Council’s 

annual rule of law dialogue as a valuable preventive tool in the 

EU’s rule of law toolbox. They also strengthen the Council’s dialogue by setting out a faster cycle, covering more member states per year, 

and by encouraging more frequent exchanges within the Council, 

and with external stakeholders, as appropriate.

The approval of these conclusions does not prejudge in any way 

the next evaluation of the dialogue, which shall be undertaken by 

the end of 2027.

• Council conclusions on the evaluation of the annual rule of law dialogue 
• Presidency conclusions on the evaluation of the Council’s annual rule of law dialogue (press release, 12 December 2023)
• Presidency conclusions - Evaluation of the annual rule of law dialogue, 19 November 2019 
• Conclusions of the Council of the EU and the member states meeting within the Council on ensuring respect for the rule of law, 16 December 2014 
• 2025 Rule of law report (European Commission) 
• Rule of law (background information)

Other points

In public session, under ‘any other business’, the presidency informed ministers about the handling of the Council’s work on the next EU’s long-term budget (Multi-annual Financial Framework / MFF) 2028-2034.

Over an informal lunch, ministers held an exchange of views with the EU Rapporteur on the future of the single market, Prof. Enrico Letta on the 'One Europe, One Market' roadmap.

• The EU's long-term budget for 2028–2034 (background information)
• A solid start – first progress report on the ‘One Europe, One Market’ Roadmap (joint press release, 18 June 2026)