UPN, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 51: Rådssekretariatets konklusioner vedr. møde i Det Europæiske Råd den 23. marts 2023

Det Udenrigspolitiske Nævn 2022-23 (2. samling)
UPN Alm.del Bilag 51
Offentligt

European Council

Brussels, 23 March 2023

(OR. en)

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CO EUR 3

CONCL 2

NOTE

From:

To:

Subject:

General Secretariat of the Council

Delegations

European Council meeting (23 March 2023)

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Conclusions

Delegations will find attached the conclusions adopted by the European Council at the above

meeting.

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UPN, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 51: Rådssekretariatets konklusioner vedr. møde i Det Europæiske Råd den 23. marts 2023

Conclusions

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23 March 2023

The European Council held an exchange of views with United Nations Secretary-General

Guterres.

UKRAINE

The European Council reiterates its resolute condemnation of Russia’s war of

aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a manifest violation of the UN Charter,

and

recalls the European Union’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence,

sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and its

inherent right of self-defence against the Russian aggression.

The European Council welcomes the UN General Assembly Resolution on

‘Principles

of the Charter of the United Nations underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace

in Ukraine’, which was adopted with broad support from the international community. It

reiterates its support for President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula. The European Union

will continue to work with Ukraine on the 10-point peace plan.

Russia must stop its aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally

withdraw all of its military forces and proxies from the entire territory of Ukraine within

its internationally recognised borders. International humanitarian law, including on the

treatment of prisoners of war, must be respected. The European Council condemns in

the strongest terms sexual and gender-based violence. Russia must immediately ensure

the safe return of Ukrainians forcibly transferred or deported to Russia, in particular

children. In this context, the European Council takes note of the arrest warrants recently

issued by the International Criminal Court, against Russia’s President and his

Commissioner for Children’s Rights, for the war crime of unlawful deportation and

transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.

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Conclusions

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23 March 2023

Russia must immediately cease actions endangering the safety and security of civilian

nuclear facilities in Ukraine. The European Union fully supports the work of the

International Atomic Energy Agency.

The European Union is firmly committed to ensuring full accountability for war crimes

and the other most serious crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of

aggression against Ukraine, including through the establishment of an appropriate

mechanism for the prosecution of the crime of aggression, which is of concern to the

international community as a whole. In this context, the European Council welcomes

the agreement to create the new International Centre for Prosecution of the Crime of

Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) in The Hague, which will be linked to the existing

Joint Investigation Team supported by Eurojust. It reiterates its support for the

investigations of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The European

Council welcomes the upcoming negotiations on a new Convention on international

cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity,

war crimes and other international crimes.

The European Union remains committed to maintaining and increasing collective

pressure on Russia, including through possible further restrictive measures, and to

continue working on the oil price cap together with partners. The European Council

underlines the importance and urgency of stepping up efforts to ensure effective

implementation of sanctions at European and national level and is firmly committed to

effectively preventing and countering circumvention in and by third countries. The

European Council invites the Council and the Commission to strengthen all necessary

enforcement instruments and to develop, together with Member States, a fully

coordinated approach to that effect. The European Union will intensify its work with

partners to counter false Russian narratives and disinformation about the war.

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Conclusions

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23 March 2023

The European Union stands firmly and fully with Ukraine and will continue to provide

strong political, economic, military, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine and

its people for as long as it takes. The European Union and Member States are increasing

their efforts to help meet Ukraine’s pressing

military and defence needs. Taking into

account the security and defence interests of all Member States, the European Council

welcomes the agreement in the Council to urgently deliver ground-to-ground and

artillery ammunition to Ukraine and, if requested, missiles, including through joint

procurement and the mobilisation of appropriate funding including through the

European Peace Facility, aiming at providing 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition

in a joint effort within the next twelve months, without prejudice to the specific

character of the security and defence policy of certain Member States.

The

European Union remains committed to supporting Ukraine’s repair, recovery, and

reconstruction, in coordination with international partners. In this context, the European

Council reiterates the EU’s full support for establishing an international mechanism

will continue to step up work towards the use of

Russia’s

frozen and immobilised assets

for Ukraine’s reconstruction and for the purposes of reparation, in accordance with EU

and international law.

The European Council

welcomes Ukraine’s commitment and

reform efforts, and

underlines the importance of Ukraine’s EU accession process, in line with its earlier

conclusions, notably those of 23-24 June 2022.

10.

The European Union will continue to provide all relevant support to the Republic of

Moldova, including to strengthen

the country’s

resilience, security, stability, economy

and energy supply in the face of destabilising activities by external actors, as well as

support on its accession path to the European Union. The European Council invites the

Commission to present a support package ahead of its next meeting.

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Conclusions

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23 March 2023

11.

The European Council condemns the continued military support for

Russia’s war of

aggression provided by Iran and Belarus. It urges all countries not to provide material or

other support for

Russia’s war of aggression.

12.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

and its weaponisation of food have

undermined global food security. In that context, the European Council takes note of the

extension of the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative. This initiative,

the EU’s Solidarity

Lanes and the Ukrainian

‘Grain

from Ukraine’ initiative are instrumental in bolstering

global food security. It stresses the need to ensure the continued availability and

affordability of agricultural products for the countries most in need.

II.

COMPETITIVENESS, SINGLE MARKET AND THE ECONOMY

13.

In view of increasingly complex challenges (climate change, the geopolitical situation,

energy prices, repeated supply chain shocks, demographic trends, labour shortages, the

growth and innovation gap), the European Union is building a robust and future-proof

economy that secures long-term prosperity. This requires an integrated approach across

all policy areas to increase productivity and growth throughout the whole economic

base of our continent, combining a deepened Single Market and reinforced industrial,

agricultural and trade policies.

The European Union will ensure its competitiveness by strengthening its resilience and

productivity, facilitating financing, aiming at affordable energy, reducing its strategic

dependencies, investing in the skills of the future and making its economic, industrial

and technological base fit for the green and digital transitions while leaving no one

behind.

The European Council invites the Council and the Commission to take work forward on

all these aspects, and to report on progress ahead of its June 2023 meeting. Moreover,

the Council is invited to assess progress annually based on Commission input, including

key performance indicators.

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Conclusions

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23 March 2023

The Single Market and long-term competitiveness and productivity

14.

The Single Market has

underpinned Europe’s prosperity and improved

citizens’ lives

since its creation three decades ago. Its social dimension is at the core of a highly

competitive social market economy. Over the years, it has led to a substantial increase

in trade between Member States and provided a springboard for European businesses to

enter global markets. Beyond its significant contribution to growth and competitiveness,

the Single Market has also made it possible for European citizens to benefit from high

social and environmental standards and strong consumer protection, making Europe a

global standard-setter.

15.

The European Council supports the renewed focus on enforcing existing Single Market

rules and on removing barriers, as proposed in the Commission Communication

‘The

Single Market at 30’. A well-functioning Single Market remains fundamental for the

success of the green and digital transitions, for our future growth and for economic,

social and territorial cohesion. The European Council calls for ambitious action to

complete the Single Market, in particular for digital and services, and address the

vulnerabilities exposed by recent crises, ensuring a level playing field both internally

and globally. Special focus should be put on SMEs.

16.

Building on the Commission Communication

‘Long-term

competitiveness of the EU -

looking beyond 2030’, the European Council calls for advancing work in the following

areas:

A growth-enhancing regulatory environment

–

simplify the general regulatory environment and reduce the administrative

burden, including by accelerating permitting procedures, carrying out

competitiveness checks for new legislative proposals and considerably

increasing the uptake of digital solutions (such as eID and machine-readable

and standardised data). Reporting requirements,

notably across the EU’s

green, digital, and economic legislation, should be rationalised;

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Conclusions

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23 March 2023

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enforce the Single Market rules effectively to ensure regulatory convergence

in all sectors, including services;

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step up efforts at national and EU level to reduce barriers to cross-border

business and take work forward on access to medicines across Member

States while also strengthening incentives for investments in innovation.

Investment

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deepen the Capital Markets Union, remove remaining barriers to cross-

border finance, ease access to and mobilise private capital for investment, in

particular for SMEs. The European Council calls on the European

Parliament and the Council to finalise work on the legislative proposals in

this area before the end of the current legislative cycle;

–

ensure full mobilisation of available funding and existing financial

instruments and deploy them in a more flexible manner, so as to provide

timely and targeted support in strategic sectors without affecting the

cohesion policy objectives. The European Council recalls that it took note of

the Commission’s intention to propose a European Sovereignty Fund before

summer 2023 to support investment in strategic sectors;

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strengthen key ecosystems to ensure secure, stable and sustainable supply

chains for the twin transitions;

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improve connectivity within the Single Market for all Member States,

including by developing and upgrading infrastructure and interconnections

for transport and energy, including grids.

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Conclusions

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Research and innovation

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incentivise innovation, focusing on areas with a high growth potential;

increase investment in research and development to meet the public and

private expenditure target of 3 % GDP;

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facilitate the placing on the market of innovative products and services,

including through the use of regulatory sandboxes.

Digitalisation

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unlock the value of data in Europe while ensuring privacy and security, and

harness real-time-economy solutions;

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foster the take-up of digital tools across the economy and increase support

for businesses and administrations in the European Union to stay at the

forefront in Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, microelectronics,

6G, web 4.0, and cybersecurity.

Skills

–

develop skills and match them with attractive, quality jobs, increase the

participation of women and young people, and promote vocational

education and training to meet the challenges of labour shortages and the

transformation of jobs, including in the context of demographic challenges.

Circularity

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foster the transition towards a more circular economy to improve

sustainability, lower input costs for EU industry and reduce dependencies

regarding primary materials, including by seizing the opportunities offered

by the bioeconomy.

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Conclusions

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Industrial policy

17.

The European Council reviewed progress on the different strands of action. It calls for

work to be taken forward on the proposals for a Net Zero Industry Act and a European

Critical Raw Materials Act and takes note of the Temporary Crisis and Transition

Framework for State Aid.

Trade policy

18.

The European Council held a strategic discussion on the geopolitical aspects of trade

and underlined the contribution of trade policy

to the EU’s competitiveness.

Economic policy coordination

19.

The European Council endorses:

–

the Council conclusions of 14 March 2023 on the economic governance review;

the policy priorities of the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey, and invites

Member States to reflect them in their National Reform Programmes and Stability

or Convergence Programmes;

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III. ENERGY

20.

The European Council took stock of the action taken to address high energy prices,

reduce gas demand, ensure security of supply and phase out dependency on Russian

fossil fuels.

the draft Council Recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area.

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Conclusions

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21.

Whilst the energy situation in the European Union has improved, the European Council

calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure preparedness and

contingency planning in view of the next gas storage filling and heating seasons. In that

context, it urges all stakeholders involved to make full use of the AggregateEU joint

purchasing mechanism through the EU Energy Platform to further improve the security

of gas supplies at affordable prices. The European Council invites the Commission to

promptly finalise the assessment of the emergency measures adopted in 2022 and where

necessary to propose the extension of their application.

22.

The European Council invites the co-legislators to reach prompt agreement on all

relevant proposals to accelerate the green transition, and to take work forward without

delay on the proposed revision of the EU’s internal electricity market design

with a

view to ensuring its adoption by the end of 2023.

IV.

OTHER ITEMS

Migration

23.

The Council Presidency and the Commission informed the European Council about

progress in the implementation of its conclusions of 9 February 2023 on migration.

Recalling that migration is a European challenge that requires a European response, the

European Council calls for swift implementation of all items agreed upon. It will review

implementation in June.

External relations

24.

Following the tragic earthquake of 6 February 2023, the European Council welcomes

the outcome of the Donors’ Conference in

support of the people in Türkiye and Syria

and calls for the quick and effective disbursement of the assistance pledged.

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Conclusions

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23 March 2023

25.

The European Council welcomes the Agreement on the path to normalisation of

relations between Kosovo* and Serbia and its Implementation Annex, reached in the

EU-facilitated dialogue led by the High Representative, as an integral part of their

respective European paths, and calls on both parties to implement expediently and in

good faith their respective obligations.

26.

The European Council strongly condemns the sentencing of prominent representatives

of the Belarusian democratic opposition to long and unjustified prison sentences. It calls

on the Belarusian authorities to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law, to

end repression, to release political prisoners and to respect minorities.

27.

The European Council welcomes the agreement on the Windsor Framework and looks

forward to the swift implementation of all agreed solutions in good faith.

The European Council welcomes the UN 2023 Water Conference and its Water Action

Agenda. It acknowledges the need for enhanced EU and global action on water and

underlines the importance of a strategic EU approach to water security.

This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR

1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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