The European Commission welcomes the Latvian government ahead of the presidency, Brussels - Main contents
| date | November 28, 2014 |
|---|---|
| city | Brussels, Belgium |
| location | Berlaymont building (BERL) i  |
| attending | J.C. (Jean-Claude) Juncker i, L. (Laimdota) Straujuma i et al. |
| organisation | European Commission (EC) i, Council of the European Union (Council) i |
Wednesday 3 December: the European Commission welcomes the Latvian government ahead of the presidency
Latvia’s Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma and members of the Latvian government will visit the European Commission on Wednesday 3 December. During the plenary meeting of the College and the following working lunch, Commission Members and the Latvian ministers will have the opportunity to discuss Latvia’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU, the key priorities of the Commission Work Program 2015, the Investment Plan for Europe, economic, financial and social matters, as well as foreign policy issues. The joint working session will be followed by a bilateral meeting between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the Prime Minister of Latvia, Laimdota Straujuma.
Twice a year, the European Commission invites the government of the Member State that will hold the next presidency of the Council of the EU to participate a plenary College meeting, in order to discuss the EU’s priorities of the next six-month period. Italy is currently holding the presidency of the Council of the EU, and will be followed by Latvia (January-June 2015), Luxembourg (July-December 2015), Netherlands (January-June 2016) and Slovakia (July-December 2016).
Wednesday 3 December: plenary meeting of the College of Commissioners with members of the Latvian government, followed by a working lunch. A press point with Commission President Juncker and Latvian Prime Minister Straujuma will be held after the meeting at the VIP-corner in the Berlaymont building (time to be confirmed).
Website of the Latvian presidency of the Council of the EU: http://www.es2015.lv/en/
The contacts:
Margaritis Schinas, +32 229 60524, Margaritis.Schinas@ec.europa.eu
Mina Andreeva, +32 229 91382, Mina.Andreeva@ec.europa.eu
Natasha Bertaud, +32 229 67456, Natasha.Bertaud@ec.europa.eu
The European Commission is the executive body of the EU and runs its day-to-day business. It is made up of the College of Commissioners, 27 European Commissioners, one for each member state, who are each responsible for one or several policy areas. In addition, the 'Commission' also refers to the entire administrative body that supports the Commissioners, consisting of the Directorates-General and the Services.
The European Commission is the sole EU body capable of proposing new legislation. The Commission also performs an oversight function, monitoring whether European legislation is properly implemented in the member states. In the event of non-compliance, the Commission can coerce a member state to comply by starting a legal procedure at the European Court of Justice.
In the Council, government ministers from each EU country meet to discuss, amend and adopt laws, and coordinate policies. The ministers have the authority to commit their governments to the actions agreed on in the meetings.
Together with the European Parliament , the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU.
Not to be confused with:
-
-European Council - quarterly summits, where EU leaders meet to set the broad direction of EU policy making