Forward look: 25 November – 8 December 2024
Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council (Education and Youth), 25 November 2024
Ministers for youth and education will meet in Brussels on Monday 25 November, where they will seek to adopt a recommendation on attractive and sustainable careers in higher education. Other topics on the agenda include ‘glocal’ opportunities for young people living in rural and remote areas.
Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council (Culture and Sport), 26 November 2024
Ministers for culture and sport will meet in Brussels on Tuesday 26 November, where they will seek to approve conclusions on fostering the lasting legacy of major sporting events. They will also discuss the role of libraries in media literacy development.
Competitiveness Council (Internal market and industry), 28 November 2024
The Council will meet to approve Council conclusions on the future of European competitiveness, following the publication of the Draghi report “EU competitiveness: Looking ahead”. Ministers will also hold a debate on “better regulation on Europe”. The Council will start at 09:30 and finish at 15:30. All sessions except the legislative points (adoption of legislative A points and the AOB on the current legislative proposals) will not be public.
General Affairs Council (Cohesion), 28 November 2024
Ministers will discuss how to strengthen the key assets of cohesion policy and improve the shared management of cohesion funds. The Council will also be invited to approve conclusions on cohesion policy and demographic challenges in the EU.
Competitiveness Council (Research and Space), 29 November 2024
On Friday 29 November Research ministers will meet in the morning (09:30 to 14:00). They are expected to approve three sets of Council conclusions on strengthening the competitiveness of the EU and overcoming the fragmentation of the European Research Area, on a Europe-wide R&I initiative on natural resource management, food security and bioeconomy in Central and Eastern Europe, and on the Commission’s Communication on Advanced Materials. They will also hold a debate on the contribution of research and innovation to the competitiveness of the EU. At lunch they will exchange views on sustainable European research infrastructures.
In the afternoon (14:30 to 17:00), ministers responsible for Space are expected to approve two sets of Council conclusions: the first on the mid-term assessment of the Space Programme, and the second on reinforcing European competencies in the space sector. Finally they will hold an exchange of views on the future of the Union space policy.
Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (Employment and Social Policy), 2 December 2024
Ministers of employment and social affairs will meet in Brussels. Items on the agenda include the traineeships package, labour and skills shortages, comprehensive solutions to demographic challenges, social inclusion of persons with disabilities, and the European Semester 2025.
Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (Health), 3 December 2024
On 3 December health ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss smoke- and aerosol-free environments, the pharmaceutical package, cardiovascular health, organ donation and transplantation, and the European Health Union.
Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (Transport), 5 December 2024
Transport ministers will be invited to agree the Council’s position (‘general approach’) on the directive on driving disqualifications, the regulation on passenger rights in the context of multimodal journeys and the regulation on enforcement of passenger rights in the EU. The Council will also take note of a progress report on the combined transport directive.
Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (Telecom), 6 December 2024
Telecommunications ministers will approve conclusions on the EU Agency for cybersecurity (ENISA) and on the Commission’s White Paper ‘How to master Europe’s digital infrastructure needs?’, and will hold a policy debate on the digital decade 2030 objectives and targets in light of recent technological changes.
