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The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade, Eamon Gilmore, T.D., will tomorrow (Feb 4) urge ministers to reach agreement on Europe’s seven-year budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) when he chairs the first General Affairs Council (GAC) of Ireland’s EU Presidency. The GAC will focus on the issues to be considered at the European Council later this week February (7-8).

Ministers attending the GAC will also discuss Europe’s trade agenda for the Irish Presidency, including progress made on free trade agreements with the US and Canada.

Speaking ahead of the Council, the Tánaiste said:

“This is an extremely important week for Europe and for Ireland. It is of critical importance that we get a deal on the EU budget because what Europe needs now is certainty, and securing agreement on a seven-year budget (2014 – 2020) would provide a great deal of certainty.

In my role as chair of the General Affairs Council I will be stressing the need for a common approach as we work to reach agreement. We’re talking about a budget that will come close to a thousand billion euro here, but I’m confident that we can get this done.”

The Tánaiste will also meet with the European Parliament’s MFF negotiation team ahead of the General Affairs tomorrow morning. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will later conduct a working lunch with the members of the General Affairs Council during which they will discuss the MFF.

The lunch follows President Van Rompuy’s meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso and European Parliament President Martin Schulz which will also take place in Brussels tomorrow morning.

ENDS/

*Note to editors: Once agreement has been reached on an EU budget at European Council level, the members of the European Parliament will also have to approve it.