The Spanish city of Murcia is currently hosting an informal ministerial meeting on General Affairs. The meeting will cover various topics, including the potential enlargement of the EU to 36 member countries, as reported by the Spanish Presidency Council of the European Union.

“On 28-29 September, the informal ministerial meeting on general affairs and cohesion policy take place in Murcia to discuss issues such as the enlargement of the EU, and issues related to Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) and Cohesion Policy after 2027, the so-called Cohesion 2.0.

The main focus of the informal ministerial meeting on its first day, Thursday 28 September, will be the need to prepare internally for a possible EU with up to 36 member states.

At the same time, there are discussions on how to strengthen support for candidate states with the EU, with the rest of the world and with third states, i.e. in direct relation to the concept of Open Strategic Self-Government (OSA).

These two interrelated issues form the basis for the preparation of the EU’s new Strategic Agenda, which will be approved in 2024 under the Belgian presidency, but whose elements are being outlined during the Spanish semester,” the information reads.