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Visit to Ireland by French Foreign Affairs Minister

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney T.D., hosted his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, in Farmleigh, on May 13, 2018, for discussions on Brexit, the Middle East Peace Process, EU-Africa relations and the negotiations on the EU budget (the multi-annual financial framework).

The Ministers discussed the current state of play in the Brexit negotiations and the Tánaiste reiterated Ireland’s appreciation for the solidarity shown by France on the Irish specific issues.

The two took stock of recent developments in the Middle East Peace Process and explored the prospects for progress in the coming months. The Ministers considered the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, in light of the decision by President Trump to abandon the deal and ahead of a meeting between France, Germany, the UK and Iran on next steps.

The meeting included a discussion on EU-Africa relations and, in particular, how to enhance political dialogue between Europe and Africa in order to ensure both sides can engage better on delivering the Sustainable Development Goals and tackling common challenges such as climate change, migration and the eradication of poverty.

Finally, the Tánaiste and Minister Le Drian compared notes on the European Commission’s proposal, published last week for the multi-annual financial framework (MFF) which runs from 2021 to 2027.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, the Tánaiste said:

“Ireland and France have a shared analysis of many of the foreign policy challenges we face together. I am looking forward to working through a number of key files this evening with Jean-Yves Le Drian to get the benefit of his perspective and see where we can make progress together on these pressing issues.

Source: French Embassy in Ireland