As the next President of the Council of the EU, to take over its rotating presidency in one month, Belgium will try to do as much legislative work as possible, and in the two remaining months after the European election it will focus on a debate about the EU's future, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said.

Harmonising legislative proposals between the two legislative institutions, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, on whose behalf the presiding country negotiates, will be possible only in the first four months of next year because the last plenary session of the current European Parliament will be held in April 2024.

The Belgian Presidency will therefore focus on doing as much legislative work as possible, and it will use the last two months to draw attention to a debate about the future of the EU and definition of priorities for the next institutional cycle with the new European Parliament and the new Commission, De Croo said at a news conference with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

The EP leadership, including EP President Metsola and heads of party groups, met in Brussels on Thursday with members of the Belgian government, which takes over the rotating EU presidency on 1 January.

De Croo said that considering the worsened geopolitical situation, the EU faces important decisions to stabilise Europe and that that would be the main priority in the coming weeks and months. In that process, it is important to demonstrate our continued strong support to Ukraine, he said.