Committee on Foreign Affairs

On Tuesday 4 November, the Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos will present the 2025 enlargement package to the Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee. The debate will focus on the progress made by candidate and potential candidate countries on their respective EU accession paths.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the UN Charter, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Security and Defence, the Committee on Development, and the Subcommittee on Human Rights will hold a joint meeting on 4 November to reflect on eight decades of multilateralism and to discuss the challenges and hopes for the future. Speakers will include representatives from the United Nations and the European Union, as well as a young political leader.

On 16 October, the European Commission and the High Representative set out a strategy to strengthen EU relations with its Southern Mediterranean partners the Pact for the Mediterranean. On 20 October, Dubravka Šuica, Commissioner for the Mediterranean will present this Joint Communication to the Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Strasbourg.

On 23 September, the Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Development, together with the Subcommittee on Human Rights, presented the candidates for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, one of the most important events of the European Parliament. On 16 October, the AFET and DEVE committees will meet again to narrow down the list of nominees to a three-candidate shortlist, via a secret vote.

On Thursday, 16 October 2025, the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Committee on Development (DEVE) will organise a joint public hearing on "Global Gateway – past impacts and future orientation". This hearing brings together experts and stakeholders to discuss the achievements and challenges of the Global Gateway strategy, launched by the Commission in 2021.

The nominees for this year’s Prize will be presented by the political groups in a joint meeting of the Committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and on Development (DEVE) and the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) in Brussels on 23 September, 14:30-15:30. Each year, the Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to honour exceptional individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.