Laurent Fabius will tomorrow receive his Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders. They will notably discuss the situation in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine and our joint commitment to the Sahel region. They will discuss current European issues, including migration in the Mediterranean. They will also take stock of our key bilateral cooperation projects.

The ministers will then open a French-Dutch seminar entitled “A year of reforms in Europe: simplification, a national and European imperative.” This seminar, which will be attended by Harlem Désir, Minister of State for European Affairs, and Thierry Mandon, Minister of State for State Reform and Simplification, will bring together representatives from business, administrative and academic spheres from both countries, as well as from European institutions.

The seminar will provide an opportunity to work on concrete proposals that can be swiftly implemented and are likely to benefit individual citizens and businesses. It will also enable us to reflect on how to improve coordination between the work being carried out within the EU and national simplification reforms.