(Brussels) For the third consecutive year, the General Secretaries of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU gathered in Brussels today to “nurture their effective cooperation with COMECE in view of a strong contribution to the dialogue with the EU institutions”. This is according to a statement from the Secretariat of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU, which played host to the General Secretaries today. “Participants analysed the new contexts of the EU institutions, after the European elections in May 2019. In this context, discussion also focused on the work programme recently published by the new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen and the impact that the upcoming Brexit may have on the Union”. The meeting was also an opportunity to exchange views and experiences on some pressing issues such as migration and asylum, youth policies, and the EU external action. In his speech, the Secretary General of COMECE, Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, underlined the mission of COMECE, with an open dialogue with EU institutions. In “presenting the needs, requests, opinions and perceptions of the Bishops’ Conferences”, he also stressed “their valuable role at national level as interpreters of the EU actions”.