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European Council (Brussels, 26-27.06.2014)

ekampaki — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 07:43:29 +0000

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The European Council convenes today for a two-day summit. Today, the heads of state or government will gather in Ypres for a commemoration to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War and then they will have an exchange of views on the strategic agenda for the Union in the coming years.

On Friday, in Brussels, leaders will discuss the agenda for growth, competitiveness and jobs, evaluate progress in the area of regulatory fitness and discuss next steps. They will then discuss and define strategic guidelines for legislative and operational planning in the area of freedom, security and justice.

The European Council will take stock of progress made on the 2030 climate and energy policy framework and look at a set of most urgent measures to strengthen Europe’s energy security.

In the margins of the Council, the heads of state or government will sign the Association Agreements with Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and the remaining points of the Agreements with Ukraine.

Informal meeting of Heads of State/Government to take place in Brussels today (27.05.2014)

zchristidou — Tue, 27 May 2014 08:00:19 +0000

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At the working dinner, leaders are expected to have a discussion on the outcome of the European elections and the process leading to the European Council proposing a candidate for the future Presidency of the European Commission. They will also share reflections on the challenges and priorities for the European Union the next years.

In light of the latest developments, the leaders will also address the situation in Ukraine, especially following the Presidential elections held on 25 May 2014 and ahead of the G7 meeting on 4-5 June, and discuss the EU's continued reaction to unfolding events.

A press conference by the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission will take place at the end of the dinner.

Spring European Council

ntirovouzis — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 06:07:35 +0000

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Day Two

On Friday morning, the European Council will reconvene to discuss climate and energy followed by external relations. In particular leaders will address the EU's relations with Africa ahead of the 4th EU-Africa Summit in Brussels on 2 and 3 April 2014.

Leaders will hold a first policy debate at Heads of State or government level on a framework for climate and energy in the period from 2020 to 2030. They will also address issues such as energy prices (also much linked to industrial competitiveness), Europe's high energy dependence and energy efficiency. Leaders are equally expected to reconfirm the objectives of completing the internal energy market by 2014 and developing interconnections so as to put an end to any isolation of member states from European gas and electricity networks by 2015.

Following that, the European Council will discuss preparations for the 4th EU-Africa summit, which is to take place in Brussels on the 2-3 April under the theme "Investing in people, prosperity and peace". In this context the leaders will have an in-depth policy debate on EU-Africa relations, with a special emphasis on peace and security.

Live broadcast will be available here from 08:00 (CET)

Read the Remarks by President Herman Van Rompuy following the first session of the European Council

and the Remarks by President Barroso following the first session of the European Council

Find more on the European Council's website.

The European Council (EC)

Spring European Council

dkostara — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 07:06:45 +0000

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EU leaders will meet at the European Council on 20-21 March to discuss the European Semester, industrial competitiveness, climate and energy, the EU-Africa summit and Ukraine.

Day one

Starting on Thursday afternoon the spring European Council will dedicate its first working session to growth, competitiveness and jobs.

Leaders will start by reviewing progress on this year's European Semester monitoring exercise and assess the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy. They will then turn to the issue of industrial competitiveness.

The European Council should also evaluate results of legislative work and the Intergovernmental Conference in regard to the Single Resolution Mechanism and return to the issue of savings taxation.

Over dinner, leaders will turn to the most prominent issue on the agenda, Ukraine and Europe's Eastern neighborhood.

Τhe Tripartite Social Summit will take place in the morning before the Council. The Summit will be co-chaired by the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Prime Minister of Greece.

Live broadcast will be available here from 08:00 (CET)

and: Statement by President Herman Van Rompuy on savings taxation

The European Council (EC)

Extraordinary summit on Ukraine (6.3.2014)

kkalantzopoulou — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 18:50:57 +0000

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An extraordinary summit on Ukraine, convened by the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, took place today in Brussels.

The EU Heads of State or Government discussed the latest developments in Ukraine and how to facilitate the de-escalation of the situation.

The summit ended with a press conference at 17:45 (CET).

Find here the Statement of the EU Heads of State or Government, as well as the Remarks by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy following the extraordinary meeting.

Watch the press conference here.

The European Council (EC)

Extraordinary meeting of EU Heads of State or Government on Ukraine in Brussels today (6.3.2014)

mvaroucha — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 06:51:52 +0000

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The extraordinary summit on Ukraine, convened by the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, is expected to begin at 11h30 (CET) today in Brussels.
The summit is expected to end with a press conference around 15h (CET). The EU Heads of State or Government will discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and how to facilitate the necessary de-escalation of the situation.

More information here

The European Council (EC)

Extraordinary meeting of EU Heads of State or Government on Ukraine (Brussels, 6.3.2014)

mvaroucha — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 18:01:23 +0000

The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has decided to convene an extraordinary meeting of EU Heads of State or Government on Thursday 6 March 2014 to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

The summit is expected to begin at 11h30 (CET) and finish with a press conference around 15h (CET) The EU Heads of State or Government will discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and how to facilitate the necessary de-escalation of the situation.

More information here

The European Council (EC)

Prime Minister Samaras’ remarks at the European Council

kkalantzopoulou — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 11:02:18 +0000

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Allow me to thank Dalia and the Lithuanian Presidency for the excellent work demonstrated and concrete results produced. I want to assure everybody that we will maintain momentum on the progress the Lithuanian Presidency has achieved. As a matter of fact, we had already a meeting with Dalia last week in Athens, to coordinate a smooth transition.

The Greek Presidency will firstly aim to achieve tangible results on pending issues. We are called to tackle the economic and financial crisis, by safeguarding our common currency through the deepening of the EMU and by dealing with recession and unemployment through boosting growth. At the same time, security challenges in our external borders are forcing us to deal comprehensively with immigration issues; both for legitimate asylum seekers and for illegal immigrants.

In a nutshell, our efforts during the Presidency will focus on the following:

(A) Promoting growth, employment and cohesion. Specifically:

Completing pending legislation for boosting the growth oriented sector of the Multiannual Financial Framework.
Promoting the completion of Single Market Act I and II with emphasis on the deployment of high-speed broadband, on e-invoicing for public procurement and on all other elements which bring us closer to a true digital single market by 2015, as Herman so rightly pointed out in his letter.
Implementing decisions to increase the lending capacity of SMEs - the key providers of jobs in the European economy.
Implementing the Youth Initiative, to stimulate jobs for the most vulnerable part of our population.
Taking action on external trade to accelerate ongoing talks on Trade Agreements with the US and other strategic partners.

(B) Deepening the Union, especially the EMU, by introducing policies and actions to improve deficiencies in the Euro area architecture, which surfaced during the current crisis.

On the Banking Union, the Greek Presidency will build upon the political agreement on the Single Resolution Mechanism regulation reached within the Council yesterday. Finalizing the trilogues on the SRM framework with the European Parliament on schedule, is a top priority of our Presidency. We congratulate the Lithuanian Presidency for the excellent results they achieved in finalizing both directives on bank recovery and deposit guarantee. At the same time, we will promote, as a matter of urgency, issues concerning tax fraud and tax evasion, as well as the Financial Transactions Tax.

On Deepening the EMU, our aim is to lay the foundations of well coordinated EMU, with the right balance between solidity and solidarity and the institutional autonomy of its members. Our work will be guided by today’s Conclusions on the Partnerships for Growth, Jobs, Competitiveness which built upon Herman’s Roadmap and the Commission's Blueprint.

(C) Migration, border management and mobility of Union citizens, in the context of enhancing European security, both internally and externally.

Developing an area of Freedom, Justice and Security will be a major objective for the Greek presidency. Our approach has 3 targets: (a) stopping/reducing illegal migration in an efficient way, while safeguarding respect for human rights and combating the criminal networks of smuggling and trafficking (b) improving and better organizing legal migration and facilitated mobility. (c) coordinating effective repatriation policies for the illegal immigrants. d) enhancing synergies between immigration and growth by attracting educated and talented human resources.

(D) EU Sea Policies-Horizontal Thematic.

Our presidency will introduce a horizontal initiative encompassing all issues relevant for EU Sea policies. The main idea of this thematic is to redefine and relaunch the EU Maritime Policy in all its aspects, not being confined to issues of growth and development The objective will be the adoption of a text on Maritime Strategy at the June 2014 European Council, highlighting Security, Growth including Energy.

On all the above issues and especially on Immigration flows and Maritime policies, we have agreed with Enrico Letta to closely work together, so that our two successive presidencies will become mostly effective and create the best one year synergy as possible!

The European Council (EC)