Tag: EU summit

As EU leaders meet tomorrow (7 February) for a two-day summit to ink out a deal on the Union's long-term budget for 2014-2020, diplomats said it was “now or never” for them to agree. Indeed, the political calendar of countries like Germany would make it much more difficult to reach a compromise before the 2014 European elections. 

EurActiv Video brings you a compilation of short clips from the EU summit which ended Friday (19 October).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will pit herself against France and Italy today at an EU summit that could shape the eurozone's future, insisting they must put the bloc's fundamental problems ahead of pleas for emergency action.

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels on 28-29 June to agree a roadmap for further fiscal and budgetary integration in the eurozone as well as more immediate measures to stimulate economic growth. Below is a summary of the main events leading up to the meeting, starting from the previous summit, which closed on 24 May.

Any number of monetary sticking plasters won’t prevent political reality catching up with the changed Europe that follows the eurozone debt storm, argues Peter Wilding, warning it will also change Britain’s place in it.

Although tonight's EU summit is about growth, not Greece, the fate of the eurozone’s most troubled member will definitely be on the menu of the leaders' dinner. 

The collapse of the European Union  is a "realistic scenario," as member states are claiming back power, xenophobia  is increasing and so are calls to reintroduce border controls, said the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz.

EU-mediated negotiations between Belgrade and Priština are to resume this morning (24 February) in Brussels, with high stakes: the granting of EU candidate status to Serbia at the 1-2 March summit or a return to nationalism on the eve of elections in Serbia at the end of April. BETA, the EurActiv partner agency in Serbia, contributed to this article. 

Belgian authorities are prepared to use a military airfield to receive EU leaders for the extraordinary summit on growth and jobs, as trade unions threatened a mass strike on Monday that is likely to block the Brussels airport.

With UK and EU relations at a crossroads, David Cameron's veto seemed as an almost inevitable step to an already troubled relationship, argue Michael J. Geary from Maastricht University and Kevin A. Lees from Latham and Watkins LLP in Washington. The only hope now is that this veto will prevent the triggering of a possible referendum on the UK's membership.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is grappling with a major row within in his Conservative-led coalition as his Liberal Democrat partner blasted his veto of an EU treaty aimed at tightening fiscal rules for countries using the euro.

As heads of state get ready for dinner, our table showing where nine member states stand on the key issues - compiled using information from the EurActiv network - exposes the complexity of the negotiation ahead.

After months of wavering over how to treat debt woes that threaten the euro, European leaders must walk away from a summit this week with long-term visions as well as short-term action to salvage the currency, said analysts polled by EurActiv.

Italy’s EU colleagues expressed satisfaction with the contents of a letter brought to the summit yesterday (26 October) by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi setting out Rome’s intention to rein in public expenditure and counter contagion from Greece’s sovereign debt crisis. EU SUMMIT LIVE!

In addition to the EU and eurozone twin summits on Sunday (23 October), another summit will take place "at the latest on Wednesday", France and Germany said yesterday (20 October) after a tense day of hesitation and conflicting announcements.

Herman Van Rompuy, European Council President, decided to postpone the EU summit, originally planned for next week, until 23 October. It appears extra time is needed for Germany and France to overcome discord over bank recapitalisation plans, despite the agreement touted last Sunday.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said yesterday (28 February) that the European Union should avoid separate summits for members of the euro zone, such as the 11 March meeting to discuss crisis measures. Sweden is currently not part of the single currency.

Plans for EU countries to submit their budgets to Brussels have been questioned by analysts who say the new system lacks teeth and does little to restore competitiveness, as EU leaders gather to debate economic governance in Brussels this week.