BRUSSELS – Migration, Brexit, the relationship with Trump and the United States, as well as the reform of the Eurozone, are some of the questions that the leaders of the member states will discuss about on the EU Summit in Brussels on 28-29 June.
At the top of the agenda will be the issues of asylum and migration that in the past period have particularly affected the relationship within the ruling coalition in Germany. Therefore, German Chancellor Merkel intends to raise the issue of revising the current asylum system. In addition, the budgeting for the fight against illegal migration, as well as the agreement on the quotas for relocating refugees across the EU are some of the issues that EU leaders will talk about in Brussels today.
The newly-launched “trade war” of the EU and the US through new import quotas, has created new problems for the EU. The leaders of the member states express their readiness to introduce counter-tariffs while insisting on signing agreements with other international partners. Additional concern for leaders is also the fact that Trump will probably try to strengthen US ties with NATO at the next NATO summit in Brussels. There is no doubt that when it comes to the relationship between the EU and the US, at today’s summit there will be polemics on these topics.
At a meeting between Chancellor Merkel and French President Macron, held on Tuesday, there were words about the so called “fiscal capacity” of the EU and the idea of forming a budget for the eurozone, to which several states that are members of the European Monetary Union are opposed. Discussions about this will be continued until autumn.
One of the central issues of the summit will be Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa Mey’s government is yet to negotiate further progress in resolving the border of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as further conditions for withdrawing from the Union.
In addition to these burning issues, it is expected that at today’s summit, the leaders of the member states will welcome the agreement of Greece and Macedonia on the name dispute, but also to give additional support to further enlargement, with an emphasis on opening negotiations with Albania and Macedonia in 2019.