Downing Street Says » EU Informal Summit

» Thursday, October 20, 2005

EU Informal Summit

The PMOS also updated people on the EU Informal Summit. He said that the Prime Minister was formally inviting the EU Leaders today to the Informal Summit, and his letters of invitation set out the objectives and the format of the Summit. The PMOS drew journalists’ attention to certain parts of the letter where the Prime Minister said that he proposed "…as the theme of our discussion, the opportunities and challenges of globalisation. How do we meet the competitive challenge and maintain the security of our citizens in a world of unprecedented movement…..". At the Informal Summit, President Barroso would present a Commission Paper that was due to be published later today. Based on that paper, the Prime Minister had proposed the following questions to frame the discussion:

What were the reactions to the Commission’s analysis of the scale of the challenge facing Europe?

How could we best provide both jobs and growth and social solidarity? What was the modern way to social justice?

How could the EU support the efforts of member states in this area? Should it be doing more together in areas such as research and development, and university-level education….?

What more should Europe do to maximise the personal security of our citizens?

On future financing, the Prime Minister had said that that we had consulted widely and he believed there was a collective will to reach agreement in December. The Commission was issuing some new ideas today to kick-start the negotiations. In the letter, the Prime Minister had also said that "I believe agreement can and should be reached at the December Council – and I will make every effort personally to achieve it by then, including through personal contact with each of you. I will update you further briefly at the meeting on how we are taking this forward through November. But I hope we can avoid getting into detailed discussions of the future financing issue at Hampton Court. There are real challenges on globalisation that we must address".

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