Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

The leaders of the European Union countries are meeting this evening in Budapest, the capital of the rotating Hungarian presidency of the Union, for two days. The President of the Council of the Union, Charles Michel, has invited the leaders to attend the two-day summit. The EU Presidency in Brussels published the invitation letter, which reads:

I would like to invite you to our informal meeting of heads of state and government, which will be held in Budapest (Hungary) on the evening of Thursday, November 7, and on Friday, November 8.

At our dinner today, Thursday, I propose that we hold a strategic discussion on our transatlantic relations. Our relationship with the United States is essential and we are ready to deepen it. We must continue to fulfill our priorities in line with the strategic agenda, and work actively towards a strong and sovereign Europe. I would like us to focus in particular on three areas: (a) our bilateral relations, (b) security and geopolitics, not least Ukraine, and (c) global challenges and international cooperation, including climate change.

We will also address the situation in Georgia after the elections and discuss the way forward. With our steadfast support for the United Nations in mind, we will also hold an exchange For views on the recently adopted Israeli legislation against UNRWA which, if implemented, would make it impossible for UNRWA to fulfil its mandate. We will discuss the possible consequences for our relationship with Israel.
Our meeting on Friday will be devoted to strengthening our competitiveness. The situation is very worrying. Over the past 20 years, the EU’s share of global GDP has halved. We need to act now. We are at the last minute. The two recent reports are a wake-up call that we must be prepared to receive. The survival of the competitive union is at stake.
Our discussions, with the current President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, and her predecessor, Mario Draghi, in attendance, will cover concrete strategies to reverse our current trajectory and allow our companies to flourish – strategies that foster innovation, harness the strengths of our single market and support sustainable growth.
I would like to have a real political exchange on how to finance our ambitions and the tools at our disposal.
I am confident that by leveraging our collective strength we can make significant progress that will pave the way for the months ahead. “I am convinced that our strength lies in our unity. This requires trust and respect among the 27 nations. I am confident that together we can achieve great things,” he concluded.