A challenging summit

The economic crisis that continues to “bite”, the precarious financial situation of Greece, the external challenges, from North Africa to the Middle East, and the future frontiers of Europe: such are the challenges that await the European Council in Brussels on 23/24 June. Meanwhile the European institutions are trying to come to terms with the numerous “files” to be placed on the table at the summit, to prepare which national diplomacies and EU “sherpas” are already at work in this phase.Economy still in the forefront. Issues of economic policy, the management of immigration, the future membership of Croatia, the inclusion of Roma and the strategy for the Danube area are some of the key issues that will be placed on the order of the day at the European summit that will bring together heads of state and of government for two particularly intensive days of debate and decision. The successor as President of the European Central Bank, to take the place of Jean-Claude Trichet, will also have to be appointed. The summit on 23/24 June “will conclude – as the President of the EU Council, Herman Van Rompuy has explained – the European semester” and will evaluate “the commitments assumed by member states in their respective national programmes of economic reform”, and the programmes of stability and convergence. The summit will also be called to approve “on this basis the specific opinions and recommendations for each country”, as formulated by the Commission last week. As regards immigration, the European Council “will evaluate in general the progress made in the implementation in policies in the field of asylum and immigration”. Immigration, Croatia, Roma. In the field of a coordinated policy in the field of immigration, the summit of the 27 “will furnish guidelines in terms of: the reinforcement of the control of our external frontiers, on the basis of common responsibility, solidarity and greater practical cooperation; the evaluation of the implementation of provisions that regulate freedom of movement of persons in the Schengen area”; the completion of the common European system of asylum; and “the development of a global partnership with southern neighbourhood countries”. The agenda of the summit also provides for an evaluation of negotiations with Croatia, for which the Commission has suggested a possible date of membership (1st July 2013). Moreover, the Council will also have to approve the report on the inclusion of the Roma population, so that this may become effectively operational in all States.Serbia: reforms and Kosovo. Other issues of political importance have also come to the fore in recent weeks, and will also be examined by the EU Council summit. On 6 June, for example, Council President Van Rompuy met the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, and urged him to “intensify work on his reform agenda” and congratulated him and “expressed the EU’s satisfaction over the arrest and extradition of Ratko Mladic”, former Serbian military chief in Bosnia: by this action “a major roadblock has been cleared”. “I hope this courageous action – said Van Rompuy – will take us a step closer to reconciliation, regional stability, and lasting peace”. On the same occasion Van Rompuy underlined the EU’s willingness to support the efforts of Tadic to promote greater rapprochement of his country with the European Union and indicated the best way of doing so in “strengthening national democratic institutions, reinforcing the rule of law and promoting justice reform. During the discussion – says a statement put out by the Council – “we also touched upon the ongoing dialogue between Belgrade and Pristine (i.e. between Serbia and Kosovo), with the assistance of the European Union”, begun on 8 March. The negotiations consist in a series of talks between the two governments to promote cooperation, make progress on the road towards the EU and improve the life of the population.Operational capability of Frontex. The EU Council of Ministers is examining the proposal for changes to be made to the regulation of Frontex, the EU agency for the control of external borders. “The proposal forms part of the objective to develop a global European immigration policy, based on solidarity and responsibility”. The changes to the Frontex regulation were proposed in early 2010, “but the recent events in neighbouring countries in the Middle East – says a statement on the Council’s website www.consilium.europa.eu – and the challenges posed by the emigration they have provoked have made it yet more urgent to examine and adopt the new regulations as soon as possible”. The main changes to the Frontex directive of 2004 concern the agency’s operational capability. “For example, it has been proposed to enable Frontex to ask member states to furnish the necessary equipment for its operations”, such as ships, helicopters, and planes. The agency should also have “a role of co-direction in the implementation of operations on the frontiers, together with the States in which the operation is being conducted”, though the control and surveillance of the external frontiers will remain the responsibility of member states.