"Finding agreement upon the final text of the future Treaty is the challenge I throw at you for our Lisbon meeting": José Socrates, Portuguese Prime Minister and president on duty of the EU Council, wrote the usual letter of invitation to the heads of state and governments of the Union, with the schedule and the priority topics to be addressed during the summit on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th October in the Lusitanian capital. In the document, Socrates recalls the start of the Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC) of 23rd July and the launch of the draft Treaty, which is dated 3rd October. According to the president on duty, "it is an essential challenge for Europe. Adopting the text of the Reform Treaty means not only that the EU will be able to focus its efforts on issues that more directly concern the citizens, but also that it will do it more effectively". Then, the Portuguese government associates the summit with the "modernisation of the European economies and societies", recalling the value of the Lisbon Strategy, adopted by the European Union in 2000. About this, Socrates announces a work in close contact with the Commission and for this reason asked the president, José Manuel Barroso, to illustrate, during the summit, the document named "The European interest: success in the age of globalisation". (continued)
