Article by Giulia Casula
The European Council has adopted conclusions on competitiveness, migration, and defense. According to European sources, the 27 leaders are discussing the Multiannual Financial Framework, the final chapter of the meeting, over dinner.
No changes have been made compared to the last version of the conclusions. As expected, the leaders called for accelerating work on all fronts “to decisively increase Europe’s defense readiness within the next five years.” They also called for further legislative simplification, particularly in the areas of decarbonization of industry and security and defense.
In the chapter on competitiveness, the Council “encourages further work in particular on: the external dimension, in particular through comprehensive partnerships; the implementation of adopted EU legislation and the enforcement of existing legislation; the prevention and fight against irregular migration, including through new modalities in line with EU and international law; efforts to facilitate, increase and accelerate returns, using all relevant EU policies, tools and instruments; the concepts of safe third countries and safe countries of origin; the fight against instrumentalisation, human trafficking and smuggling; the alignment of visa policy by neighbouring countries; and safe and legal pathways in line with national competences,” it reads.