Brussels, 08/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - The last European Council under Swedish EU Presidency will be held in Brussels on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 December. This will also be the last summit presided by a country holding the rotating EU Presidency and, according to the provisions of the new treaty, will bring together only the heads of state and government.
In a letter of invitation to his EU counterparts, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt states work will open on Thursday at 5.00pm with the traditional meeting with the president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek. The EU27 will then take stock of the economic and financial situation. Initiatives taken over the past year to address the crisis must now gradually be dismantled using coordinated exit strategies (budgetary support measures, and measures to support the banking and monetary sector). EU leaders will also welcome the agreement found during the Ecofin Council on the legislative package reforming financial supervision in Europe (EUROPE 10032). The summit will also aim at specifying certain elements of the post-2010 Lisbon Strategy, tackled by various formations of the EU Council and the European Commission (EUROPE 10026, 10028 and 10029 in particular). The European Council will approve the Stockholm programme on justice, freedom and security for the years 2010 to 2014. The new permanent president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, will join the heads of state for dinner during which he will set out guidelines on how summits are to be conducted in the future. Before this, however, discussion will mainly cover climate change and the development of work during the Copenhagen conference (see related article). The next day, Friday, European leaders will put the final touches to the text of the conclusions. (A.B./transl.jl)