The informal summit of all member states with the exception of the United Kingdom, scheduled to be held in Bratislava on Friday 16 September, will be given over to the economy, job creation, particularly for young people, and security internally and on the borders, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced during a trip to Prague on Thursday 25 August.
The Chancellor went on to add that the European Union had hard work ahead of it to overcome the British vote. The referendum of 23 June, which was won by those in favour of United Kingdom leaving the EU (EUROPE 11580), "marks a turning point in the evolution of the European project and in the history of the success of European integration", Merkel said in Tallinn, before travelling on to Prague. "I think that we can get past the decision of the British. But we will have to work hard to do so".
In Warsaw on Friday 26 August, the Chancellor met the leaders of the four so-called Visegrad countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia) to discuss the Union's priorities for the future. She was also to meet the Swedish Prime Minister at a meeting also to be attended by the Finnish, Dutch and Danish leaders. Last Monday, the Chancellor met the French and Italian leaders on the Italian island of Ventotene (EUROPE 11607). For their part, leading figures in the European Democratic parties met in Paris on Thursday 25 August for discussions focusing on matters such as the economy and employment (EUROPE 11609). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)