On Saturday 20 January, after the second summit of its kind and a few days ahead of the informal summit of the European leaders, who are to debate the future of the EU, the leaders of seven Southern countries – Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Portugal – reiterated the importance of the unity of the European Union in the face of growing instability and uncertainty throughout the world.
As well as an additional opportunity to take stock of the recent decisions of the new American administration, particularly in the field of migration, the informal summit will allow the Europeans to discuss ways of stemming migration flows from Libya.
"The Malta Summit will give us the opportunity to address the situation in the Central Mediterranean routes, and to explore new pathways of cooperation with the Libyan government, in full respect for human rights and international law. Much of the outcome of such a process will depend upon the stabilisation of the situation in Libya and the effective involvement of Government of National Accord, to whom we reiterate our support", the leaders declared in a joint statement.
Last week, the European Commission proposed a raft of measures to tackle migration flows from Libya, such as training for the Libyan coastguard and support to Libya's neighbouring countries, such as Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt (see EUROPE 11711).
These countries strongly believe that "responsibility and solidarity" must continue to be the cornerstone of cooperation between member states towards the countries of first entry, such as Greece and Italy, on matters including the revision of the Dublin asylum system (see EUROPE 11712), the process of relocating refugees, which must be immediately intensified, and the adequate secondment of personnel to the European coastguard and border guard agency and the EASO asylum support office.
In favour of a European plan to tackle social exclusion
Expressing their support for all of the work being carried out at European level to increase security in Europe, the seven leaders highlight the link between radicalisation and recruitment of terrorists and social exclusion. In order to tackle this phenomenon, they call for the creation of a "European investment programme" to enable the regeneration of cities in all dimensions: urban planning, economic activity, law enforcement, social services, healthcare and education.
In the field of economics, the seven states called for a policy that strikes a balance between budgetary rigour and support for public and private investment, whilst also being able to reduce inequality. Calling for the European pillar of social rights to be reinforced (see EUROPE 11711), they also go on to argue that protectionist reactions are not an appropriate response to economic difficulties, in a reference to the protectionist tendencies recently championed by the United States.
In view of the U-turn taken by the new Trump administration on migration, economic and security issues, the French President, François Hollande, called on the Europeans to adopt a determined approach to their dialogue with the United States. In a conversation with the American President, Donald Trump, on Saturday, he reiterated France's position on maintaining economic sanctions against Russia, compliance with the Iranian nuclear agreement, the importance of multilateralism and full implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The next two summits of these seven countries will be held in Spain and Cyprus respectively. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)