On Tuesday 13 February in Vienna, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and the Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, discussed the subject of the next informal European Summit on 23 February. The summit will focus on the budget but will also tackle subjects that the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU will cover during its tenure in the second half of this year.
Unsurprisingly, the two leaders discussed Brexit and migration- in particular illegal immigration. Management of the latter will be one of the challenges of the next multi-annual financial framework. This topic is also the subject of an agreement the member states will have to reach on the Dublin section, the regulation setting out the responsibilities of each member state on asylum and which has remained blocked since 2016.
In this regard, the Austrian Chancellor announced that an informal summit in Vienna would be organised on illegal immigration and security for 20 September next.
Donald Tusk stated, “When it involves managing illegal migration, Chancellor Kurz and I… share similar points of view. Migration will remain a challenge for many years”, explained Mr Tusk. He then exclaimed that, above all, “We have to put an end to the destructive emotions surrounding the question of relocation because they continue to nurture populism and divide Europe”. He is opposed to quotas on asylum seekers and added, "If this question is not resolved by ministers over the next few months, we will have to find a solution during the June European Council”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)