On Friday 2 October, Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, unveiled the thematic agenda for the European summits and some of the bilateral summits that will be taking place between now and summer 2021.
Four meetings per year at the highest political level now seems appropriate in terms of frequency. Whether these summits take place physically or virtually will also depend on how the coronavirus pandemic develops.
The EU27 will hold strategic discussions on the following topics: - climate (15-16 October and 10-11 December); - trade (10-11 December); - economic and monetary union (10-11 December and 25-26 March); - health (February 2021); - security and defence (February 2021); - single market, digital sector including taxation, digital and climate transition (7-8 May 2021 in Lisbon); - free movement (24-25 June 2021).
With regard to foreign affairs, the European Council will discuss its relations with Africa (15-16 October) ahead of a meeting with representatives of the African Union (10-11 December). The actual bilateral summit, which was originally planned for the end of October, was officially postponed to 2021 because of the coronavirus (see EUROPE 12564/4).
An EU/China Summit will take place in Berlin on 16 November, following the one held by videoconference in mid-September (see EUROPE 12559/1). In addition, the EU27 will discuss relations with the countries of the southern neighbourhood (10-11 December), Russia (25-26 March) and the United Kingdom (24-25 June). They will meet with the Eastern Partnership countries (February) (see EUROPE 12510/16) and India (7-8 May in Lisbon) (see EUROPE 12500/7).
EU summits with the countries of the Western Balkans, the Asian ASEM countries and potentially the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean still need to be scheduled.
The full agenda can be consulted at: https://bit.ly/3jArutu (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Aminata Niang)