European leaders will meet on 25 and 26 February for an extraordinary meeting where health, including the Covid-19 pandemic, defence and security, and relations with the Mediterranean neighbourhood will be discussed. The meeting will be held by videoconference.
According to a document from the Secretariat-General of the EU Council dated 2 February, the European Council will take stock of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the coordination effort, “with particular emphasis on the production and deployment of vaccines and the movement of persons”.
More broadly, leaders will have a first exchange of views on lessons learned so far from the pandemic, with a view to strengthening the EU’s resilience to health threats.
The European Council will also hold two strategic debates. The first will focus on European security and defence, based on the assessment that “strengthening the EU’s security and defence policy will contribute to increasing the Union’s ability to act autonomously and to promote its strategic interests and values on the world stage”.
The second debate will focus on the EU’s relations with its Southern Neighbourhood, following the presentation by the European Commission of the new EU strategy on the subject, scheduled for 9 February.
See the EU Council document: https://bit.ly/36E3WzI (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)