The leaders of European Union countries will be discussing the geopolitical issues affecting the European economy at the European Council dinner, on Thursday 18 December.
The focus is expected to be on the EU’s trade relations with China and the United States, and in particular the responses that Europeans need to provide to continue to be able to compete with these two major powers.
A European source indicated on Tuesday 16 December that this would be a first step before continuing discussions “at the ‘retreat’” to which the EU27 will be invited in February, to consider how to strengthen Europe’s economic competitiveness.
Even if this issue is not officially on the summit agenda, the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (see EUROPE 13775/9) - as an instrument enabling Europeans to diversify their trading partners in order to find new outlets and gain access to essential raw materials - could be included in these discussions.
On Wednesday evening, it was still not possible for the EU to sign the trade agreement with its Mercosur partners on Saturday 20 December, even though the interinstitutional negotiations on the safeguard clause had been concluded (see EUROPE 13775/9).
“The EU needs a coherent framework to ensure fair competition”, said another source, noting that China had recently adopted “an economic security doctrine”.
On the fringes of the European summit, more than 40 EU agricultural organisations and cooperatives belonging to Copa-Cogeca will be demonstrating in Brussels to call for an ambitious common agricultural policy, particularly in the face of international competition. The Presidents of the European Council, António Costa, and the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, are due to meet some of their representatives.
See the draft European Council conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/k1d (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion, Lionel Changeur with the editorial staff)