The European Council met in Brussels on 20 and 21 March for its third annual Spring meeting on the economic, social and environmental situation in the Union. The meeting was preceded by an exchange of views with the President of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, on the main topics for discussion.

Heads of State or Government, Foreign and Finance Ministers also came together with their counterparts from the thirteen acceding and candidate countries to discuss the Lisbon Strategy and its implementation as well as international issues.

At its annual Spring meetings, the European Council assumes the central role in setting the direction for the Union's economic, social and environmental action in order to meet the objectives of the Lisbon strategy to make the European economy the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.

At the end of its deliberations, the European Council signals its agreement on the following:

on the priority objectives for the European Union concerning the Lisbon reform programme (see Part I below);

on a number of orientations and specific measures in order to achieve these objectives (see Part II below).

Furthermore, it adopted conclusions on enlargement and on a number of international issues. Those conclusions are reproduced after Part II below.