Final summit in Brussels within the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU
EU leaders meet on 28th and 29th of June in Brussels at the final summit within the framework of the Bulgarian presidency. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will present the main results of the Bulgarian rotating presidency of the Council of EU. Special emphasis will be placed on the return of the Western Balkans to the EU's Strategic agenda, the progress in implementing the EU Defence Package initiatives and the finalisation of the dialogue on the Posting of Workers Directive in the area of services. The debates will include the topic of migartion, a subject on which the member states are currently divided. Relations with the United States and Brexit are also on the leaders' agenda.
A potential failure to find a solution to migration would indicate that the European Union is weak and has no external borders, said Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council in his invitation to the European leaders. Migration will be the key topic in the Summit.According to Tusk, Europeans expect politicians to take decisive action to restore their sense of security.
He also proposed specific measures to tackle the illegal migration such as the establishment of platforms outside the EU, where migrants could be accommodated, and assessed who has the right to come to Europe. All the countries that will create such platforms will receive funding from Brussels.
European leaders will also discuss trade duties imposed by the United States. According to Tusk, relations with Washington are getting worse and Europe should be preparing for the worst-case scenarios.
Brexit will also be on the leaders' agenda. It is expected that they would express concern about the lack of progress on the topic related to the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will brief his counterparts on the implementation of the decisions taken at the previous council. He will hold a joint press conference with Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, and Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, about the Bulgarian presidency.
From July 1, Austria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the EU.
