Source: European Parliament
The last formal European Council meeting under the presidency of Charles Michel had an exceptionally full agenda, covered in only a day. The most prominent topic was migration, with EU leaders agreeing on comprehensive conclusions, marking a shift in the European Council’s approach to the issue. Strong emphasis was put on fighting the instrumentalisation of migrants and on increasing returns. Other core agenda points were Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presenting his ‘victory plan’, and the Middle East, with EU leaders expressing their deep concern about the military escalation in the region and calling on all actors to show restraint and abide by international law. The meeting’s conclusions also address competitiveness, the rules based-international order, hybrid threats, energy prices, COP29 and COP16, fighting discrimination, and the situations in Moldova, Georgia, Sudan, Venezuela, Morocco and Haiti.