Pascouau, Y. (2014) “The European Council’s strategic guidelines and immigration: can the EU be bold and innovative?“, European Policy Centre Commentary, 25 June.
The agenda of the June 2014 EU Summit will be particularly heavy. Alongside issues related to the conclusion of the European Semester, the climate and energy framework, possible debates about Ukraine, Iraq and Syria, EU leaders will have to decide on two key dossiers: the nomination of the next Commission President and the future of the area of freedom, security and justice.
Two key and interlinked dossiers
The discussions and possible future decisions about the next President of the European Commission will undoubtedly receive strong media coverage, already gaining major attention from EU leaders themselves. Interestingly enough, the ‘Spitzenkandidaten process’ has pushed members of the European Council to be very active not ‘only’ on the identity of the next President –likely to be Jean-Claude Juncker – but also on the Union’s priorities for the upcoming years. The European Council will agree on a “strategic agenda” defining key priorities, to which EU institutions will be ‘invited’ to follow. Migration related issues are among the five priority areas defined in the draft document prepared by the President of the European Council.
The strategic guidelines for the area of freedom, security and justice included in the draft European Council Conclusions are more specific. Aimed at replacing the “Stockholm Programme”, these guidelines should set political orientations regarding a series of policies which include immigration and asylum.
Relevant posts:
- Wren-Lewis, S. (2014) “Real wages, monetary policy and innovation“, Mainly Macro Blog, 22 June.
- Stiglitz, J. (2014) “Creating an Innovation Society“, Social Europe Journal, 04 June.
- Salamone, A. (2014) “The European Council should not feel obliged to choose any of the leading candidates as President of the European Commission“, LSE EUROPP, 02 June.