Brexit and Migration on top of the agenda at EU summit

European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels for the last time this year, European media report, to address three major items that dominate the European agenda: Brexit, defence and migration. EU leaders also celebrated the first part of the European defence union. European Council President Tusk commented that the two-day summit in Brussels “is a very clear illustration” that when Europe is united it “can successfully perform even on the most difficult issues and tasks,” dinherovivo.pt reports, but he stressed that there will be “issues where a lack of unity is very visible,” namely the economic and monetary union and migration.

European leaders are expected to announce that enough progress has been made in Brexit negotiations and that the next phase can be opened. However, British Prime Minister May arrived in Brussels weakened, after the Commons voted against her government on Wednesday, giving the Parliament a right of veto on the final Brexit agreement to be concluded with Brussels, Le Monde explains. “I am disappointed with the amendment, but actually the EU withdrawal bill is making good progress through the House of Commons and we are on course to deliver on Brexit,” Portuguese RTP1 quotes Mrs May as saying.

Moreover, Mrs May said she wanted to move on to the next phase of negotiations “with ambition and creativity,” The Daily Telegraph indicates. PM May is expected to back away from plans to write a Brexit date into law so as to avoid a second House of Commons defeat next week, The Times reports. According to Les Echos, Europeans will offer no concessions on rights and obligations, a “demonstration of firmness and method”. For President Tusk, the second phase of the negotiations will also be “a real test” for the unity of the 27, Les Echos reports. Martin Wolf in the Financial Times states that extremely difficult decisions lie ahead on Brexit. Agreeing a final deal will be complex and probably take years, he warns.

Trends Tendances interviews journalist Gideon Rachman, international trade specialist, who explains that the British government’s objective is not to conclude a full agreement as soon as possible, but to achieve enough progress for a two-year transition period. In Les Echos, Eric Le Boucher argues that the solution is to make the negotiations last ad vitam aeternam. The Remainers and the Brexiteers will both be satisfied, and the EU will not be bothered by the UK as they will no longer be seated at the decision table. Brexit will never happen, but no one will regret it, he concludes.

The EU’s migration scheme is also in the spotlight after the President Tusk, pointed out that the mandatory refugee resettlement scheme has been ineffective and is dividing Europe, Onda Cero reports in Spain. Slovak Daily Pravda, Polska and The Times note that on Thursday, representatives of the Visegrad Four discussed the issue of migration with President of the European Commission Juncker and Italian Prime Minister Gentiloni. The V4 will contribute €35 million for the Italian activities in Libya in order to reduce illegal migration to Europe. President Juncker expressed content with the Group’s unanimity in regards to solidarity. “Today I am a happy man,” he commented, Bulgarian bTV reports.

Still, Other EU leaders do not accept that the V4 wants to show solidarity through financial contributions rather than accepting refugees, Magyar Hírlap adds. A column in Rzeczpospolita agrees with Mr Tusk’s declaration on migration quotas, arguing that instead of uniting it, the migration policy is dividing the EU. Meanwhile, Presidents Juncker and Tusk have publicly and privately clashed over specific proposals and the role of both institutions, reports El Mundo‘s Pablo R. Suanzes. FT.com also mentions an institutional tussle in Brussels as the European Council wants to take a more active role, about which the European Commission is equivocal. Trends Tendances‘ Pierre-Henri Thomas comments that concerning the Commission’s task force to bring EU decisions closer to the citizens, “Europe, aware of its distance from the citizens, should retrocede some competences to the national, regional or local level in the coming years.”