Invitation letter by President Charles Michel to the members of the European Council ahead of their informal meeting on 6 October 2023:
“I would like to invite you to our informal meeting on 6 October, kindly hosted by Prime Minister Sanchez in Granada.
This gathering holds significant importance: not only will we engage in a constructive dialogue on the most pressing issues that our Union currently faces, such as migration, but this meeting marks the start of an important reflection process on our Union’s future priorities. Starting in Granada, our discussions will allow us to collectively chart the course for the Union, defining its direction and goals for the years to come. The result of our reflection process in the next few months will shape the 2024-2029 Strategic agenda.
When Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine over 18 months ago, we addressed the starkly changing reality at our meeting in Versailles. Beyond agreeing to provide unwavering support to Ukraine, we set a new strategic course of action to build our sovereignty, committing to jointly bolster our defence capacities, reduce our energy dependency and build a more robust economic base.
Granada is the time to look back and critically assess progress in strengthening our European sovereignty, identifying our achievements as well as areas that still require our political action. It is also the time to look forward, identifying the future challenges we will have to face, and defining our strategy to seize all the opportunities that lie ahead to ensure the EU’s resilience and competitiveness in this changing geopolitical environment.
Beyond the strategic agenda, an inherent part of this discussion relates to the future of an enlarged European Union and the consequences this expansion may entail – both for us and for our aspiring members. It is vital that we contemplate the future dynamics of our Union, our policies and decision-making, among others, to ensure the EU’s continued success. In particular we will address critical questions, such as: What do we do together? How do we decide? How do we match our means with our ambitions?
We will start our meeting with an exchange with the President of the European Parliament. We will then turn to our discussion on the Strategic agenda.
I look forward to meeting you all in Granada.