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Agenda of the European Council, 21-22 March 2024

21 March - 22 March

Agenda highlights

Over the course of a two-day summit, EU leaders will discuss continued support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression, security and defence, the unfolding situation in the Middle East, enlargement, external relations, migration, agriculture and the European Semester.

The leaders will also have a lunch with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

A Euro Summit will be held in the margins of the meeting.

Support to Ukraine

EU leaders will discuss continued support to Ukraine and its people in response to Russia’s military aggression.

The EU will continue to provide political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support for as long as it takes. So far, the EU and its member states have made available over €138 billion in support.

Security and defence

EU leaders will discuss security and defence, including:

  • Europe’s need to increase its defence readiness
  • how to strengthen the EU’s defence technological and industrial base
  • further steps to make the defence industry more resilient and competitive

Based on a presentation by the European Commission, EU leaders will also discuss the European Defence Industry Strategy and the European Defence Industry Programme.

Middle East

EU leaders will address the situation in the Middle East.

At their meetings in October 2023, EU leaders called for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need. They also stressed the need to cooperate with partners in the region to avoid regional escalation.

Following Hamas’s brutal and indiscriminate attack against Israel and the unfolding tragic scenes in the Gaza strip, the EU has:

Enlargement

EU leaders will discuss EU enlargement policy, including the latest developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and Moldova.

At their meeting in December 2023, EU leaders gave the greenlight to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, once the countries had taken the relevant steps set out in the Commission’s enlargement report of 8 November 2023. The leaders also expressed their readiness to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, when the necessary compliance with the membership criteria was achieved. To this end, they invited the Commission to report to the Council on progress at the latest in March 2024.

Foreign policy

In the light of events, the European Council may address specific foreign policy issues.

Migration

EU leaders will hold a discussion on migration.

At the latest European Council meeting in December, the leaders underlined the importance of pursuing a strategic approach to migration that combines:

Agriculture

The European Council will discuss the EU response to the current concerns in the agricultural sector.

European Semester

EU leaders will address priorities for the 2024 European Semester. In this context, they are invited to endorse the recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area, which was published by the Commission on 21 November 2023 and approved by the Council on 16 January 2024.

The European Semester is the EU’s yearly exercise to coordinate economic, fiscal, employment and social policies.

European Economic Area

EU leaders will meet with their counterparts of the countries in the European Economic Area, namely Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, to mark the 30th anniversary of their relationship.

Meeting information

  • Brussels
  • 21-22 March 2024

    Preparatory documents

    Press releases

    5 February 2024, 13:00

     

     

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    Details

    Start:
    21 March
    End:
    22 March
    Event Categories:
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    Event Tags:

    Venue

    EU Council
    Belgium + Google Map

    Organizer

    EU Council