Foreign Policy Blogs

Sunday summit may expose the divisions in the EU

It’s not often that European leaders come to Brussels at the weekend, but on Sunday they will do just that, to discuss, among other things, divisions between Member States over economic issues in the EU. This summit was called about 3 weeks ago, when the Czech Presidency objected greatly to protectionist moves by member-States, most especially France, you can see my post on this here.

inside-european-council-200 Inside the Council building, where the EU leaders will meet.

No summit of leaders today could ignore the other issue of deteriorating ecnomies and banks, and the summit is also likely to discuss how best to support fellow-Member States who are in difficulty. Given that many of the worst affected states are new Member States in the East and are not membrs of the Euro (allied by protectionisht moves by “Old Europe”), there’s been a challenge to the solidarity of the EU. We will see on Sunday if the notion of EU solidarity, where Member-States stick by each other, can survive the gloabl recession.

 

Author

David Garrahy

David Garrahy works in Brussels monitoring European Union activites. He is originally from Ireland and studied a Degree in Law & European Studies at the University of Limerick before earning a Masters in Globalisation at Dublin City Universty. Previously he has worked in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission and as a Legislative Aide for an Irish Senator. His involvement in the EU has included working for the Irish Forum on Europe and campaigning in Referenda in favour of the Nice & Lisbon Treaties.

Area of Focus
Europe; Globalisation; European Comission.

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