Iran Press/ Europe: Leaders of the European Union (EU) member states met here on Friday for an informal summit to discuss the bloc's future strategy and enlargement.
Discussions include the future Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 and preparation for the bloc's next enlargement, according to the Spanish presidency of the EU Council.
Hosted by the Spanish government that assumed the rotating presidency on the Council of the European Union in July, the EU heads of state and government are holding an informal meeting to discuss the most pressing current issues and the bloc’s long-term strategical priorities.
The reform of the EU’s migration and asylum policy is expected to be the most difficult topic on the agenda.
On the way to the summit, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said migration is a “multi-dimensional problem” that “affects all policies” of the EU’s external action.
He stressed the EU must “attack the root causes of migration,” and should consider the deployment of “advisory border controls” in North Africa and the Sahel region.
For her part, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said leaders will review options to structurally improve the EU’s migration policy, including “comprehensive partnership with the countries of transit or of origin, investment in these countries, and also the establishment of legal pathways and humanitarian corridors.”
The EU enlargement is the process whereby states join the 27-nation bloc after they have fulfilled a set of political and economic conditions. Currently, eight countries, including several from the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova, have been granted candidate status, but each follows different processes of rapprochement with the EU.
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