Outcome of the special European Council meeting of 1 February 2024

Written by Ralf Drachenberg with Christoffer Nielsen.

EU leaders reached a swift and unanimous decision on the long-term EU budget at the special European Council meeting of 1 February, sending a strong and united message on the EU’s continued support for Ukraine. Altogether, the European Council agreed to reinforce new priorities by €64.6 billion in a revised EU multiannual financial framework (MFF). Next to the MFF, leaders discussed the EU’s military support to Ukraine, calling on the Council to agree to a European Peace Facility top-up by March 2024, and welcomed the agreement on the use of profits from frozen Russian assets to support the reconstruction of Ukraine. Leaders also discussed the situation in the Middle East, but again no conclusions were issued.

1.     General

The special European Council meeting was preceded by an informal dinner organised by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on 31 January, which was attended by around 20 participants.

The European Council meeting itself began with the customary address by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. The attendance of the President at the start of the European Council meeting and her exchange with EU Heads of State or Government is one of the main interactions between the European Council and the European Parliament, which has developed significantly over time.

The topics discussed with the President after her speech to the European Council included disinformation and foreign influence on voters’ behaviour ahead of elections, the alleged foreign interference with an MEP from Latvia, and agriculture. In their conclusions, EU leaders also paid homage to former Commission President Jacques Delors, who passed away on 27 December 2023.

2.     European Council meeting

Multiannual financial framework

Following  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s veto of the revision of the 2021-2027 MFF at the December 2023 European Council meeting, and his statements in the run-up to the 1 February special meeting, the rapid unanimous agreement of EU leaders came as something of a surprise. The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, indicated that this was probably the shortest European Council meeting in recent times.

The agreement was facilitated by a breakfast meeting between a small group of EU leaders ahead of the meeting proper. In the 10 pages of MFF conclusions, the European Council agreed to reinforce new priorities by €64.6 billion, of which €33 billion will be loans and €10.6 billion will be redeployments, i.e. money taken from other priorities in the 2021-2027 MFF (see Table 1). Charles Michel reiterated that the role of the European Council was to be the guardian of ‘European unity’, which was not always easy, and expressed his satisfaction with the MFF agreement at 27. The Commission President welcomed the result, which included 80 % of the additional funds originally asked for by the Commission in its proposal for this first-ever revision of an MFF.

On support for Ukraine for the 2024-2027 period, for which a specific Facility would be set up, the European Council decided to hold a debate every year on its implementation, on the basis of an annual report by the Commission. If needed, in two years the European Council would invite the Commission to make a proposal for a review in the context of the new MFF. While this framework gives Orbán the desired annual review, there is no annual veto possibility.

The message from various EU leaders, including Scholz, Michel and von der Leyen, was that no concessions were made to convince Orbán to give up his veto. Nevertheless, a sentence was added to the European Council conclusions, which refers to EU leaders’ ‘December 2020 conclusions on the application of the conditionality mechanism’. Charles Michel explained that the reference stresses ‘the responsibility of the Commission to allocate the funds, and that EU leaders trust in the European Commission to carry out the necessary assessments on the basis of progress made’. Scholz stated that the conclusions reflect the view that all Member States should uphold the rule of law.

EU leaders also agreed to continue to work towards the introduction of new own resources, a topic that is particularly important for the European Parliament, since they would be used for the early repayment of borrowing in the framework of Next Generation EU.

Main message of the President of the European Parliament: President Metsola, while ‘welcom[ing] the deal that we have just reached on Ukraine’ and taking note of the MFF agreement, stressed that Parliament still needed to scrutinise the details. She nevertheless criticised the European Council’s reduction of funding for important programmes for EU citizens, notably the European Health Union and Horizon Europe, and told EU leaders that funding in these areas ‘should be boosted not reduced’. She emphasised the importance of having an agreement at 27 and the support for Ukraine included in the EU budget. She reiterated the Parliament’s role as budgetary authority and called for an EU budget that is ‘fit for purpose’.

Ukraine

Next to the economic support to Ukraine addressed by the MFF revision, Charles Michel had underlined the need to ‘urgently address‘ military assistance to Ukraine during the summit. Ahead of the meeting, the leaders of Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Czechia and Estonia issued a letter calling for the EU to increase its military support and arms deliveries to Ukraine, both in the short and long term, a call applauded by other leaders – for instance, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Likewise, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed the EU’s need to support Ukraine with ‘whatever it takes‘, amid concerns of changes in America’s support. Back in March 2023, EU leaders had committed to delivering one million artillery rounds of standard 155mm calibre to the Ukrainian military by March 2024. However, ahead of the meeting. High Representative/VP Josep Borrell announced that that goal would not be met, with only around 500 000 pieces expected to be delivered by that date. Thus, EU leaders stressed the need to speed up the delivery of ammunition and for the Member States to examine different ways of achieving this.

An agreement still needs to be found in the Council on the High Representative’s proposal for an additional Ukraine Assistance Fund within the European Peace Facility, which the Ukrainian President also emphasised as a key priority in his address to the EU leaders. As Charles Michel stressed after the meeting, ‘we refer in the conclusions to the proposal on the table … €5 billion on a yearly basis and €20 billion in total, and call for an agreement by March 2024′. At the press conference, the Commission President stated that, since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the EU and its Member States had supported the Ukrainian army with military equipment worth €28 billion.

Furthermore, EU leaders welcomed the first agreement on the use of profits from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, which were highlighted as a potential financial source for the Ukraine Reserve and, as Charles Michel underlined, will be further explored. Michel also stressed the need to ensure the effectiveness of EU sanctions on Russia, and to avoid circumvention.

Main message of the President of the European Parliament: President Metsola welcomed the work aimed at increasing defence industrial capacity and the provision of one million ammunition rounds for Ukraine. Furthermore, she urged the Member States to agree on the new Ukraine Assistance Fund within the European Peace Facility, to ensure that Ukraine’s needs are met.

Other issues

Middle East

As envisaged by Charles Michel in his invitation letter, EU leaders exchanged views on the evolving situation in the Middle East, but did not adopt conclusions on the matter. The discussion took place just days after the preliminary ruling by the International Criminal Court, and amid an increasingly critical situation in the Red Sea. Reporting on the discussions, Michel said that EU leaders had underlined the need to avoid regional escalation, including in the Red Sea, and called for the unconditional release of the hostages, the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilians in Gaza, and the need to relaunch diplomatic negotiations on a two-state solution. During the meeting, the High Representative had briefed the European Council on EU foreign ministers’ discussions with regional actors the previous week and on his diplomatic efforts, including towards a future peace conference called for at the 26-27 October 2023 European Council meeting. The Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, had hoped to obtain EU support for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and underlined the need for diplomatic measures to end the conflict.

Main message of the President of the European Parliament: President Metsola urged EU leaders to agree on a common position so that the EU can talk with one voice, and to support calls for a ceasefire, the unconditional release of the hostages and the need for a two-state solution.  

Security and defence

Security and defence was not discussed at length, but leaders underlined the need to increase the EU’s overall defence readiness. This point was also raised by the Estonian and Latvian prime ministers ahead of the meeting, while the Commission President referred to progress on the expansion of production capacity during the post-meeting press conference. EU leaders will return to the issue of defence readiness and the development of the EU’s defence technological and industrial base at length at the March 2024 European Council meeting. On that occasion, the High Representative will present a European defence industrial strategy prepared together with the European Defence Agency and the European Commission following the European Council’s request from December 2023.

Agriculture

Against the backdrop of farmers’ and agricultural producers’ demonstrations in Brussels and elsewhere ahead of the European Council meeting, the topic was added to the agenda as a last-minute item. Charles Michel reported that the European Council discussed the current situation and reaffirmed the importance of the European common agricultural policy as one of the pillars of the European Union. The Commission President outlined a number of initial short-term measures for the agricultural sector, and informed EU leaders of her plan to bring together relevant stakeholders to hear their concerns, so as to integrate their views in the EU’s future priorities. President von der Leyen also announced her intention to address the issue of high administrative burden, with a specific proposal to be presented ahead of the next Agriculture Council meeting. She added that the reiteration by stakeholders in this sector, when meeting the Commission, of their commitment to the objective of climate neutrality by 2050 had reassured her. She indicated that the question of how to reach these goals would be part of a strategic dialogue which will feed into the long-term priorities of the next Commission. The European Council stated that it will keep the situation under review.

Treaty change

A topic that was missing again from the agenda of the European Council was the revision of the EU Treaties. On 22 November 2023, Parliament adopted a resolution asking the European Council to call a convention for the revision of the Treaties, with a view to giving citizens a stronger say and creating a more effective European Union. During the plenary debate on the resolution, the representative of the Spanish Council Presidency had indicated that the Presidency would submit the document to the General Affairs Council (GAC) so that it could be submitted, in turn, to the European Council. However, the topic had not been added to the agenda of the 12 December GAC in time for the European Council meeting of 14-15 December. Adopted at the 18 December Environment Council meeting without discussion, it could now be forwarded to EU leaders.

Read this briefing on ‘Outcome of the special European Council meeting of 1 February 2024‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.