Outcome of the European Council meeting of 27 June 2024

Written by Ralf Drachenberg and Rebecca Torpey.

The European Council took two important decisions on 27 June for the new institutional cycle: one on the EU’s institutional leadership, the other on the EU’s political priorities for the next five years. EU leaders elected António Costa as the next European Council President, proposed Ursula von der Leyen as the candidate for Commission President, and nominated Kaja Kallas as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. They also adopted conclusions on Ukraine, the Middle East, security and defence, and competitiveness. Other topics addressed were migration, the Black Sea, Moldova, Georgia, hybrid threats, and the fight against antisemitism, racism and xenophobia. The European Council also agreed on a roadmap for future work on internal reforms.

General

As has become the practice, the European Council held an exchange of views with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and the European Union’s support for Ukraine and its people; this time, Zelenskyy attended the meeting in person.

Addressing EU leaders at the start of the meeting, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, discussed how to turn the messages deriving from the recent European elections into a political programme for Parliament. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was not able to attend and was represented by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

European Council meeting

Next institutional cycle

The European Council took two crucial decisions for the new institutional cycle, one on the EU’s institutional leadership, the other on the EU’s political priorities for the next five years.

High-level appointments

EU leaders agreed on the EU’s next institutional leadership. As widely anticipated ahead of the meeting, the package the European Council agreed upon includes: Ursula von der Leyen (Germany) for European Commission President; António Costa (Portugal) for European Council President; and Kaja Kallas (Estonia) for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP). In contrast to 2019, the agreement on the package was taken very swiftly.

As was the case for past European Council decisions on top jobs (e.g. in 2014 for the nomination of the Commission President, and in 2017 for the re-election of the European Council President), the candidates were not supported by all EU leaders. As announced, and as in 2014, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán did not support the package, nor did Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who abstained due to the selection process excluding her political family.

Following the practice to date, the new European Council President was also elected by the Heads of State or Government of the euro-area Member States as President of the Euro Summit for the same term. Thus, António Costa will be President of the Euro Summit from 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2027. He indicated that his main priority as European Council President would be to build unity between the Member States in order to put the new Strategic Agenda on track.

The newly composed European Parliament will complete the appointment process of the EU’s institutional leadership by electing its own President during its first session on 16-19 July. It is also expected to vote on the Commission President during that session, and then vote on the entire College of Commissioners in the autumn.

Main messages of the President of the European Parliament: President Metsola recalled that the Parliament remained firmly behind the lead candidate process. She informed the European Council that the leaders of the Parliament’s political groups would invite the nominee for President of the European Commission to discuss, on 2 July, a political programme reflecting the voters’ messages, and also ways of building the necessary majority in Parliament.

Strategic Agenda 2024-2029

In line with its Treaty-based role, which is to set the EU’s political priorities, the European Council adopted the Strategic Agenda 2024-2029. As flagged up by EPRS and outlined by the European Council President, Charles Michel, the Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 is built on three pillars: 1) ‘A free and democratic Europe’; 2) ‘A strong and secure Europe’; and 3) ‘A prosperous and competitive Europe’.

The Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 constitutes, on the one hand, an important shift in the European Union’s political priorities, but on the other shows a high degree of continuity in the topics included. The most obvious changes are the increased significance of security and defence, the addition of new elements on EU competitiveness and the salience of democracy, which is, for the first time, a headline priority. At the same time, many policy issues have been kept from the Strategic Agenda 2019-2024 (a detailed EPRS comparison of the old and new Strategic Agendas is forthcoming).

President von der Leyen stressed that the Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 provided an important input for the development of the next Commission’s political guidelines, which she will present to the European Parliament ahead of its vote on her candidacy for European Commission President.

Roadmap for future work on internal reforms

EU leaders set a roadmap for work on the reforms required to achieve the Union’s long-term objectives. They stressed that ‘this work should advance in parallel with the enlargement process, as both the Union and future Member States must be ready at the time of accession’. It envisages:

• an in-depth policy review by the Commission on i) values, ii) policies, iii) budget, and iv) governance, to be presented by spring 2025;
• the next Council presidencies taking the work of recent presidencies on the matter forward and presenting a follow-up report by June 2025;
• the European Council reviewing progress and giving further guidance in June 2025.

When discussing future internal reforms, the European Council did not refer to the results of the Conference on the Future of Europe, nor did it address the European Parliament’s formal request of 22 November 2023 calling for a Convention on the revision of the Treaties.

Ukraine

EU leaders’ discussions on Ukraine covered four main aspects. Following the significant increase in attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure, support for Ukrainian society was the first focal point. EU leaders urged increased support for Ukraine’s energy system, tasking the HR/VP and the Council to accelerate preparations for the winter. The European Council also welcomed the outcome of the recovery conference and – after the Council’s positive assessment of the Ukraine Plan – the distribution of €1.89 billion in pre-financing for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. EU leaders also welcomed initiatives towards the return of unlawfully deported Ukrainian children and civilians.

The second point was military support for Ukraine. EU leaders welcomed recent positive steps, notably the signing of joint security commitments between Ukraine and the EU as well as bilateral agreements with Member States and partners. As discussed at the G7 summit, Ukraine’s reconstruction as well as military support is to be financed in the form of loans paid by the revenue obtained from frozen Russia assets, and disbursed through the Ukraine Assistance Fund (UAF). The first tranche of €1.4 billion is to be released in the summer, followed by another billion euro by the end of the year. The European Council invited the Council, the Commission and the HR/VP to take work forward on this. Hungary has reportedly been blocking the funds, but the Council legal service argued that Hungary could not do so as it had abstained in the vote on the creation of the UAF.

Third, the European Council welcomed recent steps along Ukraine’s EU path, with the first intergovernmental conference (IGC) on its accession held on 25 June. This followed a European Council decision of December 2023 to open accession negotiations with Ukraine, and the approval of the negotiating framework by the Council on 21 June 2024. EU leaders also welcomed the outcome of the peace summit, and committed to increasing the EU’s push for broader international support for peace in Ukraine based on the UN Charter, international law and Ukraine’s peace formula. Lastly, the European Council welcomed the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, as well as progress on efforts to see Russia and its leadership held accountable for their war of aggression.

Middle East

The European Council reiterated its condemnation of the Hamas attack and restated Israel’s right to defend itself, while stressing the need to do so in compliance with international law. It also reminded Israel of the legally binding nature of the order of the International Court of Justice of 24 May 2024, urging it to halt military operations in Rafah and expressing deep concern about the consequences on civilians of the ground operation in Rafah. Given the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, the European Council reiterated calls for aid to reach Palestinians rapidly and unhindered. It condemned strikes on the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, and attempts to label the UN Relief and Works Agency as a terrorist organisation. EU leaders reiterated their condemnation of extremist settler violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, inviting the Council to take forward work against perpetrators. Furthermore, they condemned Israeli government decisions to further expand illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, and urged Israel to reverse these decisions.

The European Council welcomed the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution proposing a three-phase ceasefire deal, and called for its full and swift implementation. EU leaders also reiterated their commitment to sustainable peace based on a two-state solution; in that context, they called on Israel to stop actions that weaken the Palestinian Authority and to release withheld clearance funds. Meanwhile, following the escalating attacks on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border (due to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict), the European Council invited the Commission, the Council and the HR/VP to strengthen EU support to Lebanon, its armed forces and the UN force in Lebanon.

Security and defence

The European Council discussed urgent and medium-term European defence needs and defence initiatives, inviting the Council, Member States, the Commission and the HR/VP to take work forward on mobilising funds for defence initiatives. Several areas were highlighted: i) addressing critical capability gaps based on the capability development plan; ii) the European defence industry strategy; and iii) the European defence industry programme proposal (aiming for adoption by mid-2025). The Commission President reportedly presented three options to raise defence funding: i) increasing national contributions; ii) raising taxes; iii) EU borrowing/’eurobonds’. Chancellor Scholz (and The Netherlands) opposed the use of eurobonds and the refinancing of national defence budgets from the EU budget. In contrast, EU leaders welcomed the European Investment Bank’s security and defence action plan, calling for its swift adoption.

Competitiveness

Following its April conclusions calling for a new European competitiveness deal, the European Council stressed that ‘swift and decisive progress on all strands’ of the new deal was expected by the end of the year. Since April, the Council has adopted conclusions on the future of industrial policy and the future of the EU single market. However, the eagerly awaited report on EU competitiveness by former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has not been released (it will probably now be published in July).

Other items

As anticipated, the European Council invited the Commission and the HR/VP to prepare a joint communication on building an EU strategic approach to the Black Sea. In light of the challenges posed by Russia’s war against Ukraine and destabilising activities in the region, EU leaders reiterated their support for Moldova, and welcomed the first IGC, on 25 June, on the country’s accession to the EU. In parallel, the European Council discussed recent developments in Georgia, notably the transparency of the foreign influence law and the increasingly difficult situation for civil society representatives, political leaders, civil activists and journalists in Georgia. It urged Georgia to reverse its current course of action, and to ensure that the elections in the autumn are free and fair.

Read this briefing on ‘Outcome of the European Council meeting of 27 June 2024‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.