BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) – European Union leaders gathered in a centuries-old castle in the middle of their fractious continent Friday, hoping to find a sense of common objective again in the face of the planned departure of Britain and fundamental disagreements over everything from uncontrolled migration to the economy.
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“It’s absolutely clear that our procedures, our rules, described very precisely in our treaties, are to protect our interests, of the 27 countries, not the leaving country”, Tusk told a news conference in Bratislava after the first meeting of European Union leaders with Britain after the June 23 Brexit referendum.
Hollande said Britain’s vote to divorce with the European Union had triggered a crisis that threatened the bloc’s very existence.
“Europe can, must move forward as long as it has clear priorities: protection, security, prosperity and the future of the youth”, said French president Francois Hollande in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“There is a will among the member states, as we saw in the (pre-summit) talks, to work more single-mindedly and faster”, she said.
The weeks preceding the Bratislava summit have seen an endless array of regional meetings of government leaders, hoping to gather some critical mass to push through their views on how the European Union should be run in the future, along either geographical or ideological lines, or a mix of both.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country was one of the EU’s founders, insisted internal quarrels were not new.
While the message from the European Union was that free movement of people in Europe would remain, the main item on the agenda was migration from outside the bloc. “We have to make sure we can fix them”.
Years of economic and financial crisis have pushed up unemployment in many member states, while a spate of attacks by Islamist militants and a record influx of refugees from the Middle East and Africa have unsettled voters, who are turning increasingly to populist, anti-EU parties.
Concrete decisions are not expected in Bratislava, except for personnel and equipment to help Bulgaria protect its border with Turkey.
Some eastern member states hold a grudge against the commission for pushing through a mandatory relocation quota to distribute refugees among member states.
He added: “So I can not see any possibility of compromising on that very issue”. An agreement on the issue is expected to be reached next summer. “We are in a critical situation”, she said.
It’s all been fodder for the far-right. Uncertainty and even fear abound, and a strong vision for the future of the European project is needed to stop others weighing the benefits of heading for the exit door. How to deal with the euro’s problems remains divisive – on one-side pro-austerity countries led by Germany, on the other more socially-minded governments.
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“The temptation to say “I have done everything right and the European Union has done everything wrong” seems to be nearly irresistible among national politicians”, he says.
