EU Post-Summit Takeaways – A Summit to be remembered?
The European Policy Centre’s (EPC) leading EU politics expert Janis A. Emmanouilidis gives Lénaïc Vaudin d’Imécourt an exclusive post-summit analysis, following the 20-21 March 2014 European Summit.
As predicted, the Ukraine crisis dominated the agenda of the meeting. According to Emmanouilidis, EU leaders sent strong messages on the need to de-escalate the situation, on their refusal to accept the annexation of Crimea, and on their readiness to discuss the issue with Russia.
In light of the current situation, leaders paid special attention to the EU’s dependence on Russian energy supplies and tasked the Commission with presenting a concrete action plan regarding energy security by June of this year.
However, regarding industrial competitiveness and climate, leaders did not show the same resolve as no substantial results were reached.
The European Policy Centre (EPC) is an independent, Brussels-based think tank focusing on European integration providing high-quality analysis on the EU policy agenda. The EPC has a strong multi-constituency approach. Its members include private companies, business federations, trade unions, public institutions and NGOs.
Janis A. Emmanouilidis has worked as the EPC’s Senior Policy Analyst since 1999, and was recently promoted to Director of Studies. His publications cover the EU’s overall political and institutional development, the sovereign debt crisis, EU integration, EU foreign policy as well as EU enlargement. Emmanouilidis also acts as an advisor to various governments, EU institutions, political parties and NGOs.
