MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The meeting's agenda includes a wide variety of issues from local ones such as the bloc's security to the global issues including the fight against climate change.
"Last year we agreed that the EU will protect our people against security threats, illegal migration and uncontrolled globalization, and we must continue to deliver. Therefore, during the upcoming European Council, I want us to move further on our policy response in these three areas," European Council President Donald Tusk wrote in his invitation letter ahead of the meeting.
SECURITY AND DEFENCE
According to the summit agenda, the meeting's participants will discuss fighting against terrorism, an issue which has become especially acute in the wake of the numerous terror attacks which had struck the EU countries in recent months.
Combating online radicalization, which has been widely expanding recently, is another topic on the summit's agenda.
On June 14, Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs, and Civil Liberties of Malta Helena Dalli announced that the EU leaders would discuss the issues of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), EU military groups as well as the bloc's defense industry.
MIGRATION
With migration being one of the most acute issues in Europe since the outbreak of the refugee crisis in 2015, the EU heads are expected to assess the implementation of measures taken to curb the migration flow on the so-called Central Mediterranean route.
The summit agenda also showed that the European Council would discuss the reform of the common European asylum system, including the principles of responsibility and solidarity.
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the summit's discussion on migration would include issues such as external borders protection and the stabilization of the crises in the refugee-producing countries, specifically Libya.
STRENGTHENING OF ECONOMY
At the summit, the EU heads of state or government are also expected to adopt the country-specific economic recommendations and conclude the 2017 European Semester.
The issues related to the upcoming G20 meeting scheduled for July 7-8 in Hamburg and the vision for the digital economy and society in Europe are also on the summit's agenda.
ANTI-RUSSIA SANCTIONS AND MINSK AGREEMENTS
According to the summit agenda, the leaders are expected to sum up the implementation of the Minsk agreements on the ceasefire in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region brokered by the so-called Normandy Four group comprising France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.
On Monday, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said the sanctions expiring on July 31 were likely to be prolonged because there had been no real progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
CLIMATE CHANGE
After the high profile announcement by US President Donald Trump on Washington's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, the issue of the commitment to the deal is one of the highlights in the summit's agenda.
The EU leaders are expected to reaffirm their countries' commitment to the Paris Agreement and to leading the fight against climate change at the summit.
BREXIT
At the meeting, the leaders of 27 EU countries are expected to adopt the procedural arrangements for the relocation of the bloc's agencies which are currently located in the United Kingdom.
