Europaudvalget 2012-13
Det Europæiske Råd 7-8/2-13 Bilag 6
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EUROPEAN COUNCIL
THE PRESIDENT
Brussels, 5 February 2013
&addressee
&form of address
It is my pleasure to invite you to the meeting of the European Council on 7 and 8 February 2013 in
Brussels.
The main purpose of this meeting will be for us to agree on the next Multiannual Financial
Framework (MFF). It is indeed becoming urgent for the MFF to be adopted if we want future EU
policies and programmes to run smoothly and deliver their potential for growth and jobs as of next
year. We should use the momentum that was brought into this difficult file by our constructive
discussions in November last year. In the meantime my team and I have been in very close contact
with all of you or your collaborators, and I am confident that with some adaptations the proposal
I made on 22 November can constitute the basis for a deal in the European Council.
Rue de la Loi 175 - 1048 Bruxelles - BELGIQUE
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After our traditional meeting with the President of the European Parliament Thursday at 15h, I will
therefore immediately begin our first working session by explaining what adjustments I believe are
necessary for a good compromise to be made. I want to focus our discussion first on the overall
amounts of expenditures and on the revenue side, so as to reach a common understanding on the
overall framework. Your collaborators will simultaneously be briefed on the more techncial details
at a meeting convened by my Head of Cabinet starting at 15h. The European Council will continue
its discussions over dinner, which will be starting early (at 18h30).
Coming to Friday, the next point on our agenda is trade: I see this very much as part of our
comprehensive growth strategy. As was recognised in our Compact for Growth and Jobs, trade must
be better used as an engine for growth and job creation. While we remain committed to further
developing the multilateral trading system, our immediate focus has to be on our bilateral trade
agenda, which offers the Union interesting prospects over the coming months. I will ask José
Manuel Barroso to introduce the topic and to brief us on latest developments. Furthermore, two
years after the start of the Arab Spring, it is a good moment for the European Council to take stock
of events in our Southern Neighbourhood. In this context, I will say a word about the conclusions
I drew from my recent trip to the region. Finally, we will look at the situation in Mali.
In the light of the work carried out by the General Affairs Council, as well as the discussions last
week in the Foreign Affairs Council, we should be able to rapidly adopt our conclusions on Friday.
&salutations
H. VAN ROMPUY