European Council
The President
Brussels, 21 June 2017
Dear colleagues,
It is fair to say that we will meet in a different political context from that of a few months ago, when
the anti-EU forces were on the rise. The current developments on the continent seem to indicate
that we are slowly turning the corner. In many of our countries, the political parties that have built
their strength on anti-EU sentiments are beginning to diminish. We are witnessing the return of the
EU rather as a solution, not a problem. Paradoxically, the tough challenges of the recent months
have made us more united than before. But it is also thanks to your determination, that we have
preserved this unity. I thank you for this, and I ask for more. Our unity is precisely the reason why
we are in a much better place today, with the new-found optimism for the future.
However, we cannot be complacent or naïve. We have to prove to the people that we are capable
of restoring control over events which overwhelm and sometimes even terrify. Last year we agreed
that the EU will protect our people against security threats, illegal migration and uncontrolled
globalisation, 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.
Firstly, security. Terrorism remains a major threat. The recent attacks highlight the new wave of
home-grown radicalisation. Let me be honest: the EU will not replace national states in this fight,
because the policy response depends mainly on governments. But the EU can help to win this
fight. So far we have made progress on foreign fighters and returnees. Now it is time to step up
cooperation with the online industry. Terrorist propaganda makes its biggest impact within the first
few hours of being posted. We should therefore encourage the industry to develop tools that will
automatically detect and remove content that spreads terrorist material or incites to violence.
Given that Europe's security is our common responsibility, I would also like us to agree on the
need to launch Permanent Structured Cooperation in defence. For it to succeed, we will need your
ambitious commitments: from projects that develop our defence capabilities, to more demanding
tasks such as military operations. Decisions in this respect will demonstrate not only our
determination to invest more in Europe's security and defence, but also our responsibility for
transatlantic relations, at a time when it is needed on our side of the Atlantic as never before.
Every Member State should be invited to participate in the newly emerging defence cooperation
and no-one should be excluded. This cooperation can be the best example that we are not
promoting "different" speeds, but setting up a work method that should allow the whole EU to gain
the "right" speed.
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