European Council
The President
Brussels, 15 May 2018
Dear colleagues,
Following Prime Minister Borissov's kind invitation, we will meet in Sofia tomorrow for an informal
working dinner ahead of the EU-Western Balkans Summit. As planned, our discussion will focus
on innovation and the digital economy
–
two themes of strategic reflections under the Leaders'
Agenda. The enclosed Note outlines the main issues at stake to guide our discussion. You will be
invited to reflect on two questions:
What should be done at the EU level to support and boost
breakthrough and disruptive innovation? How can the EU become a major player in the field of big
data?
This will be an open debate, without written conclusions at this stage. However, as always, it
will help to steer the European Council decisions in June.
During our meeting, we will also reflect on recent global developments, in particular following
President Trump's announcements on Iran and trade as well as the latest, dramatic events in
Gaza.
As regards the US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, I will ask the three leaders who
are signatories to the agreement, that is Prime Minister May, Chancellor Merkel and President
Macron, to present their assessment of the situation following the US withdrawal. I would like our
debate to reconfirm without any doubt that as long as Iran respects the provisions of the deal, the
EU will also respect it. This is the line already discussed by our foreign ministers and presented by
the United Kingdom, Germany and France, who are working hard to sustain the deal. We should
also get an update from High Representative Mogherini, while President Juncker will share his
thoughts on how the interests of the European companies engaged in economic cooperation with
Iran can be best preserved.
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