Revival or Survival of the EU - What to Expect from Informal Summit

Novinite is publishing an article authored by Miroslav Lajčák, Slovakia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of the forthcoming informal EU Summit in Bratislava on Septemer 16, Friday.

Slovakia is currently holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

All eyes are being directed to Bratislava this week. The leaders of 27 EU member states will meet in the Slovak capital to discuss what to do with the European project.

The European Union is battered by a number of crises. The effective answer to them does not lie in succumbing to pessimism, tolerating or even enhancing fragmentation and accepting defeatism. Neither can it be found in denying the problem and postponing the treatment. Europe deserves the right diagnosis.

I expect, and I am convinced, that the upcoming informal summit in Bratislava will start the process of identifying what went wrong in the EU and defining what kind of EU we want to have and build after the United Kingdom leaves the club. It shall also shed some light on the way forward and outline the direction we want to go. Things we want to improve. Reforms we are willing to make. I hope the summit will start a process of Europe's fresh revival - otherwise we will have to fight for EU´s survival.

As a promoter of positive European agenda, the Slovak EU Presidency would like the summit to focus foremost on issues and projects which unite us rather than divide us. We should not end up in a vicious circle of endless discussions about EU´s problems. We want to prevent scepticism from taking over the mood in Europe. Quite to the contrary. We must send a clear message to our people and to the world that the EU27 is still strong, united, able to reach agreement and...