THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Towards a new legislative term

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 70 Convention announcement is more necessary than ever, as decision-making must be improved among the EU27 or at least for a group of these countries, when appro- priate. On this occasion, the presidency was held by the Czech Republic which led the event very successfully. All 44 countries agreed that the next period would be presided over by a country which was not a member of the European Union, as in the case of Moldova, which held the session in its capital, Chisinau. The third Sum- mit would be held in the second half of 2023 in Spain. It was surprising that the fourth meeting was arranged to be held in the United Kingdom, despite vast doubts expressed by the British Government in the run-up to the first Summit, fearing that attendance would bind it to the European Union. The relevance of the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik (16th and 17th May) The Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe was held on 16th and 17th May in Reykjavik, attended by the main leaders. This was the fourth time that Heads of State had met since it was set up in 1949 and this Summit was particularly relevant as it was held in the wake of increased political, economic and diplomatic support achieved by Ukraine as a result of its president’s visits to major European capitals. This summit was held a few weeks before the second meet- ing of the EPC on 12th June in Moldova. Important decisions were taken at said meeting in relation to support for Ukraine, specifically agreeing to devise a census to record the damage caused by the aggression. This decision was approved by 41 Member States, not all the members of the Council of Europe, as Hungary, Serbia, Armenia and Azerbaijan all abstained. Other decisions were made concerning the Council of Europe in terms of human rights and cultural issues, More precisely, as presidents of the European Move- ment national councils, we signed an article published in Le Monde, written by Hervé Moritz, president of the French European Movement. In this article, we protest against Russian’s war of aggression on Ukraine and show our support for the country. Furthermore, we propose to strengthen the relationship between the European Union and the Council of Europe, specifically setting up a special Council of Europe court to address war crimes and crimes against humanity since the Rus- sian aggression against Ukraine. Most importantly, we propose to set up a register to receive and investigate complaints from Ukraine. Second EPC Summit at Mimi Castle, in Bulbaoca (Moldova) (12th June): a further step towards EPC consolidation Within the wave of meetings and declarations to sup- port Ukraine in the light of the Russian aggression in May and June, such as the Reykjavik meeting of the Council of Europe (15th and 16th May) or the G7 meet- ing in Hiroshima a few days later (19th-21st May), we should highlight the Second European Political Com- munity Summit (EPC), held in Mimi Castle, Bulbaoca, 50 km from Chisnau in Moldova. This meeting brought together the EPC’s 44 heads of state, following on from the first meeting which took place in Prague, Czech Re- public, in October 2022. This second meeting was vastly important in political terms, in my opinion, for at least five reasons: a) it gave continuity to the EPC Summits, meaning that the Prague Summit did not look like a one-off; b) Moldova has been a candidate to join the European Union since June 2022, also in a very complicated political situation due to threats from Russia, and so, hosting the EPC there demonstrates significant support for this country; c) all heads of state attended the summit, plus the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell; d) no formal conclusions were drawn at the Summit, although it covered topics such as security, energy and connec- tivity of communications, among others; e) Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, also attended and received a standing ovation. Great support for Ukraine was shown in the meeting. The EPC Summits became more relevant from Chis- inau onwards. Its significance is being consolidated