European Council in Brussels 11-12 December 2008

The European Council met on 11 and 12 December and approved a plan for the recovery of the European economy, equivalent to approximately 1.5% of the European Union’s GDP (an amount corresponding to about 200 billion euros). This plan constitutes the common framework for the efforts undertaken by the Member States and the European Union to ensure their coherence and, thus, maximize their results. The European Council also reached an agreement on the package of measures regarding energy and climate change, which should allow this package to be finalized with the European Parliament by the end of the year. This decisive initiative will enable the European Union to fulfill the ambitious commitments made in this area in 2007 and to maintain its driving role in pursuing an ambitious and comprehensive global agreement in Copenhagen next year.
The European Council demonstrated its will, through concrete decisions, to give new impetus to the European Security and Defense Policy in order to meet the new challenges to its security. This policy, in compliance with the principles of the United Nations Charter and the decisions of the United Nations Security Council, will continue to develop in a fully complementary manner with NATO within the agreed framework of the EU-NATO strategic partnership and in respect of their respective decision-making autonomy and respective procedures. To this end, the European Council agrees with the analysis of the report on the implementation of the 2003 European Security Strategy and endorses the declarations adopted by the Council, which contain new objectives for strengthening and optimizing European capabilities in the coming years, and emphasize the EU’s willingness to act in the service of international peace and security by contributing concretely to the security of citizens.
Finally, the European Council discussed the points intended to address the concerns expressed during the referendum in Ireland (which concerns related to tax policy, family and social and ethical issues as well as the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) in relation to Ireland’s traditional policy of neutrality) and defined a process to enable the Lisbon Treaty to enter into force by the end of 2009.