EUMed Summit ‘Athens 2016’ to Focus on Economic Policy, Security, Migration

The development of a new European vision to address common challenges in the EU Member States is among the main goals of the Mediterranean EU Countries’ Summit that will take place on Friday, September 9, at the Zappeio Hall in Athens.

According to a statement issued by the press office of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the purpose of the summit is to strengthen ties among the Mediterranean EU Member States ahead of the EU leaders’ summit in Bratislava, Slovakia, next Friday, September 16.

The EUMed summit in Athens will see the leaders of Cyprus, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Greece discuss the “common challenges” of economic policy, security and migration.

Participating in the summit will be the President of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiadis, the President of France Francois Hollande, the Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi, the Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat, the Prime Minister of Portugal Antonio Costa, the Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras and the State Secretary for European Affairs, Fernando Eguidazu, representing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

According to Greek daily Kathimerini, in terms of economic policy, Greece will be calling for growth-friendly measures, better use of EU funds and protecting workers’ rights. On the issue of migration, Athens is to call for more support for the EU-Turkey agreement.