The ordinary European Council of March, traditionally dedicated to economic issues, starts with the debate on Ukraine and the remote intervention of Volodymyr Zelensky, who updates the leaders on his phone call with Donald Trump.

The agenda also includes lunch with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, followed by an exchange on competitiveness and defense (the head of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, will also take part in the first point). The leaders, according to the draft conclusions, will give the green light to the European Commission's ReArm plan and the White Paper on defense, but will ask to continue "carrying forward" the work.

The issues still to be resolved (in practice the details of the plan, from the articulation of the value chains in a more or less Made in Europe key to the financing options) will be negotiated between now and June when the next European Council will be held, strategically placed in the aftermath of the NATO summit in The Hague, where the Alliance leaders will be called upon to agree on the new spending targets (probably around 3%).

To close the migration - not much is expected, except an acknowledgement of the work in progress - and then, at dinner, a first orientation debate on the new EU budget, given that the Commission will be called to present proposals this summer. The agenda is full and therefore it is not excluded that the summit could continue tomorrow.

(Online Union)

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