European Council of 23 October - Invitation letter by President António Costa to the members of the European Council 11:30 European Council President António Costa invited[...]

Dear colleagues,

The European Council will meet on Thursday 23 October in Brussels. As usual, I aim for a one-day meeting, if our discussions allow it.

Russia continues its relentless attacks against Ukraine's civilians and civilian infrastructure. We will discuss how to step up our support to Ukraine, namely by reconfirming our commitment to provide financial support to the country for the coming years, and by considering possible options based on Russia's immobilised assets.

Russia is paying a high and mounting economic price for its aggression and we will take stock of our efforts to further increase the pressure on it. Both support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia remain the two necessary requirements to achieve a just and lasting peace. We will have the possibility to hear from President Zelenskyy at the beginning of the discussion about Ukraine.

On defence, we will build on the work done since our informal meeting in Egmont in February this year, and follow up on our recent fruitful discussions in Copenhagen, turning them into commitments and concrete decisions on capability projects and governance. The roadmap on defence readiness 2030, which will soon be presented by the Commission and the High Representative, will be a useful contribution to our discussions. We need to empower our Defence Ministers to ensure implementation and follow-up in the Council, and reinforce the European Defence Agency. Hybrid attacks and drone sightings near our critical infrastructures and hostile incursions in Member States' airspace are another demonstration of the urgency of accelerating work to achieve European common defence readiness by 2030.

Turning to competitiveness and the twin, digital and green, transitions, we will focus on three main topics in this European Council.

First, we need to step up our efforts to deliver on simplification. There has been progress so far but we need to move up a gear in cutting bureaucratic burdens and preventing new ones. Second, we need to have a strategic debate on how to reach our climate objectives and at the same time strengthen Europe's competitiveness. This means focussing on the framework that will support our industries and our citizens on the path to carbon neutrality in 2050. Third, we can only reap the rewards of the digital transformation if we can ensure Europe's sovereignty on digital matters. In light of global challenges, Europe needs to be able to assert its values, interests, and regulatory autonomy, to safeguard its digital infrastructure and technological base, strengthening its own open digital ecosystem, and to harness the full potential of tomorrow's technologies to strengthen Europe's competitiveness.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe will join us to discuss the economic situation in the framework of a Euro Summit in inclusive format. The Euro Summit will also focus on reinforcing the international role of the euro and, in this context, on the digital euro.

European citizens expect to enjoy the fruits of economic growth and prosperity. Access to affordable housing plays an important role in this context. However, in many Member States housing has become a growing social and economic concern, including for middle-income citizens and the younger generations. This is why I chose to bring this discussion to our agenda: to assess what can be done at European level to support and accompany efforts at national, regional and local levels to improve access to affordable and decent housing. Our discussion will also provide guidance for the Commission's upcoming European Affordable Housing Plan.

When it comes to the situation in the Middle East, peace seems to be within reach in Gaza after two years of war and human suffering. In light of the latest developments, we will discuss how the EU can support the ongoing efforts toward a just and lasting peace, firmly anchored in the two-state solution, as well as the reconstruction of Gaza.

As we have done in the past, we will revert to the important topic of migration to ensure that work continues at a high pace on all priority files. We can expect a letter from President von der Leyen to inform our discussion.

We will start our meeting on Thursday at 10:00, with our traditional exchange of views with the President of the European Parliament.

I am looking forward to seeing you in Brussels.

• Invitation letter