European Council, 15-16 October 2026

Agenda highlights


EU leaders are meeting in Brussels for a two-day summit.

In the face of increasing geopolitical uncertainty, the leaders will focus on issues relating to the economy and on delivering answers to challenges to European competitiveness, including energy prices.

The leaders will also discuss the EU's long-term budget 2028-2034, continued support for Ukraine, hybrid attacks in Europe linked to Russia, migration, enlargement and reforms and the situation in the Middle East.

Invitation letter by President António Costa to the members of the European Council (press release, 8 October 2026)

Competitiveness and global economic challenges

On energy prices, EU leaders will provide guidance to the Commission on targeted and temporary short-term measures to alleviate the impact of high energy prices, protecting EU citizens and businesses. They will also discuss Europe's long-term strategy to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.

The leaders will also review progress on the 'One Europe, One Market’ agenda, including its implementation in 2026 and 2027.

We need to ensure that additional progress is made, so that the ambition at leaders' level – and the expectations that have been raised – are matched by concrete outcomes.

President Costa

They will further discuss ways to reduce global macroeconomic imbalances that are affecting European industry.

What the EU is doing to boost its competitiveness (background information)

IN FULL: Julian Assange makes first public statement since prison release

Interview by Paul M.G. Levy on the creation of the European flag. 1995

We are all Jesuits

Derk Jan Eppink // Wed, 10. Oct 2012

There are plenty of reasons to keep a close eye on Herman van Rompuy, the President of the European Council. Early September, Van Rompuy spoke to the 'Interreligious Dialogue' in Florence. The world press did not notice, but fortunately there was still the 'Katholiek Nieuwsblad' from Den Bosch, Rome's last resort in the Netherlands. The newspaper proudly quoted Van Rompuy as announcing: 'We are all Jesuits'. He was referring to those prominent European leaders with whom he is developing the architecture for the future Europe. 'It creates unbreakable ties. So there is a 'Jesuits International''.

Who are those people that Van Rompuy, himself schooled by the Jesuits at Sint-Jan Berchman College in Brussels, was talking about? First of all, there is José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. Secondly, there is Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime minister of Luxembourg and Chairman of the Euro group. Van Rompuy also mentions the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, who was schooled in the Roman Jesuit College Instituto Massimiliano Massimo. The Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and his Spanish collegue Mariano Rajoy have also been shaped by Jesuit colleges, Van Rompuy cheerfully added. Fortunately there is Angela Merkel, the stubborn daughter of a vicar from the former DDR, to act as a counterweight.

Listening to Van Rompuy, you will instantly notice the similarities of the Jesuits with Europe. Jesuits formed the vanguard of the Catholic Church, like the European elite is the vanguard of the European integration. Both portray themselves as 'the elite', elevated above the ordinary people. Their methods are very similar. A sophisticated lie or purposeful deception is allowed when framed in the interest of the greater goal. A barely contained cynicism typifies the attitude toward the normal citizen, the ignorant fool, who within a democracy needs to be protected from himself. The Catholic and European elites work through inner circles. The rest is prose. Van Rompuy, Barroso, Monti and Rajoy are frequent visitors at papal audiences.

It is not surprising that this mentality leaves traces in the European structures and working methods. The ECB has a Governing Council of twenty three members, among which are the six members of the Executive Board. The ECB setup is hardly different from the Vatican. The Governing Council ranks no women, is not accountable to a Parliament and the minutes of its meetings are classified. The American Federal Reserve Bank and the Bank of Japan have to publish the minutes from their board meetings. The ECB plays a central role in the Euro zone, moving around billions of Euros, but no one knows how the bank in Frankfurt makes decisions. At least the Pope had a butler exposing the secrets.

Admittedly, Euro Jesuits are intellectually superior. They are way smarter than Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Liberal fraction in the European Parliament and his Green counterpart Daniel Cohn-Bendit. In their book ‘For Europe!’ they scream their goals at the top of their lungs: a federal Europe with one government, one European tax and one army. The only thing that is missing is one secret service and one leader, so Europe is back to where it started. Put this to a referendum and the ‘United States of Europe’ is limited to Italy and Belgium.

Even sillier is the ‘final report’ of a handful of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the future of Europe. The report is signed by eleven out of the twenty seven Member States; a minority, among them the Netherlands. The usual suspect, the UK, did not sign and neither did Sweden or Finland. Of the new Member States, only Poland signed. The conclusion of the group: ‘The Euro is the most powerful symbol of European integration’. The many rescue operations and emergency funds are conveniently ignored. Some amongst the eleven Ministers (it is not clear which ones) argue in favour of a European army. Such an army will undoubtedly be a paper tiger, because the armies of the Euro countries are shrinking rapidly as a result of the crisis. Surprisingly, Greece spends the most on its military per capita! Yet Greece did not sign. In short, these eleven ministers, like a disoriented soccer team, excel at scoring in their own net.

That is something that would never happen to the Euro Jesuits. Their report ‘Toward a genuine Economic and Monetary Union’ only consists of ‘building blocks’ and ‘suggestions’.  The report suggests implementing a European deposit guarantee scheme. Nothing dramatic of course, it is just a suggestion. In a painless exercise of words citizens are moulded into a thinking process that goes beyond them. As soon as they realise what building those building blocks are meant to create, they are already trapped in it. What used to be suggestions will be fait accompli and those who object are labelled as unreasonable and fractious, as populists.

Meanwhile, the never elected Prime Minister Monti has announced that he will start a European campaign against ‘populism’. Van Rompuy, also never elected, immediately gave him his support. Monti had earlier stated that national parliaments should not get in the way of European leaders, thereby referring to the German Bundestag. They have to be ‘educated’. Jesuits lead the people, who are in turn supposed to follow. What is populism to them? It is the ‘ignorent’ who refuses to follow: the angry Greeks, the protesting Spaniards, the concerned Germans and the Euro-critical Dutch. A Europe with such an elitist mentality needs a Reformation, but that is something Jesuits International detests. What an annoying populist he was, that Martin Luther!

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Council of Europe alerts against pressure and attacks on new media,..

[8 December 2011] Council of Europe alerts against pressure and attacks on new media, whistleblowers and human rights defenders websites The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers alerted its member states about the risks to the rights to freedom of expression and association that may be created by politically motivated pressure on Internet platforms and online service providers. It also expressed concern about the threat to these rights caused by cyber attacks against websites of independent media, whistleblowers, human rightdefenders and dissidents. In a Declaration the Committee of Ministers stressed the need to affirm the roles of these actors as facilitators of the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association. It also stated that human rights standards should be applied in situations were there is interference with Internet content and with access to websites hosting it, as well as with online community interactions. _________________________________________________________________________________

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"Our Internet - Our Rights, Our Freedoms"

"Our Internet - Our Rights, Our Freedoms"  Towards the Council of Europe Strategy on Internet Governance 2012 - 2015 Vienna Diplomatic Academy, 24 and 25 (a.m.) November 2011

The background to and aim of the Conference - which is open to people with a professional interest in the Internet - is the elaboration of a new four-year Council of Europe strategy to advance the protection and respect for human rights, rule of law and democracy on the Internet. Internet Governance 2012-2015 - Draft Council of Europe StrategyPreliminary draft prepared by the Secretariat of the Council of Europe for discussion during the Conference “Our Internet – Our Rights, Our Freedoms”  Hosted and organised by the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria together with the Council of Europe, the themes of the Conference, discussed in panel sessions, include Internet and democracy, privacy standards, is harm to the Internet’s functioning also harming human rights, fighting cybercrime, protecting and empowering children, what are governments’ responsibilities in protecting human rights on the Internet, and developing a charter of Internet rights to empower and enable citizens online.

Meeting venue: Diplomatic Academy of Vienna The Diplomatic Academy is a postgraduate professional school, dedicated to preparing talented university and college graduates for international careers and positions of leadership in international organizations and the EU. The main training areas encompass international relations, political science, international and EU law, economics, history and languages.

© Diplomatic Academy Vienna

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Council of Europe Conference in Vienna

Press release - DC 130(2011)

Strasbourg/Vienna, 16.11.2011 – A high level conference organised by the Council of Europe and the Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs of Austria on the theme “Our Internet – Our rights, Our freedoms” will take place in Vienna on 24 and 25 November.


Council of Europe member states, the private sector, parliamentarians, civil society and the Internet community will look for ways to give better protection to human rights, democracy and the rule of law online.

• What are the legal standards needed to protect privacy online effectively?
• How can interference or harm to the Internet affect rights such as freedom of expression and information?
• What are the next steps in fighting cybercrime?
• How should children be empowered to use the Internet safely?
• How can users be empowered to exercise their rights

The conference will contribute to defining the Council of Europe strategy on Internet governance for the period 2012-15, currently being prepared. ( Draft Council of Europe Internet governance strategy).

Michael Spindelegger, Austrian Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for European and International Affairs, Thorbjørn Jagland, Council of Europe Secretary General, and Edward Vaizey, Minister of Culture, Communication and Creative Industries of the United Kingdom, will open the conference at 9.00 on 24 November.

Fergus O´Dowd, Minister of State of the NewEra Project of Ireland, Richard Allan, Director of Policy of Facebook in Europe, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, representing Openleaks, and Simon Hampton, Director of European Public Policy of Google, will speak at an opening session on the role of the Internet as a catalyst of political change. Nik Gowing, international journalist and broadcaster, BBC, will both actively participate in and moderate this Political Panel Session.

Practical information: The meeting, which will be held at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy (Favoritenstraße 15a, 1040 Vienna, Austria), is open to the press. You are requested to submit your accreditation request to pk-anmeldungen@bmeia.gv.at before 23 November. Accreditations will also be possible on the spot.


The conference will be webcast on bmeia-webtv.ots.at/live and at the Conference website.
Programme

Press contacts:

Federal Ministry of European an International Affairs of Austria:

Sonja Linskeseder; sonja.linskeseder@bmeia.gv.at; Tel.: +43 (0) 501150 3315

Stephanie Jakobitsch; stephanie.jakobitsch@bmeia.gv.at; Tel.: +43 (0) 501150 3720

Council of Europe:

Jaime Rodríguez; jaime.rodriguez@coe.int; mob. +33 (0) 6 89 99 50 42

Council of Europe Directorate of CommunicationTel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11

pressunit@coe.int
www.coe.int

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