Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, will chair a discussion tonight (10 December) between national governments on the future of EU summits.
Although the Lisbon treaty, which created the post of full-time president of the European Council, came into force on 1 December, Van Rompuy will not take office until 1 January. He will, however, attend the dinner on the first evening of the two-day summit that begins this afternoon.
Formal recognition
Leaders will be discussing the procedure for deciding who can attend summits apart from EU leaders. The Lisbon treaty gives formal recognition to the European Council, whose members are designated as the heads of state or government of the 27 member states. The president of the European Commission and the high representative for foreign and security policy are also invited to attend. But this format prevents other ministers attending in the absence of a decision to invite them.
The Swedish government, which is organising today's summit as holder of the EU's rotating presidency, has irritated some governments, notably Spain, by applying a strict interpretation of the Lisbon treaty's rules on European Councils and not inviting foreign ministers.
Summit focus
The leaders will discuss the mechanisms for deciding whether to invite other ministers to EU summits and which ministers. For example, the March European Council usually focuses on economic issues so it would make sense for finance or economics ministers to attend. Where summits focus on climate change or energy policy, ministers responsible for those policy areas might be invited.
At the summit EU leaders will also discuss how to increase the number of MEPs by 18 to 754 before the next European Parliament elections. Spain, which would gain four MEPs, wants to start making the necessary change to the treaty by convening a new intergovernmental conference. But other countries, which have just completed lengthy ratification procedures or faced difficult referendum votes on the Lisbon treaty, are resisting attempt to start the process quickly.
