Interim President Ilie Bolojan will participate, on Thursday and Friday, in the European Council meeting and the Euro Summit held in an inclusive format, which will take place in Brussels, the Presidential Administration announced.

According to the source, on the sidelines of the European Council meeting, a working meeting will be held on Thursday with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, during which an exchange of views will take place on current global challenges, from the perspective of multilateralism, ocean issues and the situation in the Middle East.

'A main point on the meeting's agenda (European Council) refers to ensuring European competitiveness, with three priority areas identified for debate: simplifying and reducing the administrative burden, strengthening the energy market, and the Union of economies and investments. Action Plans for the automotive and steel sectors will also be discussed,' the quoted source mentions.

Issues regarding competitiveness will also be addressed at the Euro Summit, where leaders will discuss proposals regarding the mobilisation of private economies, with the intention of highlighting the importance of completing the Capital Markets Union and the Banking Union as priority aspects in advancing a Union of savings and investments.

Continuing the discussions held at the extraordinary European Council meeting on March 6, leaders will address the latest developments regarding support for Ukraine, as well as aspects related to the European defence dimension. The Presidential Administration points out that the presentation of the White Paper on the future of European defence by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is expected. This document will outline a common vision on the economic and financial aspects of EU defence.

At the European Council meeting, an exchange of views will also take place regarding developments in the Middle East, particularly the situation in Gaza and Syria, and progress in managing migration will be assessed, based on decisions made at the European Council meeting in October 2024.

'The meeting will offer the opportunity for an initial exchange of views on the future Multiannual Financial Framework, with the intention of identifying the resources needed for the Union to achieve its objectives and understanding the role of new own resources in the next budgetary exercise. The goal is for this discussion to contribute to preparing the European Commission's proposals for the package that will be presented before summer,' the quoted source shows.

On Thursday morning, interim President Ilie Bolojan will also attend the EPP Summit, during which the agenda of the European Council meeting will be discussed. On this occasion, he will have two bilateral meetings with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

Interim President Ilie Bolojan consulted with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Tuesday regarding the agenda of the European Council in Brussels.

'We discussed the main topics on the agenda: increasing European competitiveness, simplification and deregulation, energy, economic development, investments and the need to invest in defence. We agreed on the position we will support, so that what we commit to will be put into practice,' Ilie Bolojan wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Florentina Peia; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)