“To build a more competitive, safer and more autonomous Europe for our citizens, and to ensure that the European Union can be an effective, predictable and reliable global actor”. These are the – ambitious – goals for the EU’s future outlined by Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, in an invitation letter to the upcoming summit on 26-27 June in Brussels addressed to the 27 Heads of State or Government. “The interplay between a challenging international context and our internal economic priorities, such as deepening the Single Market, is more important than ever. That is why I want us to discuss the geoeconomic challenges we are facing”. The focus should therefore be on global economic developments and relations with key partners. “We will address – President Costa added – several other priorities. Starting with defence and security, the decisions we have taken in our meetings in March are bearing fruit: we are building the Europe of defence. Now we must stay the course and accelerate progress towards Europe’s common defence readiness by 2030. […] Going forward, we must be guided by a collective approach to defence and security, and a focus on efficient spending. Our debates will factor in the NATO Summit taking place on the eve of our meeting”.