EUROPEAN COUNCIL
THE PRESIDENT
Brussels, 17 May 2013
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It is my pleasure to invite you to the meeting of the European Council on 22 May 2013 in Brussels.
The aim of this European Council is to set the direction for future work on two issues of crucial
importance for Europe's economy and social cohesion: energy and taxation. Indeed, I intend for the
European Council to hold a number of such thematic discussions, to ensure that all of our policies
contribute fully to improving competitiveness, employment and growth. These debates will also
feed into a wide-ranging discussion on the Europe 2020 strategy in March next year.
After our traditional meeting with the President of the European Parliament, we will begin our working
lunch with an exchange of views on energy, starting with an introduction by José Manuel. Thanks to the
work of the Council, we have draft conclusions which strike the right balance and which provide useful
guidelines for further work by the ministers. This gives us an opportunity to have a strategic discussion
amongst ourselves on the key issue of energy policy and competitiveness, rather than going into detail
on the wording of the conclusions. To frame our debate, I should like to invite you to intervene on one
of the three following questions. To foster EU competitiveness, growth and jobs, what should be done at
the level of the EU to further increase energy efficiency? To further develop indigenous resources? And
to achieve a more predictable energy policy, as a prerequisite to attract the necessary investments into a
modern energy infrastructure? I am confident that your intervention will contribute to giving the
necessary orientation to our future work.
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