European Council Conclusions - Brussels, 30 August 2014

The European Union heads of State and Government, who met in Brussels in an extraordinary Summit, reached an agreement on the nominations for two important positions within the framework of the European institutions. It was decided that the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will take over to Van Rompuy as President of the European Council from 1st December with a two years and a half assignment (May 31, 2017), and he will also be the Chairman of Euro Summit. Italian Federica Mogherini was appointed as High Representative for the common foreign and security policy of the EU; she will replace the British Catherine Ashton at the end of the current Commission's mandate until 31st October 2019. The appointment will become effective following the vote of approval by the European Parliament on the establishment of the new EC (Chairman and Commissioners). The European Council reiterated the guidelines set out in the conclusions of the Summit of last June concerning the European semester and the actions to be taken to stimulate jobs and growth, in the light of the current economic situation of the Union. Finally,  EU leaders dealt with foreign policy, with particular attention to the situations in Ukraine, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Gaza and also treated the problem of Ebola. For more information, please consult the following link.