The December European Council 2017: Institution Wars
Expectations for the last EU summit for the year ran high. This was supposed to be the summit that would have at least the same, or even bigger ambition than the 2012 June European Council, when crucial decisions for the development of the euro area were taken. Instead, the summit was reduced to a Christmas party for the leaders.
Nevertheless, there were several things that will make this summit worth remembering. It was the first that worked on Donald Tusk's Leaders' Agenda, which is both a failure and success. Two were the discussions on the agenda for December - migration and the future of the euro area.
The 14-15 December summit was also the first to take decisions on rolling sanctions against Russia in full unity an without any disputes.
It was at this summit that, for the first time ever, official conclusions were adopted on education and culture. This issue has never before reached the EU top political level.
This summit also put formally an end of phase one of the Brexit negotiations.
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