PARIS (Sputnik) – EU countries need to use the upcoming summit in Slovakia to design a stage-by-stage plan of reforming the European Union following Brexit, French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday.
"What we want to do tomorrow is to elaborate the ‘Bratislava plan’, involving working calendar to move forward stage-by-stage and a ‘road map’. … We would like to make the summit useful for Europe… We should give Europeans a clear vision of their future, " Francois Hollande said at a press conference.
The EU leaders will convene in Bratislava on September 16 to discuss EU’s functioning after the UK's decision to leave the bloc. The summit is to be held without the UK prime minister, which attributes the informal status to the meeting as the United Kingdom will be considered the EU member until the divorce process starts with London’s formal notification in accordance with the Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty.
During the bilateral meeting held on Thursday, Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to make security, energy transition and work with the younger generation priorities of the summit in Slovakia's capital.
