EU to reevaluate need of in-person meetings

POLITICO reports that the EU leaders will be reevaluating the need for in-person meetings over the coming weeks, European Council President Charles Michel said Friday.

The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and the fact that three leaders were knocked out of this week’s summit because of infection risks catalysed this decision.

According to POLITICO, Michel defended his decision to call two face-to-face summits within the last two weeks, arguing that a sensitive discussion two weeks ago on tensions with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, and a high-stakes discussion on Brexit on Thursday, would have been impossible to accomplish via videoconference.

But he conceded that the steep rise in infection numbers would influence decisions on meetings going forward.

POLITICO