Who is at the EPC summit in Prague, and what are they discussing? | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
July 12, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2025
Who is at the EPC summit in Prague, and what are they discussing?

Europe

Reuters
06 October, 2022, 08:05 pm
Last modified: 06 October, 2022, 08:08 pm

Related News

  • EU to invest €1b in Bangladesh, plans to double
  • Israel may have breached EU agreement, bloc's foreign policy arm says
  • Trump calls for 50% tariff on EU, starting June 1
  • Cross-border assistance work only when individuals are safe on both sides: EU
  • BRAC and EU join forces to support humanitarian response in Cox’s Bazar

Who is at the EPC summit in Prague, and what are they discussing?

Reuters
06 October, 2022, 08:05 pm
Last modified: 06 October, 2022, 08:08 pm
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala welcomes France's President Emmanuel Macron at the Informal EU 27 Summit and Meeting within the European Political Community at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala welcomes France's President Emmanuel Macron at the Informal EU 27 Summit and Meeting within the European Political Community at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

The inaugural meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) takes place in Prague on Thursday, bringing together leaders from 44 nations of the continent, including the 27 member states of the European Union.

WHAT IS THE IDEA BEHIND THE EPC?

The new pan-European grouping was an initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, who sees it as an opportunity to structure dialogue on an equal footing between EU members and non-members on issues that confront them all.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The EPC includes several countries waiting to join the EU and the only one ever to leave the bloc, the United Kingdom, and it brings together nations on shores stretching from the Caucasus to the North Sea and the Mediterranean.

A key aim is to embrace EU candidate countries that are losing patience waiting for membership of the bloc, and in doing so counter attempts by Russia and China to gain influence in the continent's southern and eastern fringes.

The idea is also to keep Britain, a major military power, inside a European forum following its exit from the EU.

WHAT ISSUES WILL THE EPC SUMMIT ADDRESS?

The half-day meeting at the Prague Castle will start with roundtable discussions on threats to peace and security, and on the crises Europe faces on energy, climate, the economy and immigration. The leaders will then come together in the evening over dinner to review their conclusions.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the gathering would highlight Moscow's international isolation over the war in Ukraine, and was "a way of looking for a new order without Russia".

No formal communique is expected after the summit.

There will be a flurry of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss's decision to attend could facilitate a reset of ties between Brussels and London that have been frayed by post-Brexit wrangling over Northern Ireland.

WILL IT WORK AS A FORUM?

Borrell said in a blog ahead of the meeting that clarity is still needed on the EPC's core rationale, its final membership, its relationship with the EU, how it should take decisions and even whether it should have a budget of its own.

A charter of EPC principles could ultimately be drawn up.

However, some have already written off the EPC as just another talking shop that will struggle to agree on concrete policy deliverables.

EU officials helped organise the first meeting, and while Brussels is wary that the EPC will appear like an offshoot of the bloc if it continues to take the lead, getting things done would be harder if it doesn't.

Sceptics point out that there are just too many nations around the EPC table, several - such as Azerbaijan and Armenia, and Greece and Turkey - that are traditional rivals, and too much diversity of culture and politics to keep them united.

French officials retort that the G20 is just as diverse and manages to agree on issues such as international finance rules.

WILL THERE BE REGULAR MEETINGS OF THE EPC?

There are tentative plans to hold meetings of the EPC twice a year, and many expect Moldova or Britain to host the next ones. Future EPC meetings could be held among ministers of the member states, not just their leaders.

World+Biz

EPC / European Political Community (EPC) / EU

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photo: TBS
    Mother faked bomb threat on Biman flight to stop married son from flying to Kathmandu with girlfriend: RAB
  • Caught between a rock and a hard place. Cartoon: TBS
    Bangladesh's Trump tariff dilemma: Caught between a rock and a hard place?
  • Screengrab blurred
    Mitford killing: Another arrested, case to be transferred to Speedy Trial Tribunal

MOST VIEWED

  • Representational image
    In addition to 35% tariff, US demands 40% local value addition for 'Made in Bangladesh' goods
  • Screengrab blurred
    Killers bash in head of man with rock, stomp body with perverse pleasure
  • How tender rules and a lone bidder stall a $2.5b power plant
    How tender rules and a lone bidder stall a $2.5b power plant
  • Economist Abul Barkat; Photo: Courtesy
    Economist Abul Barkat arrested in graft case
  • Photo: UNB
    WHO's Saima Wazed Putul 'placed on indefinite leave' amid corruption allegations: Health Policy Watch
  • After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients
    After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

Related News

  • EU to invest €1b in Bangladesh, plans to double
  • Israel may have breached EU agreement, bloc's foreign policy arm says
  • Trump calls for 50% tariff on EU, starting June 1
  • Cross-border assistance work only when individuals are safe on both sides: EU
  • BRAC and EU join forces to support humanitarian response in Cox’s Bazar

Features

After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

18h | Panorama
Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

1d | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

1d | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Bangladesh-US tariff talks unresolved

Bangladesh-US tariff talks unresolved

1h | TBS Stories
Putul on indefinite leave after four months in 2 ACC cases

Putul on indefinite leave after four months in 2 ACC cases

1h | TBS Stories
Asian economies devastated by Trump's tariffs

Asian economies devastated by Trump's tariffs

2h | TBS World
Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

16h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net