Employment, the economy and climate change are the main subjects on the agenda of the meeting of the European Council, chaired by Herman Van Rompuy, in Brussels on 25 and 26 March.

The EU heads of state and government will discuss the new strategy for jobs and growth that is to replace the Lisbon strategy. There is a clear need to re-launch the economy in order to protect the European social model. The summit is expected to determine the broad thrust of the new strategy.

Economic government and the coordination of policies will be another point of discussion, in particular divergences in competitiveness within the EU and externally as well as developments in the balance of payments.

The leaders will also discuss the follow-up to the United Nations' conference on climate change in Copenhagen in December. Its outcome did not reflect the ambition of securing global commitment to the goals that the Union has signed up to. They will see how to bring a new dynamic to the negotiation process to get it back on track.