Special Report: Global Financial Crisis
BRUSSELS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Heads of state and government from the 27 European Union (EU) nations start to gather here on Wednesday, trying to contain the unfolding global financial crisis and save confidence in the banking sector.
The two-day summit is to be dominated by the economic and financial situation and the will for the EU to make an essential contribution to the international resolution of the turmoil.
It will also review the negotiations on the energy-climate package before the December EU summit, and define very specific avenues of work for improving Europe's energy security, according to the EU French presidency.
On the Treaty of Lisbon, the leaders and the president of the European Parliament will hear a progress report from Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen on the prospect of an agreement in December on the approach to take.
The summit will adopt the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, the basis of a real European immigration policy, one of the four priorities defined by the French Presidency.
The European Council will follow on from its extraordinary meeting of Sept. 1 on Russia and Georgia and will examine the EU's relations with its eastern neighbors.
