By Anthony Fletcher - 14th December 2007
EU Summit: Gordon Brown was careful to spell out that the main theme of December’s summit was, for him, the need to move on from institutional change.
The UK prime minister repeated this point twice in his opening address to journalists on Friday evening.
“We agreed to move on from here,” he said. “We expect no changes in the future.”
He said that dealing with and adapting to global changes should now be Europe’s priority.
“We discussed global issues and I believe we made great progress,” he said.
“Citizens are now looking to Europe to make a difference in prosperity, security and the environment.”
He added that EU had an obligation over Kosovo. “After the failure of the troika, it is vital that the EU takes on its responsibilities,” he said.
UK foreign secretary David Miliband added that it was the EU’s view that Kosovo was Europe’s backyard.
Brown also defended his controversial decision to arrive at the Lisbon treaty signing three hours late yesterday, citing a prior engagement with the commons liaison committee.
“I was pleased to go to Lisbon and sign the treaty,” he said.
“We negotiated our ‘red lines’, ensuring that this was not a constitutional treaty. I’m excited about the future, where we will be addressing the big challenges; prosperity, jobs and the environment.”
UK foreign secretary David Miliband added that he had a feeling in Brussels of Europe “coming together” that was not apparent earlier in the year.
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