Remarks by President Donald Tusk following the tripartite social summit
Today's Tripartite Social Summit could not have been better timed. We needed this meeting to hear from the social partners on major political issues including Brexit i, trade policy and our work-plan for the months ahead reflected in the Bratislava Roadmap.
This was the first time the social partners met formally since the British referendum. There was whole-hearted agreement around the table as regards our approach to Brexit. I really appreciate social partners' strong and impartial position, especially when it comes to the support for our common rules and principles, namely the Single market and four freedoms. Today I saw that people who gathered here feel responsible not only for the interests of their organisations but also for Europe as a whole.
When it comes to the trade deal with Canada I would like to thank the social partners for their engagement and our rich discussion, during which I felt quite a wide support for CETA. On the other hand, it is clear for me and our social partners that in the age of globalisation, people expect trade agreements like TTIP or CETA to be safe for workers, consumers and companies. We have to understand all the doubts and reasons behind them in order to build public support for trade. Because, in the first place, these are the interests of our people that must be protected and respected, and I want to make it very clear.
As you know the challenge now is to find consensus to move forward with the CETA agreement, while addressing the concerns of Belgium. Negotiations are ongoing as we speak, because they have turned out to be politically more difficult than many expected. We know that some work is still needed and we fully respect that. Personally I hope that we will find a way forward on CETA during the European Council i.
This week leaders will also discuss trade defense instruments. For trade to be free, it needs to be fair. And this is why making progress on our trade policy also means having the right tools to defend Europe from unfair trading practices. We will do our best to make it happen.
Tomorrow we will also discuss migration. I am glad to say we are slowly turning the corner. Our actions are best seen on the Eastern Mediterranean route, where we observed a 98% drop in the influx of irregular migrants between September of last year and this year. Now we must reduce the flows across the Central Mediterranean route. To that end, we need to do more on returns of irregular economic migrants. Leaders will discuss this issue in more depth, while the High Representative will update us on the progress with the African countries. Concrete results are expected already in December.
Tomorrow we will also have a strategic discussion about Russia. The objective is to address our overall, long-term relations with this important neighbour. Looking ahead to the decisions we will need to take in December, our main asset in dealing with Russia remains our unity. To date, regardless of our differences, we have always managed to remain united. And we must continue to do so. This will also be crucial when it comes to Russia's role in Syria. Thank you.