国际英语资讯:Spotlight: EU summit concludes but debate on EU future, unity continues_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: EU summit concludes but debate on EU future, unity continues

EU leaders were meeting for the first time in the Europa building, a new 321-million-euro (341 U.S. dollars) summit venue in Brussels decorated so as to symbolize the "united patchwork" of Europe.

However, when the bloc approached the subject of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which paved the way of European integration, the debate on which path the post-Brexit EU should follow became increasingly fierce.

Some EU member states, such as France, Germany, Spain and Italy are calling for a multi-speed Europe, wherein some members could deepen their integration faster than others. However, the bloc's eastern members, who fear they will be excluded from deeper integration in the future, are against the idea.

The divergence was also seen between the EU institutions. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said a multi-speed EU scenario was not going to create an "iron curtain" in Europe.

"(For) some of our colleagues, this (multi-speed Europe) is seen as introducing a new dividing line, a new kind of iron curtain between the east and west. That's not the intention," Juncker said at a press conference with Tusk on Friday.

However, Tusk, who chaired the debate on Friday, urged EU member states to strive towards maintaining political unity after Brexit.

"When discussing the various scenarios for Europe, our main objective should be to strengthen mutual trust and unity among 27," Tusk said at the press conference.