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I. JOBS, GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS
Single Market
1. The European Council calls for increased efforts to deliver, before the end of the current legislative cycle, on the Single Market strategy, the Digital Single Market strategy, the Capital Markets Union Action Plan and the Energy Union, including through the swift examination of recent Commission proposals. Decisions already taken must be implemented effectively. Looking beyond the completion and implementation of the strategies, the EU needs to keep working towards a future-proof and fair single market that is fit for the digital age and an enabler for competitiveness, innovation and sustainability. The European Council therefore invites the Commission to present to the Council, before the Leaders' Agenda discussion in December 2018, a state of play regarding the implementation, application and enforcement of existing legislation that is key for the functioning of the Single Market and an assessment of remaining barriers to and opportunities for a fully functioning Single Market. To reap the maximum benefits of the Single Market the EU needs a strong industrial policy.
Trade
2. The European Council reaffirms its commitment to an open and rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, firm in the belief that free and fair trade is one of the most powerful engines for growth, supporting millions of jobs and contributing to prosperity. The European Council encourages progress on all ongoing negotiations for ambitious and balanced free trade agreements, in particular with Mexico and Mercosur. It looks forward to the signature and conclusion of the agreements reached with Japan and Singapore. The Commission will examine how to strengthen the enforcement of commitments undertaken by third countries. The EU will continue to pursue a robust trade policy, to promote its values and standards globally and to seek a level playing field. In this context, the European Council calls on the co-legislators to make progress on the pending legislative proposals in the fields of investment and public procurement.
4. The European Council endorses the policy priority areas of the Annual Growth Survey and invites Member States to reflect them in their forthcoming National Reform Programmes and Stability or Convergence Programmes. The European Council also endorses the draft Council recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area. [...]
Remarks by President Donald Tusk on the European Council meeting
[...]While expecting the US decision on exempting the EU from the proposed tariffs on steel and aluminium, I had decided to move the trade discussion to later this evening. We will present the EU's approach in more detail tomorrow, following the leaders' debate.
Today, we had a frank discussion on taxation. The digital economy is a challenge for our tax systems. Most importantly, the discussion confirmed all leaders' desire to work further towards an effective and fair solution. We will return to this issue in June. In the meantime, Ministers will start working on the latest Commission's proposals.
We also discussed the economic environment with the ECB President, Mario Draghi. The situation is good, but it doesn’t mean that all our problems are solved. First, we need to avoid protectionism at the global level. This is a major risk for jobs, not only in Europe. In this respect, dialogue with the US is key. Secondly we must prepare our Single Market for the future. To make it happen, leaders have asked the Commission to present, by December, the implementation report on the internal market strategies, namely: Digital, Capital markets and the energy union. Leaders will monitor this process, as we want this to be completed before the European Parliament elections. [...]