Following the EU Council meeting in Bratislava, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, stated:

“We have heard a lot of words from the EU Council in Bratislava, some positive, some negative, but what matters now is seeing them turned into real action. We need to see the Council is finally ready to take the measures necessary to get to grips with the current crises we face, be it lack of economic growth, Brexit, migration or security.

“It seems that some member states still haven’t grasped the need to boost economic growth through greater flexibility, investment and more social justice. President Juncker has understood this and the Parliament has clearly backed him on this in our resolution on the priorities for the Commission work programme for 2017. We cannot wait for elections in France and Germany to take meaningful action.

"Brexit seems to have been the elephant in the room, this isn’t acceptable. We call on the British government to respect the will of their people and start the negotiations as soon as possible. We all want to see an amicable divorce but we are clear that if the UK wants to have full access to the single market then they must accept the principle of free movement and will have to follow the rules that govern it.

“One area where we did see positive outcomes from the EU Council was on defence. The S&D Group welcomes the new EU Global Strategy. This will help EU member states work more effectively together to keep citizens safe and to promote security across the globe. Permanent, structured cooperation on security and defence and a European Defence Fund can also help boost research and innovation and create high-quality jobs in Europe.

“Last but not least, migration. We welcome the so-called Visegrad States to the European club for solidarity and responsibility. We are happy to hear that migration compacts and the European border and coast guards are finally being recognised by all member states as an effective way of tackling the current crisis. The migration compact was a socialist idea that aims at building politically and socially stable environments in the third countries, rather than just stopping irregular migrants from entering the EU. However we would remind all member states that solidarity and shared responsibility cannot be voluntary. Otherwise it is just charity. Solidarity is a founding principle of the European Union and must apply equally to all.”