EU leaders look to capitalize on unity amid crisis

The European Union's economic and strategic autonomy will be top of the agenda at an informal two-day meeting of its leaders, starting on Thursday in Versailles, France.

Discussions at the casual summit, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron, are expected to build on unity developed around the Ukraine crisis, the bloc's dependence on imported energy and its reliance on the NATO military alliance.

In a published invitation letter to members of the European Council ahead of the meeting, its chief Charles Michel said: "In the light of recent events, it is more urgent than ever that we take decisive steps toward building our sovereignty, reducing our dependencies and designing a new growth and investment model."

A draft of the EU summit declaration said leaders would pledge to "phase out" the bloc's dependence on Russian gas, oil and coal. Plans to cut Russian gas imports by two-thirds within a year were outlined by the European Commission on Tuesday. Russia supplies almost 40 percent of EU gas and a quarter of its oil, said the Associated Press.

The Financial Times said "rapid decision making" achieved by the EU in the past two weeks had "confounded critics", but noted that differences remain on "wider strategic objectives", such as energy investment strategy.

Michel recently described a "surge of unity" in the bloc in response to the conflict in Ukraine. In a March 1 social media post, he said: "The Europe of Defense was born this weekend. Today we witness a surge of unity that is unfailing. Confronted with the essential, we chose to be solid."

Michel also said this week that Ukraine's EU membership application would be discussed, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Euronews that admission for Ukraine was a realistic prospect.

Euronews analysis said the crisis "had injected the EU with the overdue resolve it needed to truly face up to the adverse geopolitics of its surroundings, brushing aside any remaining taboos and prejudices".

The EU made an unprecedented decision last month to send 450 million euros ($500 million) in military aid to Ukraine for weapons. It has never previously funded the arming of a country at war.

Macron is expected to push for deeper EU military cooperation at the summit. On Monday, he said: "We cannot depend on others to defend ourselves, whether on land, at sea, under the sea".

Writing in the New Statesman, Mujtaba Rahman, an expert on geopolitical risk with the Eurasia Group, said: "The French president has long argued that Europe must seize control of its own destiny and become equal partners with Washington - and an independent actor - in shaping decisions on the economy, foreign policy, defense and, crucially, Europe's own defense industries.

"At some point, however, the EU will have to take stock and adjust its policies and institutions to this new reality - especially how it manages foreign, security, defense and fiscal policy."