Summit Gets Underway This Afternoon; Energy Sec Issues To Dominate Talks

A European Council leaders summit (EUCO) gets underway this afternoon, with talks on reining in energy price rises and ensuring security of supply set to dominate.

• Leaders set to arrive from 1400CET (0800ET, 1300BST) onwards and deliver doorstep comments. After this, at around 1500CET the public roundtable will be shown ahead of the start of behind-closed-doors talks. Link to a livestream can be found here: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/ebs/live/1
• Germany remains at odds with other major EU states including France and Italy over a price cap on Russian gas (with Germany opposed). The battle over energy supplies has spilled over into bilateral relations, with a Franco-German summit due next week postponed.
• Claims that the summit was moved to Jan to allow German ministers time for holidays has been dismissed by observers. Instead many claim divisions between Paris and Berlin on energy, as well as the war in Ukraine, have seen Franco-German relations deteriorate notably. Hard for EU to work effectively when its two most powerful member states aren't in agreement.
• Politico also highlights another cloud over the summit, disagreements between Poland and the EU on funds: "Warsaw — by its own admission, according to the Commission — is not complying with the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. The EU executive has therefore suggested it can’t yet hand over money Poland is owed from the EU’s so-called “cohesion” funds[...] the prospect of Brussels withholding portions of Poland’s enormous €75 billion slice of the EU’s budget pie has sparked uproar in Warsaw. "