• Amidst a still-fragile negotiation process with Greece, the European Council will discuss three main topics on 19-20 March: the Energy Union, Russia / Ukraine and the European Semester.
  
  
• On the Energy Union, the EU leaders will provide further orientations to the objectives established at the October 2014 Summit. In particular, the EU is expected to discuss the strategy set out by the EU Commission at the end of February: solidarity clause (i.e. diversifying suppliers, more transparency in gas contracts etc.), energy flows (energy market interconnection, renewables etc.), energy efficiency and the transition to a low-carbon society.
  
  
• The EU is also expected to debate its contribution to the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in November/December 2015 in Paris.
  
  
• The European Summit is expected to conclude the first phase of the European Semester by adopting the economic priorities, in line with the three strategic policies of the EU Commission: boosting investment, accelerating structural reforms and pursuing responsible, growth-friendly fiscal consolidation. 
  
  
• The next step of the European Semester (which started last November) will be for the Member States to present their National Reform Programmes and Stability Programmes; this will be followed by the Commission providing a new set of country-specific recommendations in May.