European Political Community

The European Political Community (EPC) is a loose, summit-based forum first convened on 6 October 2022 in Prague at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, who had floated the idea in a speech to the European Parliament in May 2022. It was designed as a response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, offering a pan-European political space that includes states outside the European Union — notably the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, the Western Balkans, the South Caucasus countries, and others.

The EPC is not a treaty-based organisation. It has no permanent secretariat, no headquarters, no budget, and produces no binding decisions or formal communiqués. Instead, it functions as a recurring leaders' summit — typically twice a year, alternating between an EU member state and a non-EU European state — focused on dialogue around shared challenges such as security, energy, migration, connectivity, and the consequences of Russian aggression.

Subsequent meetings have been held in:

• Chișinău, Moldova (June 2023)
• Granada, Spain (October 2023)
• Blenheim Palace, United Kingdom (July 2024)
• Budapest, Hungary (November 2024)
• Tirana, Albania (May 2025)

Around 40–47 heads of state and government have typically attended. Belarus and Russia are not invited.

Analysts debate the EPC's added value. Supporters argue it fills a gap between the EU, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, and NATO by giving non-EU European leaders — including post-Brexit Britain and EU candidate countries — a regular political table. Critics, including some Central and Eastern European governments, have worried it could become a substitute for genuine EU enlargement rather than a complement to it. Its informal character means outcomes depend largely on the host's agenda and bilateral side-meetings rather than collective decisions.