David Lidington, UK Minister for Europe, presented the UK perspective on the challenges faced by the European Union and outlined the priorities that should be on the agenda of the new Commission. He summarised them in competitiveness, free movement, fairness, energy security and EU’s democratic accountability and stressed the importance of investing in EU growth. On foreign policy, he defined the European Neighbourhood Policy as a key priority and praised EU enlargement as a positive driving force for change in the Balkan region.