Tsipras, Schulz stress the need to strengthen social and democratic Europe

Both Tsipras and Schulz stressed the importance of strengthening the social agenda of the EU.
On his part, Schulz suggested that Britain should start the procedure of exiting the EU as soon as possible.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will hold a series of meetings with top EU officials and MEPs on the sidelines of the EU summit which starts in Brussels on Tuesday. The full schedule is as follows (all hours are local).

On Tuesday:
- 08:00 > Meeting with the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz
- 08:45 > Meeting with the President of the GUE/NGL group Gabriele Zimmer
- 09:15 > Meeting with the Greens/EFA co-Presidents, Philippe Lamberts and Rebecca Harms, and the party’s Vice-President Ska Keller
- 13:15 > Will participate in preparatory meeting of the European Socialist Party as an observer
- 15:00-15:45 > Arrival at the European Council meeting
- 16:00-16:30 > Exchange of views country and government leaders with the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz
- 16:45- 22:00 > Meeting of the European Council

On Wednesday:
- 09:15-09:45 > Arrival at the European Council
- 10:00-12:30 > Second meeting of the European Council; informal meeting of 27 member-states