The EU Summit kicked off in Tallinn, Estonia Thursday night with informal talks about the future of the EU as a political entity at the leaders’ dinner. It was effectively the first test of French President Emmanuel Macron’s vision for a more integrated EU.

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras stressed during his speech at the dinner that in order for the political crisis to be death with, which was the result of the EU’s failure to effectively address the economic and immigration crises based on its principles, was to take substantive initiatives and planning till next summer in specific areas and make it abundantly clear that its was “not business as usual” given the current circumstances.

To this end, Mr. Tsipras raised the issues of a more social Europe based on growth instead of austerity and a new design for the Eurozone; a more just immigration policy based on a fair sharing of the burden; the EU-Western Balkan Summit and the reenergising of the Thessaloniki agenda; the Euro-Turkish relationships; and the upgrading of the international and regional role of the EU and boosting its military defence policy.