På dette topmøde ville Det Europæiske Råd under stærkt pres fra det græske formandskab gøre en gestus over for landene på det vestlige Balkan. Det vigtigste politiske budskab var, at de faktisk er slået ind på vejen mod Europa, og at EU vil hjælpe dem på denne vej ved at tilbyde dem et ekstra instrument i form af de europæiske partnerskaber.
At that summit, the European Council, under considerable pressure from the Greek Presidency, wanted to make a gesture towards the Western Balkan countries, the most important political message being that they have very definitely turned into the road to Europe and that the EU wants to help them on that path by offering them an additional instrument in the form of European Partnerships.