The European Union recognized the Syrian National Council as a “legitimate representative of Syrians,” the 27-nation bloc said in draft conclusions from a summit in Brussels today.

“The European Union supports the Syrian opposition in its struggle for freedom, dignity and democracy, recognizes the Syrian National Council as a legitimate representative of Syrians and calls upon all members of the Syrian opposition to unite in its peaceful struggle,” a sentence added to the draft conclusions overnight said.

Individual members of the EU, including the U.K., have already recognized the SNC. British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that the lack of a united opposition movement is one of the reasons why the Syrian uprising is more complicated than the situation in Libya, where Muammar Qaddafi was ousted last year with the support of an international coalition.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in Brussels at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net