Portugal ‘honoured’ the EU presidency and acted
António Costa said in a post on the social network Twitter that the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU honoured the motto "Time to Act, for a Fair, Green and Digital Recovery".
Portugal’s prime minister, António Costa, said on Wednesday that the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) honoured the motto “Time to Act, for a Fair, Green and Digital Recovery”, achieving progress in several areas.
“Today we conclude the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU honouring the motto ‘Time to act, for a fair, green and digital recovery’ by fulfilling our three priorities: economic and social recovery, development of the European Pillar of Social Rights and strategic autonomy of an EU open to the world,” António Costa said in a post on the social network Twitter.
In terms of economic recovery, the Portuguese presidency prioritised “coordinating the response to the pandemic and vaccination” and made progress in approving “all the regulations for the next financial framework 2021-2027”.
During the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU, “all member states approved the own resources decision” that allows the European Commission to issue the first debt, he said.
To date, 24 recovery and resilience plans (RRP) have been presented and, of these, 12 are ready to be approved on 13 July.
The Portuguese presidency also worked to ensure a “fair recovery” of the EU, with the “social commitment of Porto agreed with social partners, civil society and European institutions,” he continued.
Costa also highlighted the Portuguese presidency’s advances towards “a green and digital recovery, with the approval of the first Climate Law, the CAP Reform, the Digital Certificate and ‘EllaLink'”, an undersea cable connecting Europe to Latin America from the port of Sines.
In terms of external relations, the Portuguese presidency acted “for a Europe that is open to the world”, António Costa stressed, recalling the EU-India Summit held in Porto on 8 May, which “unfroze the negotiations of trade and investment agreements” between the two regions.
António Costa also highlighted the approval of the EU mission to support Mozambique, the approval of the ‘Blue Card’ directive and the Statute of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).
“We also acted for the defence of EU values, advancing the Annual Dialogue of the Rule of Law mechanism and the hearings of Hungary and Poland under Article 7 of the EU Treaty,” stressed the Prime Minister, adding the approval of the Directive on Tax Transparency of Multinationals.
The Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU “opens doors to the future”, stressed the Prime Minister, referring to the start of the Conference on the Future of Europe, as well as the Recovery Summit, held today at the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB), in Lisbon, which launched the “debate on the future of the economic governance of the EU”.
Finally, António Costa pointed out that the Portuguese presidency “was a team effort by the entire Government under the foreign minister”, Augusto Santos Silva, which involved “the entire public administration” and Portuguese diplomacy.
