Portugal, France “never as close” as now – Paris councillor
The Paris city councillor responsible for Europe believes that Portugal and France have never been "so close" as now.
Hermano Sanches Ruivo, the Paris city councillor responsible for Europe, believes that Portugal and France have never been “so close” and that they are working hard to achieve their European objectives.
“The two countries have never been so close in hundreds of years. I don’t know if we could find a time in the past when the two countries had such a really good relationship,” the Portuguese-born councillor told Lusa in an interview.
The local elected official began his second term in the left-wing council led by Anne Hidalgo last July and, holding the Europe portfolio, he believes the two countries have been working hard since then. Although the presidency of the Council of the EU now belongs to Portugal, France will hold that post in January 2022.
“We need more work, less photography and that is where we see that Portugal, despite being a smaller country, has the same level of organisation and work as France. The two are working well because in these years marked by the crisis it is necessary to have strong presidencies that reach their goals,” he stressed.
Ruivo also believes that the priorities of the Portuguese presidency for a resilient, green, social, digital and global European project meet the expectations of a city like Paris and that the aim is for Europe to look at cities differently after the Social Summit in Porto in May 2021.
“We are very interested in the recovery plan, in advancing the role of cities and seeing if we can get Porto to change something in relation to the treatment of cities within the European Union,” he said.
During a recent trip to Brussels, when Anne Hidalgo and Hermano Sanches Ruivo met several members of the European Commission, including Elisa Ferreira, commissioner for cohesion and reforms, brought “good news” for European cities that most need access to EU funds.
“The good news is that we are moving towards recognition, but it cannot yet be done at the highest level because the states do not think in the same way. […] Anne Hidalgo clearly wants to take a kind of leadership over this fight,” the councillor said.
He considers that in many dossiers Portugal can move forward, but on issues such as the Mercosur trade agreement, where there is French opposition, he has more reservations.
“The Mercosur dossier is unlikely to make much progress during this presidency and I do not know if it is the top priority at the moment. But it is a dossier on which Portugal has something to say,” he concluded.
