Brussels, Jan. 12, 2021 (Lusa) - A European Commission delegation led by Von der Leyen is to visit Portugal on Friday under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU, despite the tighter constraints due to Covid-19 announced by the government, the EU executive spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.

Asked whether it was "prudent" for several members of the Commission's college to travel to Lisbon in the current context of the worsening epidemiological situation of Covid-19 in Europe, which will even lead to the restoration of more stringent lockdown in Portugal predictably as early as Thursday, the Commission spokesman said that "precisely because of the health situation, the number of members of the college travelling to Portugal has been reduced and the delegation will therefore be a small one".

"And of course we are working with our Portuguese hosts to ensure that the visit will take place taking into account and respecting social distance and all other appropriate health measures in the face of the situation", Eric Mamer added.

Last Friday, the same spokesman had announced that the European Commission president would be in Portugal on 15 January for the traditional visit of the Community executive to the country holding the presidency of the Council, accompanied only by six members of the college of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ursula von der Leyen will be accompanied on her visit to Lisbon by the three executive vice-presidents, Frans Timmermans (responsible for the European Ecological Pact portfolio), Valdis Dombrovskis (An Economy at the Service of People) and Margrethe Vestager (Digital), by EU Vice-President and High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell, Portuguese Commissioner Elisa Ferreira (Cohesion and Reforms) and Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, who is responsible for Social Affairs, one of the main priorities of the Portuguese presidency.

"This is the usual visit at the beginning of each Council presidency, which, for obvious health reasons, will take place in a smaller format this time", Eric Mamer said on the same occasion.

Under normal conditions, visits by the Commission to the country holding the six-monthly rotating presidency of the Council involve all the Commissioners and last for two days, during which there are multiple bilateral meetings - notably between the president of the community executive and the head of state or government, and between the commissioners and the ministers responsible for the same portfolios - and a plenary session, bringing together all the members of the commission and the government.

Following the visit to Lisbon by the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, last week, on 5 January, for the formal 'kick-off' of the fourth Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will run until the end of June, the visit by the president of the Eurogroup, the Irish Paschal Donohoe, scheduled for Thursday 7 January, was postponed because of Covid-19, particularly because of the worsening epidemiological situation in Ireland.

As was the case during the German presidency of the Council in the second half of 2020, and with much of the Croatian presidency in the first half of last year, the Covid-19 pandemic is threatening to heavily constrain the work of the Portuguese presidency, forcing many meetings to be held by videoconference and limiting the number of people attending those meetings in person.

Furthermore, before the members of the college visit, Portugal will have to return to a tougher lockdown because of the worsening situation in the country after Christmas. On Monday Prime Minister António Costa pointed out that the institutional timetable for the decision will be met with "great speed" so that the most restrictive measures can enter into force quickly.

"The timetable for taking decisions is institutionally complex, but we are going to comply with it at maximum speed," the prime minister said when questioned about the possibility of the Portuguese government announcing general lockdown measures on Wednesday afternoon, with them coming into force at 00:00 on Thursday.

ACC/ADB // ADB.

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