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  • 20-01-2021 12:39

EU/Presidency: European political groups ask Portugal to focus on recovery, jobs


Brussels, Jan. 20, 2021 (Lusa) - The leaders of the main political families in the European Union on Wednesday asked Portugal, as holder of the presidency of the EU Council, to focus on economic recovery and job creation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, welcoming its declared focus on developing the EU's Pillar of Social Rights.

"We have to talk about jobs, jobs, jobs; we have to talk about economic issues," said the leader of the European People's Party (EPP), Manfred Weber of Germany, during a debate in parliament after Portugal's prime minister, António Costa, had presented the presidency's priorities for the next sisx months.

"That is why we support the idea of a social Europe," Weber continued. "The most important thing is that people have jobs, especially the youngest: we have to avoid a new generation being lost."

During the debate, the president of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Iratxe García Pérez, agreed that the EU had adopted "an ambitious recovery plan and budget" but said that the question now was whether all citizens would see "in the same way the efforts that have been made" to boost their prospects.

"Europe is an area of prosperity and we are proud of our model, but we have to be frank: [the Covid-19 pandemic] does not affect everyone in the same way and the gap between the highest and lowest wages has widened in the last year, not to mention unemployment," he said.

At a time when the pandemic made "inequalities even more evident", the S&D leader called for the "window of opportunity" now opened to be used to make the social pillar one of the presidency's priorities. On that, he welcomed Costa's experience.

"The experience of António Costa in providing the necessary leadership at this particular time is obvious," García Pérez said. "It is time to deliver."

Dacian Ciolos, the leader of the Renew Europe group (former the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, or ALDE), also stressed that Portugal holds the presidency at a time when it is necessary to "change practices" and make 2021 "the year of rebirth" in the bloc.

"We need to repair our social and economic fabric and I know that is one of your priorities," Ciolos said. "The historic recovery plan must be implemented as soon as possible and we must be ready to do more if necessary."

He went on to say that in approving the recovery plans all must pull together to ensure that investments are made with Europe's future in mind.

"There is a shared responsibility to make sure that each government implements reforms and investments in a strategic way so that European money contributes to a better world in the post-Covid period," he said. "We must not allow governments to use this money to improve their economies without ensuring positive, long-term structural effects."

The three party leaders also called on Portugal to make progress in negotiating the Pact for Migration and Asylum and with the EU vaccination process, and agreed on the need to start a long-planned Conference on the Future of Europe.

"We must act responsibly, we must break the deadlock, we must not underestimate the importance of this conference," said García Pérez. "It will bring us not only familiar faces, but also the voices of millions and millions of Europeans who want to have something to say in the Europe we are building."

Ciolos, for his part, stressed that Europe's fate "is in the hands of Europeans", saying that he trusted in Portugal's ability to overcome differences between the EU institutions on this issue.

"Our destiny will be better defined if we succeed in starting the Conference on the Future of Europe," he said. "I am convinced that with the joint work between the Portuguese presidency and the Parliament, we will succeed."

Weber also stressed that the Portuguese "know how important a united Europe is [and] believe that being European does not mean losing anything, but gaining a lot.

"With Portugal's history in mind, I think it is obvious that Portugal looks beyond the horizon, looks at new things and is not afraid of the unknown," he said. "It is this spirit that Europe needs today: the spirit of a discoverer."

Costa, as prime minister of the country that holds the six-month presidency of the EU Council, was in the European Parliament in Brussels to debate the priorities of the presidency.

Less than a week after welcoming in Lisbon a delegation from the European Commission led by its president, Ursula von der Leyen, and having also hosted the European Council President, Charles Michel, at the official launch of the presidency earlier this month, Costa has thus completed the round of institutional discussions on the presidency's six-month programme.

TEYA/ARO // ARO.

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