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  • 05-01-2021 22:23

EU/Presidency: PM takes up with 'honour' responsibility of running EU 'marathon'


Lisbon, Jan. 5, 2021 (Lusa) - Portugal's prime minister, António Costa, on Tuesday received in Lisbon the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, as he and his government took on with what he called "honour" the responsibility of overseeing the European Union "marathon", as he called it.

"The EU is a real marathon, developing in the form of a relay, where every six months we receive the baton," Costa said at a joint news conference with Michel at the end of the first formal meeting of Portugual's presidency of the EU Council.

Acknowleding that this will be "a different presidency", given the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, and anticipating "six months of intense work", Costa said that he knew he could count on the aid of the President of the European Council, who in turn pledged "close and strong" cooperation.

"We are in the same boat and we share the conviction of moving the European Union forward in the service of Europe's 450 million citizens," Michel said.

The priorities of Portugal's council presidency - under the motto 'Time to act: for a fair, green and digital recovery' - "coincide with the EU's medium and long-term objectives," Michel noted, stressing that "Portugal has anextremely important experience ... that will certainly be useful."

He acknowledged that "this is an important moment for the European project" and that the agenda of Portugal's presidency, which started on 1 January and runs until the end of June, is "ambitious".

Underscoring that "Europe is more than a financial project ... it is a project based on values," the European Council president stressed that "the added value of the European project" is in quality of life, social rights, education, and the fight against all forms of discrimination and inequality.

Costa had received the European Council president for a working meeting on Tuesday.

Michel's programme also included a brief visit to the Jerónimos Monastery, where Portugal's treaty of accession to the then European Economic Community was signed in 1985, and the inaugural performance of the presidency, with a concert by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra conducted by conductor Joana Carneiro.

The European Council president's visit is the first official act of Portugal's presidency of the Council of the European Union.

SBR/ARO // ARO.

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