Portuguese PS leader António Costa said today at the European Socialist Party (PES) congress in Berlin that the European Union has faced “consecutive crises over the past 15 years” and must work towards a “permanent solution” for the problems.
António Costa takes part today in the second and last day of the PSE Congress, under the motto “With courage. For Europe”. The meeting has on the agenda the discussion of the new challenges facing Europe, with the participation of several party leaders, Commissioners and European Prime Ministers.
“We have had successive crises over the past 15 years, financial crises, climate crises, pandemic crises, now war. This means that we need a permanent and stable mechanism to face and resolve these crises,” underlined the Prime Minister and added: “there is always a crisis waiting for us”.
The PS Secretary-General stressed the need to “learn from past crises”, and gave some examples from which to learn.
“10 years ago we did not do well during the financial crisis, when we left every Member State to its own devices and built policies based on austerity. But we did well in the fight against the covid-19 crisis, not just in the common demand for vaccines, but because this time we are not acting through austerity, but through solidarity. We have found an answer to a common problem,” he emphasized.
António Costa took part in the first panel “Leading Europe through Change”, together with Pedro Sánchez, PSOE leader and Spanish Prime Minister, Robert Abela, Labor Party leader, Prime Minister of Malta and Magdalena Andersson, Leader of the Social Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Sweden.
Asked about the priority in fighting the climate crisis during the war in Ukraine, António Costa emphasized that now is the time to accelerate the energy transition and called for more investment in renewable energy sources to reduce dependence on Russia.
“We need to make connections between all our states to be able to share the best energy”, not to mention the “Midcat” project, a gas pipeline linking the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe through the Pyrenees, supported by Germany, Portugal and Spain, but no green light from France.
“If we want to win this energy transition, we have to have the support of the people. If we want to stop the growth of populism, we have to deal with energy prices. The climate crisis,” he emphasized.
Costa began his speech to the panel by answering a question about the EU candidate status granted to Ukraine and Moldova in June this year. The PS Secretary-General stressed that it is necessary to “seriously consider” the issue of enlargement so as not to “frustrate the high expectations that have been raised in these countries”.
The PS Secretary General attended the opening of the PSE Congress and the speech of the new chairman, Stefan Löfven, in the front row, next to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Costa left a message, which was also echoed by the other members of the panel, pointing out the urgency of not letting Putin win the war.
“We will continue to support Ukraine, economically, humanitarianly and militarily. This must continue (…) We must fully support António Guterres and the efforts of the United Nations to solve the food crisis. The whole world is suffering. With this war and us must show solidarity,” he said.
The Socialist Party is represented at the PSE Congress by a delegation, which, in addition to the Secretary-General, consists of the Deputy Secretary-General, João Torres, the Parliamentary Leader, Eurico Brilhante Dias, the National Secretary for International Relations, Jamila Madeira, the Secretary General of the JS, Miguel Costa Matos, the President of MS-ID, Elza Pais, the Leader, Edite Estrela, the Vice-President of the PSE, Francisco André, and the President of the Portuguese Socialists Delegation to the European Parliament Maria Manuel Leitao Marques.
Source: DN
