The Prime Minister, António Costa, described this Tuesday as “very productive” the debate he had with four other leaders of the European Union (EU) in Paris, on the new European institutional framework, which will include support for Ukraine and preparations for the expansion. .
“I participated today [terça-feira]”, at the invitation of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in a very productive meeting in Paris, to prepare the next Strategic Agenda of the European Union,” said the Head of Government, in a publication on the social network ).
I participated today, at the invitation of @carlosmichelPresident of @EUCouncilin a very productive meeting in Paris, to prepare the next Strategic Agenda for the European Union. pic.twitter.com/k6dczbzeFD
– Antonio Costa (@antoniocostapm) November 28, 2023
“We discussed the need to continue supporting Ukraine, the EU’s place in the world, how to accelerate the energy and digital transition and the construction of a true European industrial strategy, as well as preparations for the next enlargement,” said António Costa, He did not make statements to the Portuguese press in Paris.
António Costa then participated in what was the fourth and last dinner-debate promoted by Charles Michel on the political priorities of the EU in the future, in the context of the elections to the European Parliament in June 2024 and before the appointment of the next European Commission, later The European official began consultations last week with the heads of Government and State of the Union on the new Strategic Agenda.
The event took place at the Elysee Palace in Paris, organized by the French Presidency.
In addition to the Portuguese head of government, leaders such as the host French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, the newly elected Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, and also the resigned Prime Minister of the countries participated. Bass, Mark Rutte. Charles Michel also participated.
The new Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, was not present, contrary to previously announced.
Before this Tuesday’s dinner on the new EU Strategic Agenda, others were held in Copenhagen, Zagreb and Berlin.
In the invitation letter sent to European leaders at the beginning of November, Charles Michel stated that the objective was, in “small groups”, to reflect “on the capacity of the EU to act and achieve its objectives” in areas such as security and defence, resilience and competitiveness, energy, migration and enlargement of the Union.
On the table have been topics such as the reforms to be carried out in the EU in the context of a future enlargement, the reinforcement of the community budget given the common priorities and even the improvement of decision-making, debating whether this would imply, for example , more qualified majority votes than unanimous ones.
These initiatives come after, at the Grenada European Council in early October, EU heads of government and state defined a general framework for a more resilient Union, internally and globally.
On the occasion, António Costa defended a new institutional architecture for the EU, proposing “a multifunctional building, which is based on solid foundations, […] which are common values”, but in which there is “a set of spaces that each person uses according to their own desire to participate or not participate”.
The idea would be, according to the Head of Government, to avoid “successive blocking problems”, after Hungary has blocked several European files in recent months.
Budapest is also threatening to veto files at the decisive European Council in December, in which EU leaders will try to reach agreements on issues such as the opening of formal accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, the review of the multiannual budget until 2027 (with a financial reserve to support the reconstruction of Ukraine of 50 billion euros), the new pact on migration and asylum and also the new community budget rules.
Source: TSF
