The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union begins amid a health and socioeconomic crisis. Portugal will therefore give full priority to implementing the European vaccination strategy. In addition, the Presidency aims to operationalise all the financial instruments agreed during the German Presidency, to ensure that money reaches the real economy as soon as possible. The Presidency is also very much committed to a Green, Digital and Fair recovery, ensuring consistency between investments and European development goals. The Social Summit, taking place in Porto, will deepen the compromises established under the European Pillar of Social Rights. The time has also come to launch the Conference on the Future of Europe, ensuring citizens’ participation in a strategic debate about the challenges we face. On the international front, the election of Joe Biden has created an opportunity to relaunch the transatlantic relationship, paving the way to tackling climate change and revitalising multilateralism. As Portugal is the home country of UN Secretary- General António Guterres, this will likely be an important topic for the Presidency. The Presidency is also committed to organising summits with two important key players, India and Africa and will start building a new relationship with the UK. A busy agenda, but Portugal has a tradition of successful European presidencies.
Publicado a 18/01/2020 no “The Parliament Magazine, nº 528“
