Joint Declaration of the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission

EU Legislative Priorities for 2022

(2021/C 514 I/01)

Over the past 2 years, our Union has faced the far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with ever more apparent disastrous consequences of climate change and disruptive world events. We have shown that by acting together, rapidly and decisively, we can overcome such defining challenges.

With the help of the 2021-2027 long-term EU budget, of NextGenerationEU, and the Recovery and Resilience Facility at its heart, Europe’s economy is forecast to rebound faster than initially expected. These historic instruments provide us with the unique chance to emerge stronger from the crisis caused by the pandemic, make our economies and societies fairer, greener, more digital, and create opportunities and jobs for a Europe our citizens want to live in.

That strategic vision for a reinvigorated and more resilient Union, enshrined in our three institutions’ first ever Joint Conclusions on policy objectives and priorities for 2020-2024 (1), will continue to guide us. Improving the EU’s resilience, including in health and cybersecurity, will be key to making this transformation a tangible reality. To better defend its interests and values and help shape the new global environment, we will need to strengthen Europe’s capacity to act autonomously and its global influence. For the sake of Europe’s future, we must protect and defend our fundamental values and the rule of law within our Union and its Member States.

The transformation of our continent can only happen with the consent of our citizens. We have provided avenues to make their voices heard through the Conference on the Future of Europe. We remain committed to follow up on the outcome of the Conference.

Delivery and implementation will become an even more important focus as we approach the mid-term of the institutional cycle. This will ultimately help translate our vision for Europe into benefits for citizens’ daily lives. This Joint Declaration for 2022, building on our commitments and achievements of 2021, is testimony to our shared resolve to deliver on the policy objectives and priorities of the Joint Conclusions.

With this Joint Declaration, we put the spotlight on core legislative proposals (2) to which the three institutions will dedicate their best efforts to ensure that as much progress as possible can be made before the end of 2022. This concerns both the initiatives that are currently in the hands of the co-legislators, and those that the European Commission will put forward by autumn of 2022.

The three institutions agree to give the utmost priority in 2022 to the following key policy objectives:

1. To deliver on a socially just, inclusive and sustainable growth strategy, the European Green Deal, and its goal of climate neutrality by 2050, we will advance the proposals already presented, notably the ‘Fit for 55’ package. This will contribute to EU leadership in the global fight against climate change. We will also take action to address the biodiversity crisis, tackle water and air pollution and ensure a more sustainable use of pesticides. We will strengthen the right of consumers to repair products in order to move forward the transition towards a circular economy. We will work to make the EU energy market more resilient, more secure and cost-effective so that it supports the transition to climate neutrality, and we will tackle the impact of energy prices on citizens and businesses.

2. To achieve a Europe fit for the digital age, we want to make this Europe’s digital decade and lead the way globally in developing trustworthy, secure and human-centric technology. We will prioritise the work on digital services and digital markets, as well as artificial intelligence, data, secure space-based communication. We will also work on improving cyber resilience. As a means of promoting a dynamic data economy, we will further strengthen Europe’s investment in innovative and technological capacity, including in the field of semiconductors. We will take the discussions forward on an emergency instrument to prevent future disruptions to the Union’s single market. We will also follow up on the Commission’s communication on industrial strategy, in particular by addressing dependencies in key strategic areas.

3. To deliver an economy that works for people, we will join efforts to further support Member States in repairing the economic and social damage brought about by the pandemic and ensure that the poor and most vulnerable in our societies are not left behind. We will give priority to the concrete implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the Porto Summit declaration, including rules to protect workers from risks related to exposure to hazardous substances, to improve the conditions for platform workers and to remove the gender pay gap. We will endeavour to improve opportunities for young people, including through the activities under the European Year of Youth. We will promote social inclusion and convergence, whilst fully respecting national competences and the variety of labour market models in the Union, notably by defending fair wages and decent jobs. We will work on strengthening our supply chains and promote a robust trade policy. We will promote a rules-based trade system which ensures a level playing field and fair trade practices, as well as new trade agreements. We will work to facilitate access to capital for small and medium-sized enterprises and strive to complete the banking union. Following the historic international agreement on global tax reform, we commit to ensuring its swift and harmonised implementation and to build on it so that our corporate tax systems work in a fair and sound way. We will also improve the regulatory framework on sustainable corporate governance and tackle money laundering, tax fraud, tax evasion and other forms of financial crime.

4. For a stronger Europe in the world, we will continue to build strategic connectivity partnerships through the EU’s Global Gateway. In order to ensure the implementation of the Union’s security and defence agenda, we will endorse the Strategic Compass and look forward to the upcoming Defence package, including the roadmap on critical technologies for security and defence, and to enhance our Union’s protection against hybrid threats. We will work to deter extra-territorial third-country sanctions and better protect EU operators from these sanctions by reinforcing the blocking statute Regulation.

5. To promote our European way of life, we will continue the work on building a strong European Health Union to strengthen the EU’s preparedness and resilience in the face of future health crises. We remain committed to achieving progress on the new Pact on migration and asylum as a matter of urgency. We will work on reforming the Schengen area, including by drawing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and other recent crises, and fight against organised crime and terrorism.

6. To protect and strengthen our democracy across the Union and defend our common European values, using all instruments at our disposal, we will continue to defend and protect the rule of law, in accordance with the Treaties. The rule of law is a core value of the EU and indispensable for an effective functioning of our Union and its legal order. We will fight to safeguard media freedom and pluralism and the protection of journalists. We will work to improve equality, including by acting on the role and independence of equality bodies, and to tackle the continuing problem of violence against women.

In addition, we recall our commitment:

— to work to eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote equal rights and opportunities for all,

— to the continued implementation of national recovery and resilience plans,

— to the implementation of the binding roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources in due time, as agreed in the Interinstitutional Agreement,

— to improve global access to COVID-19 vaccines,

— to strengthen the EU’s role as a global actor across all geographic areas, as well as bilateral and multilateral partnerships,

— to reinvigorate the accession process in the strategic interest of the Union, in accordance with the enhanced enlargement methodology.

The three institutions commit to work on these shared 2022 priorities guided by the principles of mutual trust, respect and a collaborative spirit. We will also ensure proper implementation and enforcement of existing legislation.

We will work with determination to deliver for our citizens a greener, fairer, stronger, more digital and more resilient Europe: a Union which does not leave anyone behind, and which stands up assertively for its core values both abroad and at home.

We, as Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, will closely monitor the timely and effective implementation of this Joint Declaration.

Съставено в Брюксел на шестнадесети декември две хиляди двадесет и първа година. Hecho en Bruselas, el dieciseis de diciembre de dos mil veintiuno. V Bruselu dne šestnáctého prosince dva tisíce dvacet jedna. Udfærdiget i Bruxelles den sekstende december to tusind og enogtyve. Geschehen zu Brüssel am sechzehnten Dezember zweitausendeinundzwanzig. Kahe tuhande kahekümne esimese aasta detsembrikuu kuueteistkümnendal päeval Brüsselis. Έγινε στις Βρυξέλλες, στις δέκα έξι Δεκεμβρίου δύο χιλιάδες είκοσι ένα. Done at Brussels on the sixteenth day of December in the year two thousand and twenty one. Fait à Bruxelles, le seize décembre deux mille vingt et un. Arna dhéanamh sa Bhruiséil, an séú lá déag de mhí na Nollag sa bhliain dhá mhíle fiche agus a haon. Sastavljeno u Bruxellesu šesnaestog prosinca godine dvije tisuće dvadeset prve. Fatto a Bruxelles, addì sedici dicembre duemilaventuno. Briselē, divi tūkstoši divdesmit pirmā gada sešpadsmitajā decembrī. Priimta du tūkstančiai dvidešimt pirmų metų gruodžio šešioliktą dieną Briuselyje. Kelt Brüsszelben, a kétezer-huszonegyedik év december havának tzenhatodik napján. Magħmul fi Brussell, fis-sittax-il jum ta’ Diċembru fis-sena elfejn u wieħed u għoxrin. Gedaan te Brussel, zestien december tweeduizend eenentwintig. Sporządzono w Brukseli dnia szesnastego grudnia roku dwa tysiące dwudziestego pierwszego. Feito em Bruxelas, em dezasseis de dezembro de dois mil e vinte e um. Întocmit la Bruxelles la șaisprezece decembrie două mii douăzeci și unu. V Bruseli šestnásteho decembra dvetisícdvadsaťjeden. V Bruslju, šestnajstega decembra dva tisoč enaindvajset. Tehty Brysselissä kuudentenatoista päivänä joulukuuta vuonna kaksituhattakaksikymmentäyksi. Som skedde i Bryssel den sextonde december år tjugohundratjugoett.

(1) OJ C 18 I, 18.1.2021, p. 5.

(2) Under the Ordinary Legislative Procedure.