Debate: Conclusions of the European Council meeting of  and  October , in particular the negotiations of the future relations with the UK
Date: WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2020
Speaker: Siegfried Mureşan
Political group: PPE
Country: Germany
Language: EN

Whenever there is a crisis, whenever people face difficulties, they expect that the European Union to help them.  This was the case ten years ago during the economic and financial crisis. This was the case five years ago during the migration and refugee crisis, and this is the case now during the Corona crisis. The fact that people expect us to deliver in times of crisis, shows that they believe we can deliver. It shows a genuine trust of the people in Europe, in the European institutions, and this is why we need to provide now what people expect of us – provide solutions.  These are times in which we have to trust science; trust the authorities; work together; stay united; keep in mind that facts matter; defend together a rules-based society; trust politicians who have solutions, and say loud and clear – the institutions of the European Union delivered in overcoming the crisis and, under Michel Barnier’s leadership, in keeping the EU together in the negotiations for finding the best possible relationship with the United Kingdom for the future.  The developments of recent days have shown to us that passing relatively well through a first wave of Corona crisis, is no guarantee of passing well through the second and through the third wave. The developments of recent days have shown to us that the Corona crisis is not a short-term crisis, but it will be at least a medium-term crisis, with consequences, potentially, for the long term. When people expect us to do more, when we have a crisis where it’s clear that united we can pass through it better, when people expect us to do more, we need to equip the European Union with the tools it needs to overcome the crisis. And one of our essential tools is the budget of the European Union. In the EPP group, we are committed to a quick conclusion of the negotiations on the EU budget and on the Recovery and Resilience Facility, so that both instruments can enter into force on 1 January 2021.  We do respect the many good elements of the agreement of the July European Council. However, we want to find solutions to allocate further resources where they are needed. We saw in recent weeks that the EU health programmes need more money, and this is why Mr President Sassoli, I would like to support what you publicly said yesterday – the creation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility of Next Generation EU should not become a burden for the budget of the European Union.  I would like to support what President Sassoli said yesterday. We should not place the interest payments for Next Generation EU within the EU budget. We should not have less money for farmers, for researchers, for students, because we have created the Recovery and Resilience Facility. As the rapporteur for the Recovery and Resilience Facility, I would like to tell our colleagues in the Council that we are working and respecting our schedule here in the European Parliament. We will be delivering. We have no delays here. We will adopt our position in November.  Be ready for the final negotiations with the Council, and the message to the people is, we will provide the facility that will help them overcome this crisis, and which will protect them for the next crisis.