Debate: Conclusions of the special meeting of the European Council on  and  May
Date: WEDNESDAY, 9 JUNE 2021
Speaker: Valdis Dombrovskis
Language: EN

The EU’s most urgent priority remains to fight the pandemic in all its aspects, from health through to the economy. We also need to get everyone safely through it and draw some early lessons. More and more people are receiving vaccines. Societies are gradually reopening. Overall, the signs are more encouraging. We are taking the first steps back to normality. After more than a year of economic pain in every EU country, there is hope that we are coming through the worst. The EU is expected to reach its pre-crisis economic level by the end of the year and all EU countries should see their economies return to pre-crisis levels by the end of 2022. Let us also remember that the impact of the crisis would have been much worse without the unprecedented efforts made by the EU’s institutions and Member States to provide strong fiscal, monetary and financial support. As restrictions begin to ease, we can look forward to the EU digital COVID certificates being issued soon, not least to facilitate travel. Still, we need to keep a close eye on the possibility of escape variants of the virus. They remain a public health risk and threaten to undo much of the good work done to contain the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, we need to speed up the pace of vaccinations. That means speeding up both vaccine production and supply to whoever needs it. This applies internationally, too, where Europe continues to play a leading role – particularly in helping to develop vaccine production in Africa. Universal and fair access to vaccines and treatments must be the global community’s top priority. In the mean time, other crises have not gone away with the pandemic. Climate change remains an emergency that the whole world has to deal with. At the European Council’s special meeting last month, the Commission set out clearly how we are building a model for a clean economy that is also prosperous. The green transition, along with the digital transition, has so much growth potential that it is certainly feasible to make our economy both green and prosperous at the same time. The next step in the EU’s journey to climate neutrality will come next month, with a package of proposals that we are calling ‘Fit for 55’. It will provide the means to meet our 2030 target for reducing emissions by 55%. Thank you for your views today on this crucial next stage in Europe’s post-crisis economic transformation. Turning to international affairs, the EU has taken a strong position on Belarus after the outrageous hijacking of a passenger plane flying between two EU capitals. We continue to support the people of Belarus in their desire for a peaceful and democratic transition of power. We will back up this promise with a comprehensive economic support plan once Belarus embarks on that transition. Since the August 2020 elections in Belarus were neither free nor fair, its authoritarian regime is not legitimate. In the mean time, the EU demands that the Belarus authorities release Raman Pratasevich immediately. The world is watching closely. Staying with our immediate neighbours to the east, there is Russia. The tactics that the Kremlin is using against us are all too familiar: destabilisation, overt and covert interference, particularly in the affairs of our neighbouring countries, and in the entire Baltic Sea region. It is all designed to challenge and weaken the European Union and undermine Member States by attacking them individually. Unfortunately, the situation is getting worse, not better. Finally, on our relations with the United Kingdom, there are some tensions. Much of this is due to teething problems after Brexit. Unsurprisingly, however, a lot of the initial problem areas are the result of Brexit itself. We are working hard to resolve these issues so that the EU-UK relationship remains balanced and productive. As EU leaders have agreed, this must be done based on the negotiated provisions in force for both sides: the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.