Debate: Presentation of the programme of activities of the Belgian Presidency
Date: TUESDAY, 16 JANUARY 2024
Speaker: Alexander  De Croo
Language: EN

Let me answer a few of the questions that that have been asked. Je commencerai par Monsieur Lutgen. En effet, vous avez raison de mettre en avant le secteur de l’agriculture. Je ne l’ai pas mentionné dans mon discours, mais cela ne veut pas dire que ce n’est pas important. Et le côté agriculture, avec le rôle économique qu’elle joue – rallier l’industrie et l’agriculture, je pense que c’est le point fondamental. Je pense que trop souvent on a essayé d’opposer l’un à l’autre et je pense que c’est une faute de les opposer. Vous avez tout à fait raison: c’est un sujet important, et important aussi pour la présidence belge. Madam Pérez, you asked a question on social protection and the platform economy. And I think we have to find the right the right balance. The platform economy has positive points where it creates opportunities for people to enter into the labour market in a flexible way. Opportunities to learn certain skills from another perspective. Of course, social protection is crucial. Finding that balance, I think, we share that objective with you.  Dear Hilde, Ms Vautmans, as we grow, we have to get better, and I think that is the right way of seeing it. It needs to be in parallel. As we know we have an ambitious agenda on that, we will be contributing with the permanent President of the European Council, of course, and working on that, we will play a role of being a facilitator, of bringing people together. But indeed, it is crucial, as the European Union that will respond to those expectations. Poll after poll, we see that our population expects more from the European Union, and that might not be something that some people in this audience like to hear. But the European population across the board expects more from us, and we need to respond to that expectation.  Monsieur Lamberts, quand j’ai parlé de la pause pour bien regarder, je n’ai jamais dit une pause sur le Pacte vert. Jamais. Le Pacte vert est la priorité et on ne peut pas toucher à cette priorité. Mais je pense que, dans l’exécution de tous les différents paquets qu’on met en avant, il faut bien mettre la priorité sur les choses. Bien regarder quelle est la séquence à utiliser, je pense, aidera à réaliser le Pacte vert et aidera aussi à avoir le soutien de notre population européenne. Mijnheer Bourgeois, mijnheer Annemans, ik hoor u beiden hetzelfde vertellen. Ik moet zeggen, ik ben naar Straatsburg gekomen en ik dacht dat ik in Brussel gebleven was. Van beiden heb ik níéts gehoord over waar deze Europese Unie naartoe moet gaan. Blijkbaar hebben uw beide partijen geen mening over wat Europese politiek zou moeten betekenen. Nochtans lijkt het mij een zeer belangrijk beleidsdomein te zijn. Maar u heeft hier beiden de gelegenheid gehad en heeft niets verteld over welke richting het Europees debat uit zou moeten gaan. Dat is ontstellend, maar het geeft misschien een stuk transparantie aan de Belgen over waar uw prioriteit ligt. En uw prioriteit ligt duidelijk niet hier. Dat is jammer, maar het is een realiteit. As I said, there is a broad range of things that we will do in our presidency. Many of you have mentioned the fact that competitiveness is high on the agenda and the functioning of the internal market is a crucial one. The European reform agenda is one in which the priorities are ‘how do we finance, how do we make our decisions?’  The debate on fundamental rights and on the rule of law touches at the core of what we are as a European Union. I think, listening to some of you, it is more important than ever to defend that democracy where we are allowed to have different opinions and where we respect the fact that different opinions are at the core of democracy. I think that, in the world of today, it is good not to be alone. Are we happy to be a club of 27 that defend one another in a world that is more turbulent than ever? That is, for me, the conclusion: democracy, also in Europe, is working together. Working together is not always a beauty contest. Sometimes it is hard work. It is hard work, but that is what people expect from us. That is what people expect from democracies. It is hard work, but let us deliver on the expectations from our population. Let us make Europe a better place for future generations. That is our duty. That is what our presidency will work on. That is my commitment, and I hope I can count on this European Parliament in that incredibly important endeavour.