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: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

Ms García Pérez and Ms Jongerius have reminded us how important it is to bear in mind that this health crisis, this pandemic, also has very dire social consequences, like possible social exclusion and poverty, and how important it is that we put in place policies where no one is left behind.  Yesterday, in this Chamber, I presented the Commission Work Programme for the next year. I would like to reassure the House that we are going to put enormous emphasis and focus on the Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights, where it would focus on the new European Child Guarantee and other important steps, which I believe would be very important for the future. We are already working on putting the first foundation stones on a new, stronger health union for Europe. We are proposing operational steps on how improve the work of our European Medicines Agency (EMA) and our European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), but also on founding the new advanced research biomedical BARDA agency, which I believe will help us not only to be at the cutting edge of research, but – if at any time in the future we are faced with the same challenges – will also mean that we have much faster and much better answers.  I agree with all of you who have been stressing the importance of citizen—to—citizen solidarity – support, but also responsibility – which we have to show to each of us. We can do much more in the European Union. We see how the SURE scheme was important for preserving jobs in Europe, and we can be encouraged by this first interest in European bonds, which I hope is a good indication of how this instrument can work well in the future, and not only of how we can finance the Next Generation EU, but also of how we can combine it well with the next multiannual financial perspective.  The calls, from many of you, to make sure that we negotiate in an honest and speedy way in order to make sure that we have these two powerful instruments at our disposal as of 1 January 2021 was absolutely crucial. I would like to reassure you that the Commission will do its utmost to get the co-legislators closer and to play the role of honest broker. We will be ready to assist in any way possible so that, as of the beginning of next year, we will have all financial instruments at our disposal and we can fund all the operations and all the programmes that we were discussing today. That would, as Mr Mureşan and Ms García Pérez have been calling for, also comprise new own resources. We are working on a roadmap which would cover a digital levy, a carbon border adjustment system, revision of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and some other measures which we know are very important, not only from the political and economic point of view, but also from the point of view of making sure that these new own resources will help us to fund the right and correct policies for the future.  I would say that almost every Member of the European Parliament who intervened today addressed the very important issue of our future partnership with our friends in the United Kingdom. I think that this debate clearly demonstrated strong trust and support for our chief negotiator, Michel Barnier. It’s well deserved, and, as they say in his country,  We know – and we listened to your very loud and clear position – that we are interested in this unprecedented partnership – the deepest that was ever negotiated – but not at any cost. Therefore, regarding the concerns of Mr Bourgeois, Mr Scholz and others on fisheries, I would just like to tell you that, without a fair deal on fisheries, there will be no fair deal on a trade agreement. It’s part of the deal. We know that, and this is how we are going to negotiate.  At the same time, I totally subscribe to the calls for urgency. Time is really flying by, and every day of lost negotiations is a day of lost opportunities to find the necessary compromises. Our chief negotiator and the President – and I was listening very carefully to the President of the European Council – have been very, very clear on that as well. Therefore. I would again underline that now it’s time for responsibility towards our citizens and towards peace and economic prosperity on the island of Ireland. This is what is at stake. This is what we have to bear in mind when negotiating.  I would also like to thank you for your support on the proper and timely implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement. Mr Cioloş and others made it very clear that there cannot be a new deal unless the last one is properly respected. It is very clear and very simple, and we all should understand it very well. At the same time, I have to say that this Monday I was encouraged because we had a good, constructive discussion with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Mr Gove. We are advancing very well on guaranteeing citizens’ rights, as we promised to UK and EU citizens in the Withdrawal Agreement. We agreed to maximise and intensify the frequency of our meetings at the level of the negotiators. We have also been providing clear political steer on what needs to be done to ensure that the Withdrawal Agreement is properly respected, implemented and operationalised. We will be very vigilant at every single step. I know that our British friends say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Therefore, let’s see how far we progress and what we can achieve between now and mid—November, when we agreed with Chancellor Gove to see each other again in the form of the next Joint Committee. I hope that this will assuage the concerns that were presented by Mr Kelly, Mr MacManus and Mr Hansen.  I would like to thank Ms Keller, Mr Urtasun and others for your support for our ambitious goal for our climate agenda. Yesterday, when I was presenting the Commission Work Programme for the next year, I made very clear reference to the very ambitious Fit for 55 chapter in our Commission Work Programme. I think, without any exaggeration, that this is the most ambitious host of measures we have ever presented in the area of climate goals, and I hope that – with your support – we will be able to achieve them. Concerning the right focus in the interventions of honourable Members, Ms Hautala, Mr Bullmann and Mr Zorrinho on Africa. As you know, one of our priorities when we started to work as a Commission was to develop our relationship with our African partners, based on the Strategy with Africa, and I would underline the word ‘with’ because we really want to have a deep partnership. That was behind the first trip of our President, which she took to Africa and behind our efforts in development of a deeper and stronger partnership with our African partners. The clear example of this is that, if we are talking about vaccines, we are talking about vaccines for all – including for our partners in Africa. I know that Africa is something that is very close to the heart of the President of the European Council, who very wisely put it up for discussion among the European leaders, and he got a lot of support for that.