Merci cher Alexander,
C’est un grand plaisir pour moi d’être ici pour le lancement de la Présidence belge du Conseil. Et tout d’abord de pouvoir profiter un peu des trésors artistiques, culturels et historiques exceptionnels de Bruxelles. Car même si nous y vivons et travaillons tous les jours, hélas les occasions de profiter de ce patrimoine sont trop rares. La Présidence belge est donc la bienvenue pour nous rappeler le rôle exceptionnel de la Belgique dans l’histoire européenne. Et ce rôle continue avec cette Présidence qui arrive à un moment si important. Votre Présidence sera celle de la ligne d’arrivée pour de nombreux chantiers lancés pendant le mandat de ma Commission. Et je compte sur les talents de sprinters de la Belgique, connus mondialement grâce à vos champions cyclistes, pour gagner le sprint final. En effet, nous avons des dossiers importants à clôturer. Tous doivent contribuer aux objectifs de votre Présidence : protéger, renforcer, préparer – des priorités que je partage pleinement.
Let me start with the most strategic of these priorities: support for Ukraine. We all witnessed Russia’s recent brutal airstrikes on civilian targets in Ukraine. After the historic decision to launch accession negotiations with Ukraine, we must urgently move forward on stabilising our financial aid to the country. The Commission will come to the European Council with operational solutions to ensure that we can agree on the Ukraine Facility. Belgium will then have the key task of transforming the political agreement on the Facility through Council and Parliament as quickly as possible.
The Ukraine Facility is a central element of the revision of the multi-annual budget, but it is not the only one. We need to conclude the revision during the Belgian Presidency. This will give us the means to implement many of the policy priorities that we have identified and on which we have made progress. Take migration for example. With the recent political agreement on the Pact, we now have the basis for a new and effective policy. It will be important to bring these files now over the finish line.
Another example is competitiveness. I very much look forward to an agreement between Parliament and Council on our proposal for the Net-Zero Industry Act. This will provide our industry with a greatly improved regulatory framework to drive forward the green and digital transition.
Of course, competitiveness is a wide theme with many different angles. We also need modernised fiscal rules that help stimulate sustainable investment throughout Europe. The agreement in Council a few weeks ago was a very welcome step forward. Now I am confident that the Belgian Presidency can ensure an agreement with the Parliament before the end of this mandate.
We also need very strong social dialogue. First, because long-term competitiveness relies first and foremost on Europe’s main talent: And that is the people and their skills. Second, because competitiveness is a tool to ensure prosperity, and this is prosperity for all. So I am very much looking forward to the Val Duchesse Summit to discuss the future of work. And I share your objective to sign an interinstitutional declaration on Social Europe in La Hulpe, with a focus on a new drive for implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights. I am also very much looking forward to our discussions on the two reports you mentioned, the report by Enrico Letta on the Single Market and the report by Mario Draghi on competitiveness more generally. I am convinced that these reports will provide inspiration for new initiatives to reinforce our long-term competitiveness.
Dear Alexander,
One of your Presidency priorities is to prepare for the future. My College, entering its last year of mandate, will continue to work hard to do just that. Let me mention two points. We will come forward in particular with a communication on the 2040 climate targets. After the COP28 and the success of our European initiative for global targets on renewables and energy efficiency worldwide, it is important for the European Union to continue to set the standards and trends. And second, following the decisions of the last European Council, as you said, we must prepare for an enlarged Union. And before we get bigger, we have to get better. So during the Belgian Presidency, we will come forward with our roadmap for policy reviews, and I look forward to discussing them with you.
The European Union we both are striving for is a Union that delivers and a Union that empowers. So let us go to work.