In just a few days, negotiations around the recovery plan and a revamped MFF will resume at EU leaders’ level. Socialists and democrats are pushing for an agreement to be reached without delay.
Meeting Chair and German Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, said:
“These discussions must conclude quickly so we can get the recovery moving – we cannot afford hesitation when we should be putting in place support for Member States and their citizens, public services and businesses. It is imperative that we reach a deal this year, so the instruments and the MFF start running on time. Countries must be able to use both by 2021.
“The Franco-German Initiative, followed by the Commission’s proposals are a good starting point to achieve this. We now have the right base to put progressive policies into action. We can implement the European Green Deal and strengthen the digital transition, whilst at the same time supporting the European Pillar of Social Rights, gender equality and fiscal sustainability.
“We are pushing for strong links between the recovery instrument, the MFF and our priorities, such as climate, innovation, social cohesion, digitalisation and the rule of law. Creating new own resources will be pivotal to the sustainability and success of the recovery instrument.”
The meeting also discussed the ongoing negotiations around the future EU-UK relationship.
Michael Roth added:
“The clock is ticking on the Brexit negotiations. If a deal is to be reached before we hit the deadline at the end of this year, we really need to see more progress. We need to see the UK working constructively towards a deal. There can be no backtracking on the level-playing field or time wasting. The UK has always been a valued partner and we hope sufficient progress will be made in the negotiations for this to continue.”
The ministers also discussed priorities for the upcoming German Presidency and the Trio presidency program of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia for the coming 18 months.
The meeting was attended by:
- Michael Roth, Chair and Minister of State for Europe, Germany
- Tytti Tuppurainen, Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering, Finland
- Vincenzo Amendola, Minister of European Affairs, Italy
- Ana Paula Zacarias, State Secretary for European Affairs, Portugal
- Hans Dahlgren, Minister of EU Affairs, Sweden
- Maros Sefcovic, Vice President on Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, European Commission
- Iratxe Garcias Perez, President of the S&D Group, MEP, European Parliament
- Frazer Clarke, Deputy Secretary General of the S&D Group, European Parliament
- Yonnec Polet, Deputy Secretary General, PES
