Exceptionally, the plenary session takes place in Brussels instead of Strasbourg because of concerns linked to the spread of the coronavirus. During the session which has been shortened to one day - Tuesday 10 March, Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, and Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, make the opening statement on the debate on the conclusions of the special European Council meeting of 20 February 2020 on the Multiannual Financial framework (MFF).

Brussels

statement

debate

plenary session

ŠEFČOVIČ, Maroš (SK, EC)

MICHEL, Charles (BE)

Multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 (T)

extraordinary meeting of the European Council 20 February 2020 (T)

Conclusions of the special European Council meeting of 20 February 2020 on the Multiannual Financial framework: opening statements by Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, and by Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, European Council President, Madam la Pr&eacute;sidente, thank you for giving me this opportunity again to take the floor and to have this occasion to exchange with the European Parliament and thank you also for your understanding, because this afternoon we will have an important video conference with the 27 member states about Coronavirus. And we need to prepare this meeting this is why I would be able to stay more than 30 minutes with you in European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, European Council President, But of course, I will follow the different points of view expressed by the members of the European Parliament. In one word, if I may first of all, Coronavirus. A word about Coronavirus. First of all, on behalf of the council, I'd like to express our full support for those people who have directly or indirectly been affected by this situation.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, European Council President, The European Council is taking the serious very seriously in which the EU, the member states in the world, find themselves today in preparing for this video conference. To take place soon.  We will flag up the need to flat to increase considerably the European capability and ability to coordinate to face down this challenge.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, European Council President, We need Europe present and working alongside the member states and all players to try and coordinate action, to contain and drive back this virus and to ensure that we can show more solidarity alongside each other when it comes to equipment, the medical products, we need to fend off this threat. All that needs to be put in motion.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, European Council President, We need to move research and innovation on. We need to come up with a vaccine which will help us win this battle that we face now. And lastly, I won't fail to mention the economic consequences today and the measures that we can take today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to ensure that we can reduce the adverse impact as far as possible on our citizens economically and also socially.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, European Council President, I'd like to use this message to say the council wishes to be fully stuck in with all partners, including, of course, the European Parliament and the Commission, the European Central Bank and the European Investment Bank. So that we can stand shoulder to shoulder when the EU is facing a challenge of this scale. The only option is to roll up our sleeves and stand foursquare beside.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, European Council President, Each other budget. And as you know, I made a promise to you in parliament two to try as much as possible to true spirit, which the European Parliament in this difficult political process. Is it possible to agree a sword is possible in order to decide the next European budget. We had meetings at the summit a few weeks ago in February, and unfortunately it was not possible to reach an agreement because between the member states.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, I have to recognize and to observe that there are different opinions at the moment. On the one hand, for some member states, it's important to stick with this idea that we have to maintain one percent of the GNI as a overall level for the next European budget.  For other member states it's not enough.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, For other member states it's important to have the guarantee that is possible in the future to continue significant support for the convergence policy like cohesion, like agriculture, the modernization of the budget. It's also an important topic. I think you important not to oppose, to avoid to oppose the traditional policies, more economic and social trend voters at the European level and at the same time to be able to face the new challenges.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, We need to face like climate change, like the digital agenda, like migration, like security, like defence. It means that we need to continue all the political efforts and now will continue the consultation with the different member states that represented to assess where it's possible to come back in a new summit with the goal to try to wish an agreement.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Some other polls conditionality rule floor important signal for the European Parliament, but not only for European Parliament, for many member states in my nego box that I put on the table, I've proposed to organize a link between the rule of law conditionality in the rule of law, the governance and the next European budget.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, But we need to transition discussion, for example, about which giant of majority we need to take,  a concrete decision on resources is also on the table. And I know that in European parliament you made many decisions on this topic. In my nego box I made some concrete proposals regarding the possibility to take a decision regarding the plastic waste constitution or regarding the possibility to enlarge at the open level the E.T.S system.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, I gave also in my proposal of nego box, other examples of possible measures we can take and we can discuss with the different actors and especially with the European Parliament. For many member states, the plastic waste, the contribution is possible for some member states. The E.T.S system. We made some senge very complex, very difficult, and we will continue discussions on these different topics.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, One last information, one last important point in my opinion. I have also put on the table a proposal to increase the capital of the European Investment Bank. I am very clear in my opinion, it doesn't replace the role of the next European budget, but it is something more in order to give the possibility in the future for the digital agenda, for example, for climate change, for example, to use more European investment.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, And it may need a boost. You have probably seen it. I've proposed to strengthen the possibility for the parliament or European parliament to cooperate, to be more involved in order to be an important player, in order to identify what would be the possible priorities if the member states would agree to increase sooner or later the capital of the European Investment Bank.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Just a few points when it comes to this draft European budget. On several occasions I've had the opportunity for a very direct debate, in particular with MEP in the contact group on the MFF. I've set out that I would present the nego box produced before the European summit and to be discussed with the heads of state and government.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, I intend to keep this link up with the European Parliament. In Council there need to be unanimity, but I never forget the Parliament must speak out on this topic both as regards the figures in the nego box, but also as regards the legislative process linked to it, not just on the matter of own resources either. Lastly, may I say something briefly.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Madam President, in connection with the current situation. Obviously we are contending with a number of parallel challenges. You know that in recent days we have been mobilized alongside the president of the Parliament and of the Commission to try to enable ourselves to take action on migration.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, You know, the rates have increased in recent days on the Greek Turkish border. That's why we travelled to the location. We thought it was important not just to remain in Brussels, but to visit in the field to see what the situation was and to express solidarity with the Greek authorities who are protecting the Greek border, which is also the European border.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, And to do that in respect for international law and human dignity and human rights. That's a very clear message. I wanted to express on the Greek Turkish border. Also last week, I was able to make a very brief trip to Turkey to meet President Erdogan, to be able to discuss implementation with him of the agreement between the EU and Turkey. That goes back to 2016 following those talks.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, We encouraged a diminishing of the tension at the Greek Turkish border and also the borders with Bulgaria and Cyprus. And we then had a meeting between my team and Erdogan's team to try and take dialogue forward and to ensure that we mobilize behind implementation of the 26 agreement as a priority before being able to look ahead to the future and how we can cooperate on migration with that country.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, So, Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, those was the messages I wanted to convey to you. I regret that I cannot be with you for longer today. But of course, my advisors will pass on the messages which you send. And of course, on the basis of the treaty, we must respect the roles of the different institutions. And in so doing, I would express the wish to cooperate faithfully with your institution, which of course emanates from election by universal suffrage. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, President. Mr President. Honourable Members of the European Parliament. It's my honour to deliver these remarks on behalf of the Commission's President Madam Ursula Von der Leyen who is in urgent contact with the heads of state and government to coordinate their response to current coronavirus crisis.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, As President Michel has just referred to. I also would like to assure you that the commission is working flat out to find the best solution how to tackle not only the health, but also economic and financial aspects of the current crisis. And of course it would be excellent and in the interests of the European citizens if it could today discussed the achievement of the European Council to reach agreement on the long term budget.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, To allow you to scrutinise the results and move forward. We all know that this was not to be. And this, of course, is disappointing. The failure to agree will now in any even mean that many programs can at least and at best only be implemented very partially next year. However, looking at the history of the multiannual framework, it always needed at least two European summits to find an agreement. It will therefore be crucial to make the second summit a success and to do it fast.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, We, the European Commission, call on leaders to draw the lessons not just from their deliberations, but also from your contribution and most of all, from the challenges in the real world that have been intensifying over the past days and have been on a stark display on the borders of the European Union. It is time for a realism, reason and responsibility, realism.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, First, leaders have seen how difficult the discussions are. It is, therefore, now the high time that all and they sense for some of the realities that should govern our work. That requires recognizing these things. At first, we are facing a financial gap caused by Brexit of seventy five billion euros. This means that we all need to face up to this reality.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Member states' contribution to the budget will have to rise, while expenditures will have to be constrained. Secondly, as the European Parliament, the commission also is convinced that we need a budget tailored to achieving our common goals with a sufficient overall size. Follow this logic. And we will fail to deliver on what citizens expect. While national budgets will simply end up having to pay for these costs.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, And we know that this is the road that leads to nowhere. Crucially, we cannot close our eyes to the challenges in the real world that we need to address together. The challenges for migrations and borders, for treating people in wretched circumstances. The minimum of human dignity need no further illustrations. After last week's event, leaders from the right across the union have pleaded for the European approach.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Yet in the negotiations on the MFF of these worrisomely, there is a limiting funds available for borders, migration and external action. And this is simply not acceptable. The MFF is not an accounting exercise or a simple numbers game. This is about equipping the union with the resources to solve the real life problems. And may I add, save real lives.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, That reality will need to sink in much deeper as we approach the next round. And we in the commission will not accept an outcome that does not reflect this. Having our common priorities in mind, we have no time to lose. It is truly time for reason and cool headedness. At this moment, we have three options. The better, the sub-optimal and the worst. The better option is reaching a balanced agreement very soon. This is still possible, but we are already very late.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Last time, we achieved a deal in the council in early February and the final agreement only in December. Therefore, 2014 meant a lost year for some programmes, something we need to avoid this time. But it also implies that even a in our best case scenario, we are already under massive time pressure. Many of our policies will at best restart at the end of 2021. The better scenario, therefore, is already one that will come with serious challenges.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, The sub-optimal option would be a contingency plan rolling forward the existing budget programmes for another year. I know that too many of you were asking for for this since it would buy more time. But let me be very clear about the consequences. It would mean additional mini MFF of negotiations running in parallel with all the contentious issues on the table. The very same that are blocking progress on the MFF.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Attempting to find a solution along these lines would therefore absorb everyone's time, energy and focus. While we need all efforts to find a good agreement on the actual long term budget soon. It might well fail, in which case we end up with no result. Even if it didn't fail,w hat type of answer to structural challenges such as climate change, digitisation and external policies could we give with a one year budget?

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, What would this do for the credibility of the European Union? And worst of all, it would result in a budget without response to the new challenges. No just transition fund, no invest EU, no defence and digital agenda and lower climate ambition. The third option is the worst case tonight. No agreement would have severe consequences for all European it since it would leave us with the budget on a life support only allowing a limited number of policies to be funded.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, How could we explain to the students that there is no Erasmus? How could we tell the region? There is no cohesion, money. How would we explain to the citizens that Europe is unable to act when it comes to climate and digital challenges, or that it lacks the means to protect our common borders? Effectively? No agreement and no agreement in time would damage us all.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Now, therefore, is the time for responsibility to do everything to reach a good agreement as soon as possible to achieve this. We need to work together as a commission. We engaged from the beginning review and we encouraged the member states to listen to the European Parliament. We also agree with you that we need new resources to fund our ambitions. They are the win win solution which might help finding a compromise.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, When President Von der Leyen presented to the agenda for Europe that strikes for more, you as well as the member state promised the necessary support. Now is the time to give Europe the means to strive for more and to equip ourselves with sufficient shared resources. It is a time for everybody to recognise this and to stand up for realism. Reason and responsibility.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, We need an agreement on the next the long term EU budget to secure the necessary funds to be able to act together. And we need this agreement fast. We in the European Commission know we can count on you and let us work together with the European Council to make this Long-Term Budget a success for Europe and all Europeans. Thank you very much, madam President.