As President of the Council, Belgium leads the European agenda and promote cooperation among the Member States in the following six months. Their aim is to strengthen the European Union and make progress in several areas, such as rule of law, democracy, green and just transition or social and health agenda. MEPs discuss with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo the programme of Belgium’s six-month Council Presidency, which started on 1 January. Arrivals and opening statement by Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament. The transcription is the result of an automatic process. Please, check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

ŠEFČOVIČ, Maroš (SK, EC)

EU - Belgium (T)

DE CROO, Alexander (BE)

Belgian Presidency of the EU (T)

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Belgian Presidency: opening statement by Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/74105415/1704969445723_I251284Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDIBTE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Good morning, everybody. Good morning, dear colleagues. Dear Prime Minister De Croo. On the 1st of January, we welcomed Belgium at the helm of the Council of the European Union. And today, it is a pleasure to have with us Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. Prime Minister, Dear Alexander, welcome to the European Parliament. The Belgian Presidency will be the one that closes off this legislature. And as we head into the final busy months, the European Parliament is ready to deliver on what our citizens expect from our European Union.

SOUNDIBTE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Since the last European Parliament elections, we have adopted groundbreaking laws to make Europe fairer, more competitive, and fit for the digital age. We have overcome pandemics. We have addressed our climate obligations and come together in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. We have given a real European perspective to Moldova and to Ukraine and to the Western Balkans. We have passed legislation that makes our people safer, more equal, more prosperous, and our children better able to fulfil their potential. So we are really living up to the promise of Europe. But there is still much work to do.

SOUNDIBTE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, The next months under the Belgian presidency will be critical, particularly on migration. We are on the cusp of a historic agreement, and I know Belgium's commitment to get this over the line. Just a few weeks ago, our Conference of Presidents met you, dear Alexander, together with members of the Belgian government, we held a forward looking pro-European exchange.

SOUNDIBTE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, It is in that same pragmatic spirit that the European Parliament will continue to work with the Belgian presidency. Dear Prime Minister, your country's presidency comes at a crucial time in European history. We will rely on the famous Belgian ability to find compromise on difficult topics, and we are confident that we will find a way forward that citizens will recognise before the elections in June. Prime Minister De Croo, the floor is yours.