MEPs discuss the outcome of the Special European Council of 1 February, with Charles Michel, President of the European Council and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. The special summit was about finding an agreement on the mid-term review of the EU’s long-term 2021-2027 budget (multiannual financial framework, MFF) and a €50 billion financial aid package for Ukraine. Opening statements by the Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council and Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

MICHEL, Charles (BE)

VON DER LEYEN, Ursula (DE, EC)

special meeting of the European Council 1 February 2024 (T)

Conclusions of the special European Council meeting of 1 February 2024: opening statements by the Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council and Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Madam President, colleagues. Unity and Leadership, that has been the message of the last two European Councils with two major decisions taken. Firstly, in December, the decision to open negotiations with Ukraine to give Ukraine candidate status. And more recently at the last European Council just a few days ago, it was decided to grant &euro;50 billion to support Ukraine in macro financial terms for the next four years. And that was a decision taken by the 27 and within the European Union budget, and that shows our determination not to be intimidated by Russia, which has brutally violated Ukraine's sovereignty and international law.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Our decision is to be resolute, to be unwavering, to support Ukraine as long as it is necessary, because we understand well that supporting Ukraine, supporting the Ukrainian people is also in the interests of our peace and security. And where there are doubts and suspicions, let me say that every euro mobilised to support Ukraine is a euro invested in our security and our prosperity in the stability of the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Finally, this European Council decision is a message to all of those who have faith in democratic values and freedom partners. This is a way of supporting Ukraine, supporting Ukrainians, and I want to appeal to the United States House of Representatives to release the $60 billion necessary to guarantee the financial stability of Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Finally, dear friends, this European Council has also devoted attention to other European Union priorities. We wanted to identify the 14 billion additional money to manage external migration and competitiveness, technology and the ability to respond in the event of natural disasters. Moreover, defence and the increase in interest rates, which has an effect on the European budget.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, 'The very important topic for the most to come and is is the military support for Ukraine. We all understand, and we had an in-depth debate on this topic that is is urgent. To support Ukraine with more arms, with more ammunition, with more air defence systems. We made a promise to Ukraine: more ammunition, 1 million rounds. And we must deliver on this fundamental promise that we made all together in the European Council.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Finally, remember that we've decided to put in place a new tool, a new mechanism, the European Peace Facility. And this mechanism is extremely useful to support Ukraine. You just used it a lot, but we see that this needed to reform this mechanism. And based on the proposal put on the table by the High Representative, we have decided to continue to make more progress.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, It would be needed probably to add more money in this mechanism. It will also need, I think, to shift from a reimbursement approach, which was the basis of this mechanism to an approach more based on joint procurements, with also the aim to support more our European defence on the one hand, but also to be more effective, more quick in our support for Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Another important topic we've discussed many times in the past, including in this chamber, this is a frozen asset and here we have made significant progress and if asked to our ministers to continue and to finalise the work on this important topic. And finally, once again, we feel that we must not give up and we must do everything which is possible in order to make it possible for us to impeach Russia to circumvent our sanctions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, 'Listen, gentlemen, dear colleagues, we had another in-depth debate during the European Council last week, and this about the Middle East.  I want to repeat our resolute condemnation of the heinous, brutal attack by Hamas on the 7th of October. And I want to restate our call for all prisoners to be liberated without preconditions.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, There are three points which form part of our strategic discussion. Firstly, the need to do everything to prevent regional escalation. That's a danger which is out there. There is a serious security problem in the Red Sea, which also constitutes an economic problem for the world. And the High Representative, along with several European countries and our partners, are working very hard to prevent regional escalation.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Then the humanitarian situation. Every civilian life counts and every civilian life must be respected. International law preventing double standards. That means being resolute and determined to deal with this question of access for humanitarian aid, food, medicines, fuel. This is vital. It is vital to continue working with those who are doing this difficult work on the ground.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, And then colleagues around the table referred to the need for proper investigations, for a proper investigation to be carried out into the allegation against UNWRA, which is an organisation which does, after all, have 13,000 employees.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, And then another issue discussed in depth, which will no doubt come up again in the months ahead, is the peace process and the two state solution. The European Union never hesitated, never doubted. We have always been consistent in our approach to this question. We are committed and High Representative Borrell has made proposals a roadmap.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, You don't have to be in agreement with the entire roadmap, but it serves as the basis for a discussion with our partners, including the Arab countries in the region. And it is important to work towards peace, which is important for Israel and the other countries in the region.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, In Europe, our DNA is infused with international cooperation and it is vital for us always to be resolute and determined in standing up for international law. There cannot be double standards. Accepting double standards would mean

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, us losing influence, and it is our influence which enables us to be consistent and coherent. And a final point I want to mention colleagues. It was not on the formal agenda of the European Council, but it's a point on which we had an exchange of views and that is agriculture and the situation of farmers across Europe.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, In various European countries, the farmers have expressed anger and anxiety and worry, and it's our duty to listen, to hear what they're saying and see what we can do to answer those calls. The farmers are a key contributors to our security, notably our food security. They are also key to the climate transition. Farmers deserve respect for the enormous work that they do in our interest, and it's important that there is fairness. It's important to reduce stifling bureaucracy, and it's important to apply the same standards across the board. And I'm sure that the European Parliament is interested in this question.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, We've taken measures on fallow land and the European Commission has taken measures and I hope that those measures will continue in the agri food sector and we support the taskforce the round table, the strategic dialogue, which is going to cover all of these questions of concern. We are committed to the Common Agricultural Policy, which is vital to Europe.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, The European Council has delivered on its responsibility to preserve European unity. It's not always easy. It requires tenacity of effort. It's not always possible instantly to see progress happening. But you will have seen over the past few weeks we've been building strategic autonomy. We've been developing Europe's strengths so that we can take the European project forward to give us greater influence, to give us more resilience and a better ability to defend our interests based on the values of personal dignity, freedom. And be this on Ukraine, enlargement, agriculture, the Middle East. The people of Europe have great expectations of us. Given what is at stake in the world at the present time. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission Thank you. Madam President,dear Roberta, Mr. President Michel. Honourable members much of the attention around the Special European Council has indeed focussed on our €50 billion Ukraine facility, and rightly so. We are providing Ukraine not only with the funding to keep the economy running, but also with a strong predictability for the next four years.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission This Parliament has backed our proposal from the very beginning and today I would like to thank you for your unwavering support. This is what it means to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. And with your approval, we will be able to make important payments to Ukraine as early as March.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission As we will discuss Ukraine in the next debate. Allow me to focus on other topics of the Special European Council. The Special European Council also agreed on the first ever, and I emphasise first ever, revision of our multiannual budget. It confirmed the priorities that the Commission presented back in June and I am very satisfied that we got 80% of the funding we had asked for.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission We had certainly some difficult choices to make, but we have a very good result now. We will now be able to step up our fight against irregular migration and better protect our external borders. We now have the means to engage even more with the countries of the Southern neighbourhood, and I am very glad that the growth plan for the Western Balkans is now on a solid, solid financing foot.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission We will also be able to improve our response to natural disasters in Member States and to humanitarian crises such as Gaza. And we step we will support critical technologies that are made in Europe. With this agreement, Europe has the financial resources to tackle some of the main challenges of this decade. And I would like to thank the European Parliament for your support so far. And of course I count on your agreement.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission Honourable Members, Why the European Council was in session. Farmers from across Europe were taking to the streets. Many of them feel pushed into a corner. Farmers are the first in line, feeling the effects of climate change. Droughts and floods have destroyed the harvest and threatened their livestock. Farmers are feeling the impact of the Russian war, inflation, the rising costs of energy, the rising cost of fertilisers. Nevertheless, they work hard every day to produce the quality food we eat. And for this I think we owe them appreciations and thanks and respect.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission And it is true. Issues have escalated in recent years. Our farmers deserve to be listened too. I know that they are worried about the future of agriculture and about their future as farmers. But they also know that agriculture needs to move to a more sustainable model of production so that their farms remain profit able in the years to come.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission And we want to make sure that in this process the farmers remain in the driving seat. And this is why we launched the Strategic Dialogue on the future of Agriculture in the European Union. We have invited a broad scope of representatives of the farming sectors, the young farmers, the rural communities, the seed and fertiliser industry, the food sector, the processing sector, but also the financial sector, the cooperative banking sector, the consumers and environmental groups and of course science.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission We need to analyse the situation together to share ideas and most importantly, to develop scenarios for the future. We need to move beyond a polarised debate and to create trust. Trust is the crucial basis for viable solutions and there is a lot at stake for all of us. Our European food production system is unique. The products in our supermarkets reflect the variety of our cultures and traditions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission Europe has the healthiest and the highest quality food in the world. Thanks to our farmers and they play a central role in this system and of course they must be paid fairly for that. And it is true that we provide huge support to this sector. Our common agricultural policy is supported massively by the EU budget.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission Money is important, but it is not everything. Healthy natural resources are also key to maintaining high yields and in particular, fertile soils has always been the backbone of our farmers livelihood. And we know that 60 to 70% of soils in Europe are now in poor condition. We can reverse these trends, and many farmers are precisely doing that. But we need to do more.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission Now, effective natural protection must offer generation generous incentives for intervening. Farmers need a worthwhile business case for nature enhancing measures. Perhaps we have not made that case convincingly. A real incentive that goes beyond mere loss of yields is required. Public subsidies can provide those incentives and, for example, premium labelling and cooperation with retailers and processors.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission In other words, nature conservation can only be successful through a bottom up and incentive based approach, because only if our farmers can live off their land will they invest in the future. And only if we achieve our climate and environmental goals together will farmers be able to continue to make a living. Our farmers are well aware of this and we should place more trust in them.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission And let me give you one example. The commission proposed Sure, which is the worthy aim to reduce the risks of chemical plant protection products. But the Sure proposal has become a symbol of polarisation. It has been rejected by the European Parliament. There is no progress anymore in the Council either. So we have to do something and that is why I will propose to the College to withdraw this proposal.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission But of course the topic stays and to move forward, and to move forward more dialogue and a different approach is needed. And on this basis, the Commission could make a new proposal with much more matured content and with the stakeholders together.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission Honourable Members, The months ahead will not be easy, but I think we have an important opportunity now. It is clear to everyone in this House that our agri food sectors, beginning with the farms, needs a long term prospect. And a willingness to listen to each other and to look for common solutions. We need to avoid the blame game and to find solutions for problems together.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission The report from the Strategic Dialogue of the Future of Agriculture and the European Union is to be tabled by late summer and it will be enormously important. The results and the recommendations from this dialogue will be discussed in Parliament and with the Member States, and they will form the foundation of our future agricultural policy. Thank you for your attention.