The Conference of Presidents (Roberta METSOLA, EP President and leaders of political groups) meet in Prague to prepare with the Czech Council Presidency, starting from 1 July this year. Roberta METSOLA, EP President and Petr FIALA, Prime Minister of Czech Republic, hold a joint press conference to explain the main priorities of the incoming Czech presidency.

EP conference of presidents

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

EU - Czechia (T)

Czech Presidency of the EU (T)

Prague

president's agenda

Press conference by Roberta METSOLA, EP President and Petr FIALA, Prime Minister of Czech Republic on the incoming Czech Republic presidency

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Petr FIALA , Prime Minister of Czech Republic, It is the first event under our Presidency that builds on yesterday's presentation of our priorities, of out motto and so on. I highly appreciate the approach of the president Mestola vis-a-vis de Czech Republicand the Czech Presidency. We have met a couple of times in Brussels during the European Council meeting and the recommendations and approach of the president helped us a lot during our preparations. It is very important because the Council and the European Parliament are partners in the EU processes. So it is key for us to exchange the views, our expectations before our presidency and to decide how to help each other.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Petr FIALA , Prime Minister of Czech Republic, We have had a very open and thorough discussion with the members of the Conference of Presidents when we were speaking about the priorities of the Czech presidency and the challenges the EU faces now. And we are aware of the fact that challenges due to the Russian aggression in Ukraine influence our presidency and increase the expectations in our presidency.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Petr FIALA , Prime Minister of Czech Republic, We adapted our priorities that we presented yesterday accordingly. And this was an important part of our discussion today with the members and representatives of the political groups of the European Parliament. The most important topics that we discussed, of course, Ukraine and all the related issues, we discussed the steps to be taken to support Ukraine in the nearest future. And also we were discussing long term or mid-term perspectives.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Petr FIALA , Prime Minister of Czech Republic, Our goal, if possible, is to deal with the post war reconstruction in Ukraine. So this was a topic that was highly appreciated. And also we discussed about the status of a candidate country granted to Ukraine. We discussed other issues related to enlargement, for example, how to approach the states of the Western Balkans in this respect.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Petr FIALA , Prime Minister of Czech Republic, We discussed also the energy security in Europe, which concerns every each citizen of the EU and we discovered that the very important voting in the European Parliament relating to taxonomy will be carried out on the same day when I will be presenting our priorities to the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Petr FIALA , Prime Minister of Czech Republic, I highlighted a lot how important to some countries, including the Czech Republic, is that the proposed taxonomy may be improved to be able to develop our energy mix, including the nuclear energy as we need. We tackled also other priorities that we defined for our presidency, apart from the refugee crisis that we discussed in very detail and besides Ukraine and energy security and the post-war situation, we also discussed the defence, strengthening and resilience of the European economy and resilience of the European democratic institutions.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Petr FIALA , Prime Minister of Czech Republic, To summarise the discussion, we all realise that despite our political differences, it is important for the EU to be unified in key matters to show that we share the same values that we have and pursue the same goals. And with respect, such a big challenge, such as the Russian aggression in Ukraine, that we are willing and able to proceed jointly.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Petr FIALA , Prime Minister of Czech Republic, The role of the European Parliament is key in this, and it is important for the European institutions to be unified and to be viewed and perceived as unified. And the success of our presidency does not depend only on our government and on the Council, but also it depends on the cooperation with other institutions. So I am happy that this visit does not end here, but it will continue with a discussion with the members of our parliament.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Petr FIALA , Prime Minister of Czech Republic, And also I discovered that the president will discuss with our students, university students, which is important because these young people will shape the future of all of Europe. I think that our discussion has been very useful. And yes, the discussion was open. I had a feeling that we are understood that our priorities are welcomed. And I was assured by representatives of the political groups that they wish us a lot of luck and that they that they will support us. And I hope that in cooperation with the European Parliament, we will manage it. Thank you. And now I would like to give the floor to Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Thank you, dear Prime Minister Fiala, for the invitation and this opportunity for the Conference of Presidents, which is the leadership of all the political groups in the European Parliament, to meet with you and your government here in Prague. Meeting with the incoming presidency of the Council prior to the start of the presidency is a long standing tradition and is crucial to lay the ground for successful cooperation between our institutions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, It is the first visit that I am conducting since I was elected president of the European Parliament, but over the past few months, myself and you, dear Prime Minister, have had many occasions to exchange our views and also work hand in hand. Both with regards to the war in Ukraine and also all the economic priorities, social impacts of the consequences that we are now facing in a very, very important and crucial time for your presidency.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, We look very much forward as a parliament, and this was echoed by all the political groups working very closely with the Czech government and today's meetings will allow us to hit the ground running as soon as it starts on the 1st of July, because the way we react in the next months will define the future of our common Europe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I mentioned a few of the priorities, I would say that the timing of this presidency is crucial for two reasons. Firstly, it comes at a time when the European Union faces the challenges posed by Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine. The current security and geopolitical situation is likely to have an exceptional impact on the work of the presidency. And this will include continued military, financial, political and humanitarian support. And it will also include more long term actions, such as securing Ukraine's place within our European family and starts to plan for reconstruction. This is why the next few days are extremely important.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And next week at the European Council, I will once again state with the fullest of conviction and an unprecedented unity within the European Parliament that we support the candidate status of Ukraine to join as a member of the European Union. But then we also have to start looking at securing not only the place, but also the plan for reconstruction. It will fall to the Czech Presidency to ensure that we do not allow war fatigue to set in. And also on this, you will have the full support of the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Secondly, at present, we still have to overcome the consequences of a global pandemic. This was mentioned by a number of colleagues and also address the economic and social consequences of this crisis. We still need to make a lot of progress on the green and digital transitions. We are, as you mentioned, called legislators. So our core mandate also now kicks in, when we need to negotiate together as a Council and a Parliament some of the most far reaching and ambitious digital and climate legislation on the planet.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And on this, I would like to say that for the Fit for 55 package in our climate ambitions, it is important that we do not lose momentum because our climate goals are as much about security as about saving our planet. We literally cannot afford to miss this opportunity. And it is also an issue that we will continue to discuss this afternoon with your members of the national parliament and the Senate and this afternoon, in our discussion with the students. This is something that I very much value in all my visits to different parts of the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, We are also looking, first of all, at 2024 as the next election of the European Parliament, but also at a time when there has been unprecedented support of you. Look at the past 15 years or even when we go back all the way to when our countries joined the European Union on the same day, which we will also be celebrating 20 years of just before the European elections, as a time when our citizens are saying that they want more Europe, that they think Europe was there during the pandemic and that Europe is here during the current crisis that we are facing.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, It is now up to us. It falls to us and our coordination and leadership in order to deliver into concrete, tangible results for our citizens so that we can really face them in 2024 with the results that we can be proud of as Europeans.

Q&A, regarding the priorities of the Czech presidency and the situation in Ukraine.

Q&A, about the possibility of the European Union having a special crisis manager dealing with the current situation.

Q&A, on the Czech presidency's priority to boost the economic resilience of the Union.

Q&A, about the visit of President Macron, Prime Minister Draghi and Chancellor Scholz in Ukraine.