During the plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels (08-10 July 2020), MEPs debate the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 19 June 2020. Extracts from the statements by Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Siegfried MUREȘAN (EPP, RO), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), and Johan VAN OVERTVELDT (ECR, BE).

Brussels

statement

debate

plenary session

LAMBERTS, Philippe (Greens/EFA, BE)

economic growth (T)

ŠEFČOVIČ, Maroš (SK, EC)

GARCÍA PÉREZ, Iratxe (S&D, ES)

MICHEL, Charles (BE)

MUREŞAN, Siegfried (EPP, RO)

VAN OVERTVELDT, Johan (ECR, BE)

Multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 (T)

economic situation in Europe (T)

European Council meeting 19 June 2020 (T)

special meeting of the European Council 17-21 July 2020 (T)

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 19 June 2020: extracts from the debate

Title: Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 19 June 2020: extracts from the debate

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, First of all, regarding the size of a forthcoming European budget there are different opinions on the acceptable level. And the second point link to the first one is the issue of the rebates. This is essential for some member states, for others, this no longer applies. And this is certainly one of the subjects that we have to count on in the context of a potential general agreement. The third point is the level of the recovery fund. You are familiar with the proposal from the Commission. Not all the member states share the view that the amount proposed is acceptable.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, I think that we can conclude that part of the member states want to cooperate more than others, but I think that it is vital. With this unprecedented debt crisis, that cooperation between European democratic institutions should also rise to the challenge in an unprecedented way.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, If we act decisively, we can find opportunity in this disaster. But for that, we need the right tools for the job. As you know, I often say that this chamber is the heartbeat of European democracy, a place where the policy is debated and shaped. But no matter how much we talk about the political priorities, we must have the money to implement that.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Together with the United Kingdom, we recently took stock of the ongoing negotiations where we jointly stressed that a willingness to undertake all possible efforts to come to an agreement.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, The simple truth is that negotiations will end in a few months one way or another. So if we are to reach an agreement, we will have to resolve a number of serious divergences on fundamental issues.These relate to the robust guarantees for a level playing field, a balanced agreement on fisheries and an effective governance framework. You, of course, know this points very well and you know that they are important for us because of the principles of the fair competition, the protection of our citizens, principles which are at the very heart of our Union. We will do everything possible to reach an agreement. But here too time is very short and no one can say with certainty where the negotiation will lead us by the end of the year.

SOUNDBITE (English), Siegfried MURE&#536;AN (EPP, RO), We are listening to you, we are worried and we do not agree with you. We are worried because you are not informing and not involving the Parliament in the talks of the budget as you should, because this House is a budgetary authority and we cannot agree with you because you are going to propose a smaller budget for a European Union that has to do more and simply we cannot do more with a smaller budget. The EU budget is not magic beans, which becomes bigger, just when the members of the European Council will look at it. And I have to be clear, the European Parliament can only give it its consent on the MFF if the MFF were financed properly, what we have jointly agreed.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Iratxe GARC&#205;A P&#201;REZ (S&amp;D, ES), We simply cannot allow ourselves to go back to the austerity policies. We need to have very strict compliance when it comes to the rule of law and how the funds would be used. Young people, those who are least hard hit by the virus, but who feel the economic consequences the most, the pandemic cannot just be an excuse for us to ignore inequality. We need to look at the European social policy we have. We need to implement the childhood guarantee as well. And an European unemployment insurance.

SOUNDBITE (English), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), Are we going to end up indebted and then spend this money without a purpose? It could be wasted through tax breaks or whatever else it might be. And then is the issue of conditionality. And I think it is something that's very important. Conditionality should operate in terms of democracy, the rule of law and useful investments. And what could be more useful than to invest in the countries that have been hardest hit, but also in instruments that can help improve the economy of the whole continent. Therefore it could mean investments towards the transition to a more environmentally friendly economy and the digital economy.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Johan VAN OVERTVELDT (ECR, BE), I think the negotiations on the MFF should focus on the recovery of the economy and on innovative programs. Regarding the negotiations on the MFF, the Parliament for a while now and ever more so, has expressed its position.The parliament is unanimous in supporting this. So all players, the Commission and the Council are being urged to do their best to avoid an interinstitutional blockade.