During the plenary session (23-24 June 2021) in the European Parliament in Brussels, MEPs debate on the preparation of the European Council meeting 24-25 June 2021 and relaunch of the Malta Declaration. Opening statements by Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese State Secretary for European Affairs and President in office of the Council of the European Union, and Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight. This transcription speech is the result of an automatic process. Check against delivery.

Brussels

statement

debate

plenary session

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

ŠEFČOVIČ, Maroš (SK, EC)

ZACARIAS, Ana Paula (PT)

new pact on asylum and migration (T)

European Council meeting 24-25 June 2021 (T)

Preparation of the European Council meeting 24-25 June 2021 and Relaunch of the Malta Declaration: opening statements by Ana Paula ZACARIAS and Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ

SOUNDBITE (Original), Rainer WIELAND, EP Vice-President, Next point on the agenda is the joint debate on the preparation of the European Council and the relaunch of the Malta declaration. So we will have statements from the Commission and Council for this summit on the 24th and 25th of June. This is looking at the relaunch of the Malta declaration and an effective solidarity mechanism, there will be no catch the eye or blue cards in this debate. And we will have some people connecting from European Parliament offices in the member states, as in previous debates, we start with the Minister Ana Paula Zacarias for Council.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, Thank you very much, Mr. President, dear Commissioner Sefcovic, honourable members. This week as from tomorrow, leaders will meet in Brussels for the June European Council and the subsequent euro summit. Their meeting begins with a working lunch on Thursday with a just re-elected UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. And a range of global and regional issues will be on the table, including covid-19 coordination and economic recovery.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, Recovery from the covid-19 pandemic, both in the EU and worldwide, continues to be at the top of the agenda. Our recent agreement on the EU digital covid certificate mark certainly an important step towards a safe return to free movement. Leaders will now discuss what remains to be done in terms of coordination to enable within and into the EU travel. Leaders will also address the external dimension of covid-19 recovery and also the emergency of new variants.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, International solidarity remains key. The EU will continue to play its leading role as vaccine producer, exporter and contributor to Covax. But recovery from 19 pandemic also means economic recovery. Leaders will take stock of the implementation of the next generation EU, including National Recovery and Resilience Plans. The timely submission and efficient implementation of these plans is crucial for member states to fully benefit from the potential of the Recovery and Resilience Facility to boost economy, social cohesion, digital and climate transition.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, And migration after a long period of absence returns to the agenda, in particular at its external dimension, as leaders will discuss cooperation with countries of origin and transit. Recent developments on certain routes have been a cause for concern, and it will be important to make concrete progress in our cooperation with different partners. At the same time, the Council rejects any attempt by third countries to instrumentalise migrants for political purposes.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, To prevent loss of life and reduce the pressure on EU borders. We need to tackle the root causes of migration while continue working towards safe, orderly and regular migration and providing international protection for those who need it. In addition, it is essential to strengthen efforts to shut down smuggling and trafficking networks, improve border management and ensure voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable returns and readmission;.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, Beyond European Council preparations, I know that you also included in this debate the question of the Malta Declaration and solidarity. The declaration was a way of addressing disembarkation of migrants rescued at sea in the absence of a permanent mechanism for handling these situations. It facilitated transferred from Italy and Malta to Germany and France, but has remain an intergovernmental tool limited to these four member states.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, However, other member states, including my own, Portugal, have agreed to relocate on a voluntary basis applicants for international protection following disembarkation in Italy and Malta, and the voluntary relocation scheme from Greece has to date been joined by more than a dozen of member states and associated countries. In any case, we will continue our efforts in trying to find a permanent based solution on solidarity, on shared responsibilities and that will enable us to replace this ad hoc handling of these situations. Further work is requested.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, So, during their meeting, the leaders will further discuss on EU external relations. As announced in March, leaders will discuss EU relations with Turkey, including the financial support for refugees. Leaders will reiterate their readiness to engage with Turkey in a phased, proportionate but reversible manner. While underlying that, Turkey has obligations to respect democracy, rule of law, human rights and women's rights.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, During the working dinner, the leaders will also return to relations with Russia on the basis of the Commission and High Representative's report. The European Council will take stock of the progress made in implementing its decision from May with regards to Belarus. Leaders will also touch upon other recent international developments in Africa.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, In the end of their meeting on Friday and in the margins of the European Council, leaders will be joined by the president of the ECB and the Eurogroup for a euro summit in inclusive format. Thank you very much for your attention.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maro&scaron; &Scaron;EFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Thank you very much, Mr. President, dear secretary of state, honourable members of the European Parliament. The last European Council before the summer break comes at a positive moment in time. The first national Recovery and Resilience Plan is under the next generation EU have been approved, enabling record levels of funding for long lasting transformations and jobs.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, The EU digital covid certificate is well on track to be up and running across our member states as the 1st of July and we have seen that, in fact, some have already put them into use. And so giving hope to Europeans for a summer with less restrictions. Our societies and economies are gradually reopening thanks to great progress in our vaccination effort. But now is not the time to take our collective foot off the pedal.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, With regards to the vaccination effort, 53 % of the adult EU population have received at least one vaccine dose, and we are set to reach the EU target of having 70 % of adults fully vaccinated by July. That is, of course, if we keep up the pace, it is not enough that Europe vaccinate itself however. Out of solidarity and to speed up our economic recovery, we need to strengthen our efforts elsewhere.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, This includes generous financial and contributions to Covax, investment in the EU vaccine production and export and support to develop local and regional manufacturing capacities with the one billion euro initiative in Africa. At the same time, we are also preparing for the future based on what this crisis has taught us. So this end on 15th of June, the European Commission presented a communication on the initial lessons learnt from covid-19 pandemic, focussing on the health crisis, but also on the EU's economic response.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, We looked at what went well and what did not go so well in the last 15 months. After a difficult start, things improved rapidly. We designed and delivered a range of unprecedented initiatives in record time, for example on vaccines, the procurement of essential supplies, the support for global efforts and maintaining the functioning of the single market. To this list, we should also add the EU digital covid certificate, which will enable citizens to travel throughout the union using a secure, mutually recognised document.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, And I would like to thank the European Parliament for ensuring that this approval process was concluded so rapidly. The European Council will also review the state of play of the implementation of next generation EU. 24 member states have now submitted their Recovery and Resilience Plans with excellent cooperation between the Commission services and national authorities.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, The plans received by the Commission so far provide coherent packages of ambitious green and digital investments, as well as reforms addressing the key challenges. This will help strengthen the resilience and growth potential of member states economy while paying all due attention to the social dimension. We are also pleased to see that most of the plans include measures to boost the resilience of national health systems.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, President von der Leyen has started her tour across our member states as these plans receive the Commission's green light. Thanks to the ratification of the own resources decision in record time, the commission has been able to start raising resources for the next generation EU and we plan to pay out the pre-financing in quick time once the Council approves the plans. This is truly historic and a major milestone towards turning the page and emerging stronger.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Our debate here today is also dedicated to that Malta declaration, which is focussed on stemming the migratory flows from Libya at the source. A comprehensive all over route of its approach to migration is embedded within our broader engagement with Libya. This includes cooperation with Libya's neighbours in the South and addressing the situation on the Mediterranean coast.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Our concrete actions will continue to focus on border management, a joint fight against migrant smuggling and developing safe and legal pathways through assisted voluntary returns and resettlement. The protection of migrants and saving lives remained paramount. We will continue these actions together with member states, our African Union partners and UN organisations such as UNHCR and IOM. The Commission has sought to deepen partnerships on the migration with all key third countries, and we have provided support on all elements of migration.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, While we are a long way from the migratory situation in 2015 and 2016. However, there is still a need for further action. We urgently need a durable new European framework that will pave the way to common solutions. This can be ensured by an agreement on the new pact on migration and asylum, which we proposed nine months ago. The pact brings together essential internal reform and comprehensive and balanced engagement with our partners to address all strands of migration policy.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, By making use of strategic foresight, this will help us at be better prepared for any future eventuality with regards to migratory pressure. With regards to Turkey, there is some positive momentum. We welcome the relative de-escalation of tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, including the continuation of direct talks with Greece. But we need to see clear and sustainable progress on a number of issues, including Cyprus and trade issues. The resumption of returns from Greece to Turkey is equally important.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, And finally, the Commission and the high representative have prepared a report on the state of our relations with Russia, as requested by the European Council in May. This is a very realistic assessment, which makes it clear that these relations are on a downward trend due to Russia's own strategic choices and its many malign aggressive actions. We are now proposing a triptych of concrete action points to push back, constrain and engage with Russia simultaneously.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, This represent a smart reinforcement of our current policies and is both ambitious and doable. Mr President, tomorrow we will have last European Council under the Portuguese presidency and therefore allow me to conclude on an expression of gratitude to Ana Paula Zacarias for not only the excellent presidency, but for her personal personal engagement and excellent relations she was having, I'm sure you know it all, with the European Parliament, but also with the Commission.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Because that not only allowed us to launch the conference on the future of Europe, but also to progress so quickly on the digital covid certificate. But I can say the same about many other files, which I'm sure will make Europe emerging from this crisis stronger. So Ana Paula, thank you very much for the excellent presidency and thank you very much for your attention. Thank you, Mr. President