The second final day of the Special European Council wrapped up before 2 p.m. in Brussels on Friday, following a long first day that had been devoted to foreign policy issue
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2020) The second final day of the Special European Council wrapped up before 2 p.m. in Brussels on Friday, following a long first day that had been devoted to foreign policy issues.
On nearly every international issue, whether the situation in Belarus, the Eastern Mediterranean, Nagorno-Karabakh or the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, the European leaders voiced concern and wishes for improvement or for investigations without any specific steps, except concerning Belarus.
The bloc slapped 44 Belarusian officials with sanctions in connection with the contested August election and subsequent protests, but President Alexander Lukashenko was carefully not mentioned in the list.
Clearly, the EU hopes to still have a door open for dialogue with Minsk on a new "free and fair" election, which seems a receding hope to all observers.
Friday's session started early and focused on the COVID-19 situation and the response that the EU27 wants to provide, financially with a 750 billion Euros recovery plan ($879 billion), to ensure the resilience of the European economy and promote the "twin green and digital transition" to "enter the digital decade" as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pleads.
Charles Michel, the European Council chief, briefly reported that there was an ongoing negotiation with the European Parliament on the detailed implementation of the recovery fund and the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework. Michel declined to provide details except that "some topics were difficult to be solved" and that credibility was essential.
Both top EU officials also highlighted "a collective response to the pandemic."
"The European Council held an in-depth discussion on the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is determined to stand together in this difficult situation, and calls on the Council, together with the Commission, to further step up the overall coordination effort and the work on the development and distribution of a vaccine at the EU level," Michel said.
He noted that the council would regularly come back to this issue between now and June next year.
SINGLE MARKET, INDUSTRIAL POLICY, DIGITAL
After the COVID-19 crisis, a strong economic base is more essential than ever for inclusive and sustainable growth, competitiveness, jobs, prosperity, and for Europe's role on the global stage. The council wants to promote and obtain a strong recovery.
The hope is that the two mutually reinforcing pillars of the recovery - the green transition and the digital transformation, together with a strong and deep single market - will foster new forms of growth, promote cohesion and convergence, and strengthen the EUʼs resilience. Achieving strategic autonomy while preserving an open economy is a key objective of the union.
The European Council also sees the need to return to the normal functioning of the single market as soon as possible, to address the remaining fragmentation, barriers and weaknesses, and increase the EU ambition.
Von der Leyen said that "internal trade within the EU represents 25% of the European GDP and 60 million jobs depend on it." She hopes industry will join the implementation of the commission's strategy and that the pace of implementation will be accelerated.
"Industrial data will be multiplied by 4 in quality and quantity in the next 5 years; the Commission will help companies and universities to harness this growth and help create collaborative spaces to help unlock these data," von der Leyen added.
She mentioned supply chains disrupted by the pandemic and the need to update the industrial strategy, singling out the production of batteries, hydrogen and raw materials as promising areas of development.
The commission chief also spoke of artificial intelligence and "its enormous potential" that would need rules and the creation of a secure European digital identity, so that individuals could use this ID to pay taxes or rent a car.
She also wants people in rural areas to have equal opportunity to access 5G and 6G.
Von der Leyen seeks a comprehensive review of the competition rules in Europe and promises a "monitoring report" early next year, when the commission would be in the second year of its term. The first quarter of 2021 will be the moment of truth for the new commission and its support from the European Council.
BREXIT, HUNGARY, POLAND BRIEFLY MENTIONED
At their press conference, the two presidents were also asked about two hurdles that have emerged over the last few days.
The first is Brexit, and the difficulty to reach a deal by January 1, or rather by mid-October as both the commission and the UK government want. The task has become even more complex after London decided to override some terms of the withdrawal agreement that concern the Irish border.
The EU launched a formal infringement process against Britain on October 1 over breaching obligations under the divorce deal, a move that can only sour the atmosphere.
Ahead of her planned call with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, von der Leyen said: "where there is a will, there is a way," adding that "if Britain wants full access to the Internal market, then they must abide by the rules of the EU, notably on state aide. It is only fair." This is in complete opposition to the UK's vision.
What concerns the recent rebellion from Hungary and Poland against the linking the provision of European subsidies to respect of the rule of law, both presidents admitted that a blocking of the main budgetary decisions by the two countries or the whole Visegrad group would be disastrous. They noted that the heads of state had a short exchange on it, that it was a difficult debate, and that the work on the issue is still in progress.
