António Costa Portuguese Prime Minister eudebates with Charles Michel EU Council President in Lisbon

The President of the European Council expressed “confidence” that Portugal “will certainly lead positively the rotating presidency” of the Council of the European Union. The controversy of the European prosecutor was left out of the meeting with the prime minister.

António Costa Portuguese Prime Minister eudebates with Charles Michel EU Council President in Lisbon

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The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, reiterated his confidence in the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union, guaranteeing that the controversy surrounding the case of the European prosecutor was not addressed at the working meeting with the Prime Minister, António Costa.

“We have complete confidence in Portugal, which will certainly lead the presidency positively. This topic was not raised at the meeting, ”he said at a press conference this Tuesday at the CCB in Lisbon, after a working meeting with the Prime Minister, António Costa, questioned about how he looked at the case.

At issue are the errors contained in a note sent by the Government in November 2019 to the European Council on the curriculum of José Guerra, appointed by Portugal as a European prosecutor and who has already dismissed the director-general of Justice Policy, Miguel Romão, after have made the place available. Miguel Romão said that the information with lapses was “prepared following instructions received”, ensuring that the content was known to the Minister of Justice’s office, in a later deleted statement.
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The case led the prime minister to meet with Francisca Van Dunem, later manifesting “total political trust” in the Minister of Justice.

The President of the EU Council was received by the Prime Minister for a meeting to present the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in which also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, and the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias, in a program that also includes a visit to the Jerónimos Monastery and a concert at CCB.

Charles Michel’s visit is the first official meeting since Portugal assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, on January 1, and which ends at the end of the first half of this year.
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The visit of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to Lisbon on Tuesday 5 January marked the launch of the official programme of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU.
https://www.eudebates.tv/debates/spec… This is an opportunity for his host, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, to recall the three main priorities of this fourth Portuguese Presidency, the first under the Treaty of Lisbon.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa met here Tuesday the President of the European Council Charles Michel, marking the beginning of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union.

This is Portugal’s fourth presidency of the Council of the European Union. Germany handed over the six-month rotating presidency to Portugal at the start of the year.

Costa said on Tuesday at a press conference that this is an “enormous honor” and that it will be “six months of intense work.”

“It is a presidency in which we want to work very closely with all institutions, but in particular with the President of the Council,” he said.

According to him, the top priority for the Portuguese presidency in the EU will be, “firstly, economic recovery. After the extraordinary work of the German presidency, it is time to act to ensure a fair, green and digital recovery.”

He said that the recovery will be based on the “climate change” and “digital change” which “should not be seen as an obstacle, but as an opportunity for the further development of European economies.”

The second priority, he said, will be to develop the European Union’s “social pillar” to establish “a solid foundation to give confidence to all to face the challenges […] it means to invest in innovation and in social protection so that nobody is left behind.”

The third priority is “to increase the strategic autonomy of a Europe open to the world, a Europe that asserts itself as a global actor, that may be more present in different value chains, but that refuses protectionism and remains open to the world,” said Costa.

“And that, in this opening to the world, it must do so in a plural way,” he added, referring to partnerships with the East, the African continent and transatlantic connections.