Portuguese fought in a very courageous and disciplined way against the virus. Welcome by the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa and roundtable with Foreign Affairs Minister Augusto SANTOS SILVA, and Sofia COLARES ALVES, Head of representation in Portugal. [ Ссылка ] #eudebates #Costa #SILVA #ALVES #Portugal #vdLeyen #EU #NextGenerationEU #recovery #eudebates #NextGenerationEU #MFF #EUbudget
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on lightning 24-hour visit to Portugal
The President of the European Commission guarantees that “the European Union is in solidarity with Portugal” in the face of the crisis caused by the pandemic of the covid-19, as demonstrated by the fact that the country is one of the important beneficiaries of the Recovery Fund.
Starting today and with a jam-packed agenda is the first visit to Portugal of president of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen.
The trip is largely to present the European and Portuguese plans for ‘post-pandemic’ recovery, and to ‘prepare’ the way for Portugal taking over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in January.
But it will also be a moment for Ms Von der Leyen to attend a Council of State (tomorrow), on the invitation of President Marcelo.
In addition she is being given a guided tour of the Instituto Ricardo Jorge – the medical facility on the front line of pandemic combat – as well as of the work ongoing at the Champalimaud Foundation.
Explain reports, Ms Von der Leyen has already praised Portugal for the “courageous and very disciplined manner” in which citizens have faced the pandemic, stressing that as a result Portugal has been “more successful than others” in keeping the bad numbers down.
The EC president has also cited Portugal for being exemplary – not just in the way that neighbours have been sewing masks for each other in various towns and cities, but in the way this country has embraced renewable energies.
In one of her last speeches in Strasbourg before meetings were cancelled because of the virus she said, referring to projects started during the time of now-disgraced former Socialist prime minister José Sócrates: “Portugal began its climatic transition in 2005 and has been investing significantly since then”.
In 2023, the last coal mine will finally be closed; the country already has a ‘surplus’ of renewable energy and is working with the Dutch government on preparing for ‘green hydrogen’.
The question however is how is Portugal to transport its renewable energy through Spain and France to “other countries where this energy is needed”, she conceded – thus this may well be one of the topics that come under discussion.
Ms Von der Leyen’s lightning visit will be through by this time tomorrow.
Ursula von der Leyen: “I have always seen in Portugal a strong ally for the cause of Europe”
“The European Union will ensure that the Portuguese people, European citizens and people around the world have access to a future vaccine. And the EU will also be on the side of the Portuguese in recovering from the economic crisis ”, guarantees the President of the Commission.
Maintaining that the NextGenerationEU, the recovery fund proposed by its executive and agreed by European leaders at a long summit last July, gives Europe “the opportunity not only to repair the damage and recover from the current situation, but to shape a better way of life”, Von der Leyen highlights that “Portugal will be an important beneficiary”.
Dependence on tourism
According to the commitment reached last July, Portugal will receive 15.3 billion euros in grants (non-refundable), including 13.2 billion euros, until 2023, through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, the main instrument of the Recovery Fund.
Ursula’s decisive hour
According to the Commission president, the support that Portugal will receive “will provide the means to boost the recovery of the Portuguese economy, based on the double ecological and digital transition, while ensuring that no one is left behind”.
Ursula in Portugal
Ursula von der Leyen will be starting from Monday in Lisbon, for a two-day visit, the first since she assumed the presidency of the Commission in December 2019, and during which she will participate in a session, on Tuesday, at Champalimaud Foundation, with the Prime Minister, António Costa, in which they will present the European and Portuguese recovery plans respectively.
Even before this session, the Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission will pay a visit to the Ricardo Jorge Institute, a Valencia that has been at the forefront of the fight against covid-19.
During his presence in Portugal, Ursula von der Leyen participates on Tuesday, at the invitation of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in the meeting of the Council of State, which will debate the situation and the future of Europe, and is scheduled to the Cascais Citadel Palace.
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