The president of the European Council, António Costa, warned this Wednesday that the European Union "must not be content with reacting" to crises, but needs to have the "strength, resources, and unity" essential to decide about its future. His words come just days after a summit of heads of state and government of the EU that highlighted the deep differences between capitals on key issues such as the scope of the next seven-year community budget or the management of migration in emergency situations like that experienced in Ceuta.
In a debate in the plenary of the European Parliament on the conclusions of the meeting that brought together the leaders of the Twenty-Seven last week in Brussels, Costa recalled that "The European Council has set the goal, now we must continue our efforts and achieve results (...). Europe must not be content with reacting to events, Europe must have the strength, the resources, and the unity necessary to shape its future."
During his speech, the president of the Council reviewed the main priorities addressed by the leaders, including strengthening European competitiveness, the need to reach an agreement on the budgetary framework of the bloc for the period 2028-2037, and migration policy. In this context, he stated that "significant" progress was made in the discussions at the summit, despite the fact that at the end of the meeting the positions of the 27 remained distant.
Costa emphasized that "These four priorities are closely linked," stressing that greater competitiveness will provide the EU with "economic power," while a "flexible and adequately resourced" Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will provide the bloc with "capacity for action."
At the same time, he argued that the Union must maintain its support for Ukraine, understanding that it is also a way to safeguard security, as well as European principles and values. Furthermore, he insisted that reaching "common European solutions" on migration "demonstrates the value of collective action."
In this framework, Costa has confirmed his intention to convene in February of next year a new informal summit focused on competitiveness and has emphasized that the discussions about the next common budget are entering a "decisive phase." He has also reiterated the determination of the leaders to reach an agreement "by the end of this year."
The former socialist prime minister has valued that the contacts between leaders have allowed for "progress," although he has warned that the future MFF "is not a simple matter of figures, but is essentially a political choice about the Europe we want to build together and our ability to react."
For this reason, he has argued that the next multiannual budget must be "ambitious" to respond to the level of ambition and responsibility set by the Twenty-Seven, while maintaining national contributions at a "reasonable level." Now that Costa takes on the leadership of the negotiations, he has explained that the effort will focus on thoroughly analyzing the proposals on own resources that both the European Commission and the European Parliament have already put on the table.