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Xinhua News Agency, Lisbon, January 1 News analysis: Portugal assumes the presidency of the EU in defense of epidemics and economic recovery is the core
Xinhua News Agency reporter Wen Xinnian Zhao Danliang
On January 1, 2021, Portugal assumed control of Germany and began serving as the rotating EU presidency for six months. On the same day, Portuguese Prime Minister Costa declared on social media that Portugal’s priority during the rotating EU presidency is to ensure the success of the new crown vaccination and promote the European economy and society to “achieve a recovery. fair, green and digital. “
Recently, the United Kingdom and the European Union reached an agreement on future relations. The leaders of China and Europe jointly announced the completion of the China-EU investment agreement negotiations as planned. European countries have fully launched the first batch of vaccination plans. Launching the EU economic recovery plan as soon as possible, creating more job opportunities and further enhancing the resilience and sustainability of economic growth has become Portugal’s top priority as the rotating presidency. Costa has stated on numerous occasions that this year it is necessary to ensure that 10% of the first phase of the EU’s € 750 billion recovery plan is implemented.
Secondly, promoting social integration, improving social welfare and ensuring social equity and justice are the second important issues Portugal will face as the rotating presidency of the European Union. The Portuguese government plans to organize a summit on social issues in Porto in May this year. Experts predict that the summit could pass an EU “Personal Digital Rights Convention” to promote and protect people’s rights in the digital age.
Third, Portugal will continue to adhere to multilateralism and is committed to enhancing the strategic autonomy of the EU. At the same time, it will launch a dialogue between the EU and the United States as soon as possible. Portugal also plans to host an EU-India summit in May to discuss bilateral free trade agreements, and an EU-African Union summit in June. Furthermore, the Portuguese high-level think tank predicts that Portugal will use its traditional friendly relations with China to promote pragmatic bilateral relations between the EU and China.
Analysts believe that despite the Portuguese government’s ambitions, there are still many variables to achieve these goals. While the epidemic has severely affected the EU economy, it has also exacerbated the division within the EU. The fact that Portugal can play a coordinating role and effectively bridge differences will determine the pace of implementation of the EU economic recovery plan.
Antonio Casimiro, PhD in National and Legal Sociology, Department of Economics, University of Coimbra, Portugal, believes that Portugal will face how to define the respective responsibilities of the EU and its member states to respond to the new corona epidemic, which may even lead to a new clarification and revision. Treaties relating to relations within the European Union.
Gustavo Batista, professor of law and international relations at the University of Coimbra, believes that once the UK leaves the EU, the EU’s internal relations are destined to undergo profound changes. The original structure of Britain, France and Germany as the central decision-making layer of the EU has disintegrated. The country hopes to have more voice in the internal affairs of the EU, especially in economic policy, and Portugal will face the problem of democratization within the EU.
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[Editor a cargo: Wang Mengmeng]
