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The Foreign Minister refuses to abandon the new rule of law mechanism or make changes to it, as requested by Hungary and Poland in exchange for approving the 1.8 billion euros of the EU’s multi-annual budget and the Recovery Fund.
“From our point of view, the negotiation that led to the European Council in July cannot be reopened, nor can the negotiation that led to the institutional agreement between the Council and the European Parliament be reopened,” Augusto Santos Silva tells Expresso and SIC. highlighting that “Portugal is in favor of the conditionality mechanism” closed in November between the German presidency of the EU and MEPs, and that it links the use of funds to the respect of democratic principles and European values.
If there were doubts about the Portuguese position in the negotiation, Santos Silva insists on going further and guarantees that Portugal never wanted to make this mechanism disappear during the negotiation process that has been developing for more than two years. “It’s the exact opposite,” he replies. He admits that in November 2018 there were criticisms of the Commission’s initial proposal, according to Público this Sunday, but he rejects that the objective was to try to stop it.
“Mrs. Secretary of State [dos Assuntos Europeus] presented several criticisms of the European Commission’s proposal with the aim of improving the proposal: to be more secure from a legal point of view, to be more robust and to be less vulnerable to attacks. “Criticisms that he says are now out of date, since Portugal “is review” in the final result.
Also in a Council working document of April 11, 2019, consulted by Expresso, Portugal appears as one of the nine countries that “reiterate their strong support for the Commission’s proposal and advocate the creation of a solid legal instrument and effective”. The rest are France, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Slovenia.
For the head of Portuguese diplomacy, Hungary and Poland have no reason to believe that Portugal was on their side, as is also stated in the Public article, citing the former Polish Foreign Minister.
Alternatives without Hungary and Poland are possible
Despite being virtually isolated, the prime ministers of Hungary and Poland show no signs of being willing to back down. Santos Silva believes in the “quality of the German presidency” to overcome the impasse, but acknowledges that the latest statements by Viktor Orbán and Mateusz Morawieck do not help. “Let’s see what can be done. The European Council next week is very important.”
If the impasse is not unblocked at the summit on December 10-11, it is very likely that the problem will persist in Portugal, which will assume the presidency of the EU Council on January 1.
Regarding the complaints from Hungary and Poland that the mechanism lacks legal certainty and that it signifies a decrease in national sovereignty, Santos Silva believes that they are not justified, but believes that “these concerns” can be “addressed with additional guarantees” which make it clear that this is not “a mechanism to sanction A, B or C”.
I like? The minister does not go into details, nor does he confirm a possible political statement by the leaders to calm Budapest and Warsaw. However, France has already admitted that if there is no commitment, then the last resort may be to move to a Recovery Fund without the two troubled countries.
“If we cannot get out of this impasse, we must find alternative solutions,” admits the Portuguese minister, arguing that “Europe’s economic recovery cannot be blackmailed.”
“The alternatives exist technically and politically, if necessary, too.” However, he warns that “any alternative to this July agreement is worse,” justifying that it will cause delays in the arrival of money and financial instruments essential for recovery.
The words of Costa and the position of Portugal
On the eve of the July European Council, which closed the amounts of the Community Budget and the Recovery Fund, António Costa came to visit the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in Budapest, and to defend that the issue of European values and the debate on the EU budget and the Recovery Fund should not be mixed.
The prime minister anticipated that transferring the discussion on the rule of law to the budget debate would only have “a practical effect”: giving countries like Hungary and Poland “the burden of blocking the creation of the Recovery Fund, relieving frugal and good consciences” . “.
Costa’s omen came true. But what he said at the time generated controversy and the position continues to receive criticism.
Although Costa showed openness to soften the rule of law mechanism, linking the cut of funds more to fraud and misuse of money than to respect for fundamental values, the position of Portugal in the polls ended up in favor of the mechanism.
Even when Costa deployed explanations on “values that are not negotiated”, nor will they be discussed against access to European funds, Secretary of State Ana Paula Zacarias was one of the voices that supported the existence of this same conditionality linked to the State of law during the preparatory meeting for the July leaders’ summit.
Already in the autumn, Portugal sided with the German presidency in negotiating a negotiating mandate with the European Parliament, something already rejected by Hungary and Poland, and then accepted the final result of the negotiations with the Parliament.
