Brussels, December 30th. (Adnkronos) – Belgium takes over the EU Council Presidency from today, January 1, 2024, in the last semester of the legislative period before the elections in June. The Kingdom, founding country of the Union and proudly pro-European, begins its thirteenth rotating presidency, taking over from Spain and predecessor of Hungary under Viktor Orban, which will preside over the EU in the second half of 2024 (said the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo). he was “sure” that his Hungarian colleagues “will lead the presidency in the interests of all Europeans”). Belgium, which is about to go to the political elections (the vote will take place on June 9, at the same time as the European elections), has set a relatively small budget for its presidency (100 million euros between 2023 and 2024), which will be characterized by “sobriety “, as several local media pointed out. Although the legislative period is now coming to an end and the next European elections are scheduled for June 6th and 9th, there are still around “150 legislative dossiers on the table”, as Prime Minister De Croo emphasized: the Belgian Presidency will put them in order and set their priorities and try to complete as many as possible before the end of March, as the European Parliament will close its doors in April for the June elections. “One hundred and fifty files is a lot, but we Belgians are used to working overtime and achieving results,” claimed the Prime Minister, a Flemish Liberal Democrat from Open Vld, as he presented the presidency's objectives in Brussels before Christmas. “We are better at finding solutions than creating problems,” he added. The trilogue agreements with Parliament must be made in the first part of the Belgian Presidency, as the legislative period will practically end in April: the first months of the semester will be significantly more intense than the last. Leading the EU Council Presidency brings with it “responsibility”, the responsibility to “achieve results” for the benefit of all European citizens. We live in “difficult times,” De Croo continued, but the EU's development has never followed a “straight line” and often the “greatest progress” has been made in the most difficult times. The Belgian presidency promises to be based on three key concepts: “Protect our people; strengthen our economy; prepare our common future,” as the Prime Minister summarized it. Specifically, the priorities of the Belgian semester are six: promoting the rule of law and democracy; strengthening economic competitiveness; drive ecological change; strengthening the social agenda; protect “our borders and our people”; Promoting a global Europe. In defending the rule of law, democracy and EU unity, the Belgian presidency promises to place a particular focus on “young people’s participation”. Defending the principles of the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights will be “an essential part” of the presidency, the program says. Democracy “is in danger, and this is not the first time,” recalled De Croo. In particular, Brussels is determined to “support” candidate countries to join the EU, knowing full well that it is “crucial” to prepare the Union’s decision-making structures to welcome new accession candidates. French President Emmanuel Macron said he had asked Belgium to draw up a “roadmap” during his presidency to outline the reform process the bloc must embark on to welcome the new countries, especially Ukraine, without clamping down on the Community machinery . The Belgian Presidency promises to work to strengthen the competitiveness of the European internal market and to continue work on the Energy and Capital Markets Union. Particular attention is paid to strengthening “economic security” and reducing “harmful dependencies” on third countries. We expect the contribution to this chapter from former Italian Prime Ministers Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi, who will produce two reports on the internal market and the EU's competitiveness. The internal market, recalled De Croo, was conceived “over 40 years ago” by Jacques Delors, and since then “the world has changed a lot and become much more ‘geopolitical’.” Europe produces “innovation”, but all too often the fruits of this innovative spirit are reaped by others, such as the USA, which have far more attractive economies. The “real answer”, for De Croo, is therefore not to increase state aid that benefits larger states, but rather to improve the functioning of the internal market. Particularly in the economic area, the Presidency will focus on completing the reform of the Stability Pact, for which the Council agreed on its negotiating position in the Ecofin Council in a pre-Christmas video conference: the trilogues with Parliament on the three legislative proposals are now taking place. Must begin . When a dossier is so controversial between countries and requires so much work to reach agreement in the Council, Parliament's room for maneuver is generally rather limited, but it is also true that the chamber's positions are often more advanced than those of the Council, and the negotiations are unlikely to be easy. Another key economic priority is finding a way to continue financing Ukraine, which is struggling to defend itself against Russian invaders after Hungarians vetoed the revision of the 2021-27 MFF, leading to the convening of a extraordinary European Council on December 1, 2021 and February 2. “We support Ukraine’s aspirations and will continue to support them,” assured De Croo. In addition to the eternal unfinished business of the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union, the Belgian Presidency assures that it will work to reduce the VAT difference (between the VAT payable and the VAT actually collected) and create new EU own resources in the revision of the 2021 MFF -27 and to revise the Customs Code and the rules on taxation of cross-border telework. The green and digital transition will be “at the heart of the priorities” of the Belgian presidency, which promises to ensure “leaving no one behind” and promoting a “just” transition. De Croo explained that the Presidency will work to ensure that the ecological transition is linked to the industry remaining “on European territory”. Belgium also says it wants to “strengthen” the “social dimension of the European Semester,” the EU cycle for monitoring member states' budgets. It also promises to work to strengthen the EU's health agenda, including by “improving citizens' access to affordable medicines.” Particular emphasis is placed on the goal of “protecting people and borders” with the EU pact on migration and asylum, on which the trilogue agreement was reached between the European Parliament and the Council before Christmas. The presidency, likely to be appreciated by the Italian government, promises to work to strengthen the external dimension of the EU migration policy: for this reason, the Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib announced a special dinner of EU ministers dedicated to the African continent is Musée de l'Afrique in Brussels, on the occasion of the informal foreign council at the end of January/beginning of February. Finally, Belgium promises to work to promote a “global Europe” and to act “vigorously” to “strengthen the resilience and autonomy of the Old Continent” and “defend our interests and values.”
