Portugal takes over presidency of the Council of the EU

(Patria) - On the first day of 2021, Portugal took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU from Germany, setting economic and social recovery of the EU, strengthening social rights, and strengthening Europe's strategic autonomy as priorities for the next six months.

Mitigating the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic is the key task of the Portuguese presidency. After the issue of the blockade of the multiannual budget and the recovery plan, totaling 1.824 billion euros, was resolved at the December summit, national recovery and resilience plans, which are a prerequisite for withdrawing funds from the recovery instrument, will need to be approved during the Portuguese presidency.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa emphasizes that now is the time for the implementation of decisions made, for achieving results, hence the presidency's slogan is "Time for results: a fair, green, and digital recovery".

"By achieving results, we ensure citizens' trust in the European project, showing that only a dynamic internal market can strengthen our small and medium-sized enterprises and create new and better jobs, guaranteeing, through a strong social pillar, that we invest in skills, innovation, and social protection, which enables us to lead the climate and digital transition, leaving no one behind," Costa wrote before taking over the presidency.

The Portuguese Prime Minister says that thanks to the European agreement on the recovery instrument and the simultaneous start of vaccination campaigns in all member states, a "gradual return to our normal lives" after the pandemic will be possible.

It is expected that by mid-year, everything will be ready for the withdrawal of funds from the NextGenerationEU instrument, worth 750 billion euros. The largest part of these funds will go through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which has 672.5 billion euros available, of which 312.5 billion are grants and 360 billion are loans.

Member states will have to ensure in their national recovery and resilience plans that at least 37 percent of the available funds must go to green projects, and at least 20 percent to digital transformation.

The approval of funds will be linked to the recommendations that the Commission makes to each member state within the framework of the European Semester, identifying the key challenges for each member. The development of the European Pillar of Social Rights is high on the priorities of the Portuguese presidency.