President of the European Council Charles Michel attends a joint press conference in Lisbon, Portugal, on Jan. 5, 2021. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa met here Tuesday the President of the European Council Charles Michel, marking the beginning of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)
LISBON, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa met here Tuesday the President of the European Council Charles Michel, marking the beginning of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union.
This is Portugal's fourth presidency of the Council of the European Union. Germany handed over the six-month rotating presidency to Portugal at the start of the year.
Costa said on Tuesday at a press conference that this is an "enormous honor" and that it will be "six months of intense work."
"It is a presidency in which we want to work very closely with all institutions, but in particular with the President of the Council," he said.
According to him, the top priority for the Portuguese presidency in the EU will be, "firstly, economic recovery. After the extraordinary work of the German presidency, it is time to act to ensure a fair, green and digital recovery."
He said that the recovery will be based on the "climate change" and "digital change" which "should not be seen as an obstacle, but as an opportunity for the further development of European economies."
The second priority, he said, will be to develop the European Union's "social pillar" to establish "a solid foundation to give confidence to all to face the challenges [...] it means to invest in innovation and in social protection so that nobody is left behind."
The third priority is "to increase the strategic autonomy of a Europe open to the world, a Europe that asserts itself as a global actor, that may be more present in different value chains, but that refuses protectionism and remains open to the world," said Costa.
"And that, in this opening to the world, it must do so in a plural way," he added, referring to partnerships with the East, the African continent and transatlantic connections.
For his part, Charles Michel highlighted that his presence is a "sign of commitment."
"2020 was, as you know, a brutal year, but we now have the sun and the helm. The COVID-19 pandemic has deteriorated our systems in Europe, we now have the opportunity to reaffirm priorities. We are going to work permanently," Michel noted.
Michel also said that the European Council will have a "fundamental" role in vaccination by "working day and night to make sure we can increase the number of vaccines available."
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.
Meanwhile, 232 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 60 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Dec. 29. Enditem
