Spirit of solidarity, climate protection and social rights: debate on the Portuguese Presidency
Greens members Josef Frey, Satu Haapanen and Guillaume Cros engaged in the debate on the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union with Ana Paula Zacarias, Secretary of State for European Affairs of the Portuguese Republic, during the 142nd Plenary Session of the European Committee of the Regions.
In her intervention, Ana Paula Zacarias referred to the regions and cities as ‘the driving forces of local communities’, with an essential role in implementing nation-wide measures such as the upcoming national recovery plans, which will need to ‘ensure that Europe gets through these challenging times in a spirit of solidarity, and leaving no one behind.’ In his intervention, Josef Frey welcomed the solidarity approach of the economic recovery, and emphasised that this would also mean shifting towards a green economy: ‘It is imperative that EU take its leading role in climate protection seriously and that the individual Member States also take a more ambitious position. This also includes a higher CO2 reduction target for 2030 than the Commission’s proposal of 55%. I call on the Portuguese Presidency to work towards a higher target of at least 60% in the negotiations at EU level.’
Satu Haapanen reminded that when adopting national recovery plans, it is important to ensure that they include social rights and climate action. In particular, she highlighted the upcoming opinion ‘Local and Regional Authorities Protecting the Marine Environment‘ with Greens member Emma Nohrén as the rapporteur, and the importance of securing the wellbeing of young people in the EU. Finally, Guillaume Cros called the attention to the Mercosur agreements, which ‘undermine climate efforts and move us away from sustainable agriculture models.’ He then called for a model which is respectful of people, land, biodiversity, and which meets food needs and increases the economic resilience of our farms.