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STATEMENTS AND REMARKS 926/20 11/12/2020 Statement by President Charles Michel at the end of the meeting and on 10 and 11 December 2020

This European Council has been a marathon European Council. We made clear from the outset that it would be a European Council with many difficult issues on the agenda, important issues for the future of the . I think I can say, after several hours of intense meetings and considerable political commitment, that an important step forward has been made by the European Union in different fields.

You will recall that exactly a year ago, in December of last year, we met here in Brussels to commit ourselves to a very ambitious objective: to achieve climate neutrality for the European Union by 2050, thereby taking on leadership in this climate transition which is so crucial for Europeans and for the world as a whole. In December, nobody, perhaps, could have imagined that, a few weeks later, at the beginning of 2020, we would be confronted with such a severe shock: COVID-19, which has shaken us to the core and which has mobilised strong, difficult and challenging action by the institutions of the European Union, with the mobilisation of Member States. No-one, probably, could have imagined a year ago that a year later, less than a year in fact, we would be discussing the question of vaccine development, of mobilising vaccines on an absolutely gigantic scale to protect Europeans, and also to protect the rest of the world.

The first point that I would like to draw attention to is the fact that we were able to reach an agreement in order to implement the multiannual budget and the recovery fund, the outlines of which were drawn up in July. I am going to start, of course, by paying tribute – both in general, for the last six months, but particularly as regards this issue which is so important – to Chancellor , who has rolled up her sleeves and given her all – with determination, with creativity and with unwavering commitment – for Europe, to ensure – thanks to substantial preparation before the European Council and during this meeting – that we could make this welcome surprise possible, take this step forward; to ensure that we, as the European Union, have the financial resources – not only in the traditional form of the EU budget, but also in the exceptional form of this recovery fund – to embark on the climate transition and the digital transition, to get back on our feet, to support our businesses (of all sizes), to support our citizens, to support our families, because we know that COVID has shaken us all and that it demands that we act together as a cohesive whole. Investing and working together to reform and to meet shared objectives, and doing so while ensuring that our values (rule of law issues, governance issues, as requested by the ) can be taken into consideration, because this is what forms the very essence of the European project.

We also had the chance to reach an agreement on how to continue to move forward with regard to COVID-19 – vaccines, mutual recognition of tests, and this strong belief that the next essential step will be our capacity, together, to manage the distribution of vaccines, and to ensure that in all European countries, but also elsewhere in the world, access to them can be provided in a fair and just way.

Lastly, climate. To tell the truth, building unity among the 27 member states on this issue took up much of the night. Was it easy? No, it was not. There was the 's extremely ambitious proposal: to increase our climate ambition to a reduction of at least 55% by 2030, giving credibility to our commitment for 2050, and giving credibility to Europe's leadership on climate, particularly since – and this is symbolically important – in a few days' time we will be marking the fifth anniversary of the commitment made in Paris, the Paris agreements. We have been committed to this since the start as the European Union and the member states together, and we are fighting an intense, positive battle in the field of climate diplomacy to encourage other countries and other regions in the world to get on board, to support this shared ambition too, to develop common standards together. We had to make commitments, define together the principles which will underpin how we, the European Union with the member states, will achieve this objective, and also determine how to work with the European Commission, which has a key role to play in submitting specific proposals in order to establish a real capacity not only to make commitments but also to make good on those commitments. We are very, very pleased that in a few hours, that is tomorrow, in the context of the United Nations, we will have the chance to express the EU's unity, coherence and confidence on this climate ambition. We were also able – I will be relatively brief on this point – to address international issues. The relationship between Europe and the United States following the recent elections in the United States. The clarity of our wish to identify themes with a view to re- establishing an ambitious alliance with a country which is an ally, a country which is a friend with whom we share extremely strong, extremely robust values, and with whom we wish to develop, even further, partnerships in various sectors in the future, and together with whom we also want to put multilateral engagement back right at the top of the international agenda: multilateral cooperation, international cooperation, which is certainly one of the elements of the European Union's DNA.

The issue of the Eastern Mediterranean, the issue of relations with : this was also a difficult discussion. We know that this is a very important issue in terms of defending our geopolitical interests in the medium and long term. In the short term, this required us to adopt an approach, which we have done, in line with what was decided in October, since in October we proposed two options: a positive option, based on a positive agenda, and a more restrictive option. We assessed the situation, and you will see in our conclusions the approach that has been taken on the subject. We were also able – more quickly, it's true – to confirm the preparatory work carried out by our diplomatic teams in the area of security and the fight against terrorism. The discussion itself on this topic was not very long because much energy had already been devoted to other subjects. As you will have gathered, the same is true for the Southern Neighbourhood.

And finally, this morning, with Christine Lagarde and Paschal Donohoe present, we had the opportunity to have an extremely important discussion in the context of the Euro summit about how to be engaged in order to support the economic recovery beyond the budgetary instrument, which is now approved and very substantial; and to see how work can continue to be encouraged through finance ministers so as to continue making progress on banking union and the question of capital markets.

These, then, are some points I wanted to highlight and, finishing up, to say to you once again that I firmly believe that these hours of meetings have been an important time for us, coming at the end of 2020, a year that has been extraordinary, in the original sense of the word; a year that has knocked us about and shaken us up, challenging certainties. I think this European Council meeting has been an opportunity to show the quiet strength of the European Union, to show that unity, coherence and trust are the things with which we want to put the European Union in the right direction, as we stand joined together around difficult, sensitive issues, which have required a lot of effort.

I wish to thank all the Heads of State or Government, and their teams who have been mobilised, and I wish of course to also thank the European Commission for all its efforts in terms of support and mobilisation to keep our work going.

And also, in particular, the leadership of the German Presidency, and to tell you what a pleasure it has been for me personally to work over the last six months, on almost a daily - or certainly a weekly - basis with Angela Merkel, in moving forward, inch by inch, the decisions that needed to be taken.

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