{"id":6621,"date":"2023-03-23T18:19:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T17:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&#038;p=6621"},"modified":"2023-03-23T18:20:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T17:20:46","slug":"metsola-lill-kunsill-ewropew-aktar-bsahhitna-meta-nahdmu-flimkien","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/metsola-lill-kunsill-ewropew-aktar-bsahhitna-meta-nahdmu-flimkien\/","title":{"rendered":"Metsola to European Council: We are strongest when we act together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/EP-Feature-455-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6619\" srcset=\"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/EP-Feature-455-1024x683.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/EP-Feature-455-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/EP-Feature-455-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/EP-Feature-455-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/EP-Feature-455-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/EP-Feature-455-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cWe need to strengthen our solidarity with Ukraine, and boost Europe\u2019s investments and competitiveness\u201d, said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola at the European Council.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On Ukraine:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cWe must&nbsp;<strong>keep pushing for solidarity with Ukraine<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; in political, economic, humanitarian and military terms. We need to keep explaining why it is existential for Europe to stand with Ukraine. Why the price of liberty is not too high. I am&nbsp;<strong>grateful for the unity<\/strong>&nbsp;around this table.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cPeace must remain the ultimate goal and the EU is uniquely placed to help that. But in order&nbsp;<strong>for there to be peace there must be a Ukraine<\/strong>. And there will not be without our support.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cWe need to keep thinking of&nbsp;<strong>the next steps<\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>The&nbsp;<strong>delivery and joint procurement of ammunition<\/strong>&nbsp;agreement represents a landmark moment &#8211; for Ukraine and Europe. The joint procurement brings us one-step further towards a more focused European defence and security policy.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Ten packages of&nbsp;<strong>sanctions<\/strong>&nbsp;have hit Russia hard, they are necessary and proportionate. But we must&nbsp;<strong>close any remaining loopholes<\/strong>. Sanctions must be properly implemented and we must keep&nbsp;<strong>engaging with third countries to bring them on board<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>More has to be done to&nbsp;<strong>prevent the humanitarian situation in Ukraine spiralling further out of control &#8211; particularly for children<\/strong>. Some 16,000 children have been impacted by&nbsp;<strong>unlawful deportations and transfers<\/strong>&nbsp;from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. Putin and his accomplices at every level&nbsp;<strong>must be sanctioned and held to account<\/strong>.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>We&nbsp;<strong>welcome the International Criminal Court\u2019s arrest warrants<\/strong>&nbsp;and we&nbsp;<strong>support the establishment of a special international Tribunal for the crime of aggression<\/strong>&nbsp;committed against Ukraine.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>European Union should continue to offer&nbsp;<strong>practical, economic and political support to Moldova<\/strong>, which is standing firm against Russian attempts to undermine them, as well as democratic forces in Georgia and Belarus.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cRussia\u2019s agenda of&nbsp;<strong>splitting the world into opposing factions<\/strong>&nbsp;is clear. We have to stand against that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On investments and competitiveness in Europe:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe prosperity of Europe and the improvement of European citizens\u2019 lives lies at the&nbsp;<strong>cornerstone of our European Union construction<\/strong>. Our&nbsp;<strong>Single Market<\/strong>&nbsp;provides a springboard for European businesses to enter global markets.&nbsp;<strong>EU economies are competitive<\/strong>&nbsp;and need to remain so.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe&nbsp;<strong>EU\u2019s twin transition can happen<\/strong>, with the commitment of people, but only if we create favourable conditions for that transition to occur. We need to explain that&nbsp;<strong>going green will pay-off for people, businesses and their families<\/strong>. It won\u2019t happen without&nbsp;<strong>public support<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cFor this we need&nbsp;<strong>pointed investments<\/strong>, with clear objectives and performance indicators.&nbsp;<strong>Businesses will only invest in the green transition with a clear business case and incentives<\/strong>. We have to do better with&nbsp;<strong>easier access to existing funding<\/strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>less red tape<\/strong>. And&nbsp;<strong>we need a level-playing field, but let\u2019s avoid a protectionist race<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cWe also&nbsp;<strong>need private investment<\/strong>, so that our SMEs and start-ups stay in Europe. It is crucial to&nbsp;<strong>complete the Capital Markets Union<\/strong>, which is still too fragmented.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cWhat matters for all of us is&nbsp;<strong>legislative predictability<\/strong>. The European Parliament is committed to working efficiently on proposals on the electricity market, the Green Industrial Plan, the NetZero Industry Pact, the Critical Raw Material Act.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cEurozone banking sector is resilient, we have put in place robust safeguards and the European Central Bank stands ready to intervene if necessary. Nevertheless,&nbsp;<strong>completing the Banking Union<\/strong>&nbsp;remains a priority to ensure further financial stability.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On migration:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe&nbsp;<strong>European Parliament will play its part<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; we are&nbsp;<strong>ready to vote<\/strong>&nbsp;next week. The Parliament asks the&nbsp;<strong>Council to deliver on the remaining solidarity files<\/strong>: the regulation on asylum and migration management and the regulation on crisis and force majeure.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cBy doing this we achieve the critical balance that we need on these issues that will allow us:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>To&nbsp;<strong>protect borders<\/strong>, to&nbsp;<strong>offer protection and dignity&nbsp;<\/strong>to those in need, to&nbsp;<strong>return efficiently<\/strong>&nbsp;those not eligible and to&nbsp;<strong>smash the business model of human traffickers<\/strong>&nbsp;profiting off the most vulnerable.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>\u201cWe must continue to act in unison and deliver on more Europe where it matters.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201c<strong>More Europe does not mean making everyone homogenous<\/strong>.&nbsp;<strong>We are different and proud to be<\/strong>. This narrative about Europe trying to make everyone the same is simply not correct.&nbsp;<strong>We value our unity in diversity.<\/strong>&nbsp;We understand that we must be big on big things and small on small things &#8211; and there is nothing bigger for us to deal with than the issues on the table today. \u201c<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Metsola\u00b4s full speech&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/the-president.europarl.europa.eu\/home\/ep-newsroom\/pageContent-area\/actualites\/we-are-strongest-when-we-act-together.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWe need to strengthen our solidarity with Ukraine, and boost Europe\u2019s investments and competitiveness\u201d, said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola at the European Council. On Ukraine: \u201cWe must&nbsp;keep pushing for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6619,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[314],"issuem_issue_categories":[8],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/6621"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6621"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/6621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6623,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/6621\/revisions\/6623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=6621"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=6621"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=6621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}