Speech by President Séamus Boland, EESC plenary debate with António Costa, President of the European Council

EESC plenary debate on the 'Priorities of the upcoming presidency of the European Council' with António Costa, President of the European Council

Dear Mr Costa,

I would like to warmly congratulate you for your appointment as President of the European Council - having only formally taken over on Sunday!

I have not had the pleasure of working with you, but I do hear that you are a man skilled in negotiating and the art of compromise;

Your vast experience at many levels of government, is of course testimony to your qualities;

This at a time when there is quite a lot of mistrust between pro-European political parties;

Leaving the door open for anti-European parties to edge further within our societies;

So as President of the European Council, your skills will be fully utilised!

As you are fully aware, the EU is, once again, facing a constellation of challenges, whose scale and scope are immense;

Trump 2.0 is at the forefront of these challenges;

In my opinion, his return to power is bad news for the EU's security, democracy and economy;

And if there is one word that characterises his economic and foreign policy approach, it is 'confrontation';

It is imperative that the EU maintains its unity as much as possible;

There is a clear mutual interest in closely collaborating among Member States and EU Institutions.

We can also expect that Trump will link together issues, such as tariffs, NATO funding and the war in Ukraine;

And even if there is a ceasefire in Ukraine, the EU will have to increase its joint defence spending and arms production;

For with the extension of the conflict into the Asia-Pacific region through the involvement of North Korean soldiers, who knows what role China will also play?

In all scenarios, the EU will have to invest in arms, in order to invest in peace!

This brings me to my final point, which concerns EU priorities;

In recent interviews, you have commented that you see your role as bringing together the 27 Member States, "…for the benefit of the Union and its citizens”;

I am certain that your qualities in talking to and listening to people, finding ways to work together, are skills that you sharpened as Mayor of Lisbon;

So please do not forget the European citizen, now that you are President of the European Council!

Last week we had elections in Ireland, my own country;

And what citizens were most concerned with, was the cost-of-living crisis, energy poverty, affordable and qualitative housing, efficient healthcare;

In summary, they are interested in social justice and a just green transition;

So my plea to you, Mr Costa, is to keep these topics on the agenda of the European Council;

We must take people with us – or the Radical Right will do for us!

Thank you for your attention.