I have always considered myself a proud European, today more than ever. Nevertheless, the current mood between the heads of State and Government, coupled with the persistent viral divisions, presents a lethal risk – not only to the European Union, but also to our ability to bounce back from this unprecedented systemic and symmetric crisis.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has strongly supported the enlargement of the European Union to the six Western Balkans countries provided they fulfil all the necessary criteria for membership. In the aftermath of the Council's non-decision to open accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia in October 2019, we have reacted swiftly by adopting, on 31 October, a Resolution expressing our profound disappointment by the lack of unanimity from the Member States.

If today, we are afraid of falling ill, losing our loved ones, our jobs, and our individual freedoms, we should not lose sight of those who are living in refugee camps, in and outside Europe.

The COVID-19 outbreak has turned into a fast-moving emergency, figures and measures are constantly changing across Europe and the world, affecting all levels of society.

EESC President Luca Jahier has met today the newly appointed Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum Panagiotis Mitarachi, as part of the visit to Athens of the EESC's permanent study group on Immigration and Integration (IMI).

I can only welcome the constructive 10th AUC-EC Commission-to-Commission (C2C) meeting held at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa on 27 February.

This is not a battle of numbers, but a battle of visions. The vision of the new Commission "A union that Strives for more" and the new Strategic agenda that EU leaders set in Sibiu, reasserted during the European Councils of July and December 2019, must be fulfilled by coherent decisions with the new MFF.

Both European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel have chosen to travel to Ethiopia for meetings with the African Union (AU) to speed up EU-AU cooperation on a multitude of policies, from climate to innovation, from cyberspace to security, and from migration to trade.

For weeks, I have been seriously concerned about the news filtering on the preparation of the Extraordinary European Council, which is expected to discuss the Multi-Annual Financial Framework on 20 February. Today EP plenary debate in Strasbourg has fully confirmed my long-standing concerns.

You will not be here with us, but I know you will be there with us, because there is no other alternative than a strong relationship between the EU and the UK and we at EESC we will do whatever it takes to keep that strong link and bond.

Statement by President Luca Jahier on the situation in the Middle East and Libya

The EESC considers that there is an urgent need for calm and peaceful solutions of all conflicts and sensitive situations worldwide and particularly in the region. We urge for a de-escalation of spiralling violence. The European Union must speak with one voice on all aspects of foreign policy given many crisis unfolding in the immediate EU neighbourhood, including the migration and refugee crisis, are interrelated.

We have a special guest today among the journalists who have accepted our invitation to be present in the last plenary session of 2019. His name is Andrew Caruana Galizia, son of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese journalist who was assassinated on 16 October 2017 because she was investigating and exposing cases of corruption at the highest levels of government.

ECI Day is an annual conference that has been organised by the EESC and its civil society partners since 2012, the year in which the first ECI Regulation 211/2011 was published. The 2020 (ninth) edition was marked by a major development, which was the entry into force of the new Regulation introducing substantial improvements and simplifications to the ECI procedure.