EC President Ursula von der Leyen visited on Friday Lisbon on the occasion of the beginning of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, that started on 1 January this year. Due to the sanitary measures in place, the usual trip of the whole College of Commissioners for the launching event of each Council Presidency, this time was held in a smaller format.

Assessing the state of play of the EU’s strategy for fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccine rollout in the different Member States, was the main item on the agenda of the informal video conference of the European Union Health Ministers. The meeting, held on Wednesday, was chaired by Marta Temido, Portugal’s Health Minister.

The next videoconference with EU27 on Covid-19 coordination will be held on 21 January at 6pm and will be chaired by the European Council President Charles Michel, EUCO Spokesman Barend Leyts tweeted on Friday. 

On Tuesday, taking part at the ceremony in Lisbon that marks the official start of the Portuguese Council Presidency, the EUCO President Charles Michel assured his host PM António Costa of his full support during the coming six months. He announced that there will be a leader’s video conference before the end of January, to discuss again the Covid-19 crisis response and vaccine roll-out.

After lockdown-mode new year celebrations across Europe, Portugal is taking the helm of the EU on 1 January with its inspiring motto, bringing shine of hope for change “Time to deliver: a fair, green and digital recovery”.

One of the topics on the agenda of the EU summit on Thursday and Friday was the current state of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe. Discussions were focused on joint coordination efforts, especially with regard to possible Covid-19 vaccines and testing methods.

On Thursday evening, EU leaders reached an unexpectedly fast agreement on the next long-term budget for 2021-2027 and the pandemic recovery fund, altogether €1.8tn package, and the rule of law conditionality mechanism.

Talking on Thursday in the beginning of the last for this year EU summit, EP President David Sassoli recalled that in July, less than five months ago, leaders took “historic decisions”.

At the upcoming EU summit that starts later on Thursday, many observers expect a favorable outcome concerning the next common long-term budget and the crisis recovery fund, total of €1.8tn, after Hungary, Poland and Germany reached a preliminary compromise on Wednesday.

At their meeting, held via video conference on Tuesday afternoon, EU transport ministers discussed a compromise on the long-overdue reform of EU road user charges, after few years of contentious negotiations.