Speech by President of the Government at press briefing following the meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Mediterranean countries of the European Union

Lisbon

Ladies and gentlemen, a very good afternoon and thank you very much for attending this press briefing.

I wish to start my speech by thanking the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, for organising this meeting. I believe that it has been a very useful meeting, and I believe beyond any doubt that it has been a meeting that has been very beneficial to us all, which is why I will organise the next one, to take place in Madrid in the month of April.

As President Hollande said in his speech, this is a group of countries that meets informally with no other goal than the well-being of the citizens that make up the European Union.

I will be very brief and only want to mention two important issues.

As you know, the Malta Summit will take place shortly; and then in Rome, on 25 March, we are going to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and I believe that we will fundamentally do two things: first, take stock of what has happened in Europe in recent years, and second, discuss the future, which naturally is of even greater interest.

I would like to say something about the balance of recent years. In recent times it is normal for many people, both from within and beyond the borders of Europe, to criticise the policies undertaken by Europe and to be tough and rigid in regard to the approaches being maintained here, but I believe that we must justify what the European Union has done over the course of recent years and what it stands for today.

Europe continues to be the region of the world with the highest levels of democracy, liberty and human rights. Europe continues to be the region of the world with the highest levels of well-being and progress and enjoys a Welfare State like none other in the world: public pensions, public healthcare, education, social services, etc. Europe is the leading trading bloc in the world, it is the leading economic power in the world and it is a place that everyone wants to come to and that no-one, with the sole exception you are all aware of, wants to leave.

Hence, I believe that it is time for all Europeans to defend what is ours, our way of life, the place where we find ourselves today and where we intend to remain in the future, I repeat, in the region of the world with the highest levels of well-being, progress, democracy, civilisation and human rights.

Secondly, I want to speak about the future of Europe. The commitment we will be obliged to make in Rome, and thereafter, will be to continue to concern ourselves with the real problems of the people - which is irrefutably what our governments are there for - and continue working on European unity and integration.

The main priorities for the coming years undoubtedly include the refugee crisis, immigration on economic grounds, the fight against terrorism - which has hit us hard in recent times - defence policy, foreign policy and, above all, economic growth and employment, because that is what allows us to maintain this most singular and important thing that we have, namely our Welfare State, and hence, the care we can provide for the people.

We will fight hard in the coming months to push through economic policies that allow us to invest more, economic policies that allow us to tackle, above all, youth unemployment - one of the worst problems that exists in many European countries, among others, in my country - and progress will be made on increasingly freer trade policies because trade clearly generates growth, wealth, well-being and employment, and is the first antidote to poverty; and we also intend to make progress on the unity of the European internal market.

Thirdly, aside from continuing to tackle and resolve real problems, Europe must send out a message of unity, which already exists, and must send out a message that depicts an interest in heightened integration in the future, through enhancing the Single Market, starting to talk about Fiscal Union and continuing to increase the unity between all European countries. This message will offer certainty, and responds to the will of the 27 countries, plus Great Britain, that presently make up the European Union and which will assuredly be the most important area in the world in terms of well-being, progress and respect for people, as indeed it is today.
Thank you very much.