German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced, on Saturday 25 and Monday 27 April respectively, that the fight against the coronavirus would be one of the priorities of the German EU Council Presidency, which begins on 1 July.
“The Presidency of the EU Council will require an enormous effort. There are high expectations of Germany, which must take on the leading role as an honest broker. We have to tackle COVID-19 as well as climate change, future relations with the UK, digitalisation and the EU budget”, Maas explained. “The direction is clear: integration must be strengthened by the coronavirus crisis”, he added.
The Presidency will be “clearly dominated by the issue of combatting the pandemic and its consequences”, the Chancellor had stressed the day before yesterday. In her view, her country will promote the idea of an efficient European health care system for all Member States. The German EU Council Presidency also intends to push for a financial transaction tax, minimum tax rates and a joint carbon emissions trading system for ships and planes.
The German Cabinet will hold a special session on Wednesday 29 April to discuss the agenda of the German EU Council Presidency with the Secretary-General of the European Council, Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)