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The President of the Republic Mr.Nicos Christodoulides participated today in the Informal European Council hosted in Granada by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
During the European Council, issues of great importance for the future of the European Union were discussed.
In particular, the first substantive discussion on the drafting of the new Strategic Agenda 2024-2029, which will define the EU's priority areas for the next five years, took place during the meeting. The leaders of the Member States discussed the need to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the European economy, the strengthening of energy independence, the reduction of strategic dependencies especially in sensitive sectors, the prioritisation of the green transition and digital transformation high on the strategic agenda, as well as the issues of Defence and Security of the Union.
President Christodoulides stressed the need to give top priority to strengthening the competitiveness and resilience of the European economy, especially as the economic climate deteriorates.
The Union, he noted, must be able to guarantee a decent level of economic and social stability to its citizens. He supported initiatives to support small and medium-sized enterprises and the strengthening of policies aimed at improving the lives of European citizens, while highlighting the importance of the green transition for Cyprus, which remains energy isolated.
In the field of defence and security of the Union, the President of the Republic supported the efforts to develop this sector, since, as he stressed, it contributes, among other things, to the strategic autonomy of the Union. He also stressed the importance of the debate on the further integration of the European Union and noted that the Republic of Cyprus belongs to those Member States which strongly support the need for further integration as an important and successful tool that strengthens the EU on the one hand and at the same time greatly benefits the acceding countries.
President Christodoulides expressed the view that the new agenda should include not only Migration but also relations with the Southern Neighbourhood, a region of particular interest to the EU in areas such as security, migration, energy where the Union should intensify its presence and policy making, and which is a direction that we as Cyprus will put on the priority axes that we will promote during our Presidency in the first half of 2026.
The discussion on the drafting of the agenda will continue at subsequent European Councils, with a view to its completion in the first half of 2024.
The issue of migration was discussed among the leaders of the Member States at a working lunch.
President Christodoulides underlined that our goal should be to fight the root causes of migration, including cooperation with third countries, on the basis of concrete data, and called for the accelerated adoption of the Eastern Mediterranean Action Plan, in line with the European Council Conclusions of February, and the issues discussed at the recent MED9 Summit in Malta.
Finally, the President of the Republic stressed that Cyprus, as a frontline Member State, supports the swift adoption by the European Parliament of the legislation constituting the Pact on Immigration and Asylum.
(RM/IS)
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