Angela Merkel meets with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel reasserted their intention to get the people more involved in the discussion over Europe’s future, during their talks in the run-up to the informal meeting of the European Council on Friday.
2 min reading time
Luxembourg and Germany aim to strengthen people’s positive attitude to Europe, say Angela Merkel and Xavier Bettel
Photo: Bundesregierung/Steins
An informal meeting of the European Council is to be held this coming Friday in Brussels. In view of this, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel made the most of the opportunity to drop in on the Chancellor on Monday on his way to the Berlin International Film Festival.
"We will also be discussing how we can bring Europe closer to the people and how we can get involved in the proposed citizens’ dialogues," said Chancellor Angela Merkel before their meeting. In the run-up to the elections to the European Parliament in particular, it will be important to get the people involved.
Strengthening positive attitude to Europe
Luckily, said Angela Merkel, the attitude to Europe has once again become more positive. "Both Luxembourg and Germany aim to encourage this upswing." Luxembourg would like to see a Union that sets its sights on the future and is closer to the people, said Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. For this reason, Luxembourg will be involved in the citizens’ fora.
The challenges of Brexit
The financial situation in the wake of the United Kingdom’s departure will once again be "very challenging" stated the Chancellor. On the one hand, the EU must shoulder the responsibilities for the future, including new tasks such as defence, migration and addressing the root causes of displacement.
On the other hand, tried and tested programmes must be continued. But not all EU member states claim to be in a position to spend more. "We need to prepare carefully in this context," said Angela Merkel.
This Friday (23 February) the heads of state and government of the EU27 will come together in Brussels for an informal meeting of the European Council. They will look at institutional issues, including the composition of the European Parliament after the 2019 elections, and the so-called ‘Spitzenkandidat’ process (the system under which the lead candidate proposed by the party winning most votes in the European Parliament becomes President of the European Commission). They will also be discussing the political priorities of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) as of 2020.