Stenbock House, 9 September 2016 – Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas emphasised at today’s meeting with President of the European Council Donald Tusk that the leaders of all 27 countries must perceive at the Bratislava summit that there is no more time for endless disputes, since it is now necessary to quickly find working solutions together on how the European Union is moving forward and how it is standing for the actual concerns of its citizens.
“I am glad that we jointly perceived with the President of the European Council at today’s meeting that we no longer have the time to wait: it is necessary to overcome the shock of Brexit and move on together. We need to remember every day that our common values – peace and stability and economic welfare – constitute a historic achievement in the united Europe that must be maintained and developed. For these values, we must stick together in difficult times,” Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas said.
According to Prime Minister Rõivas, the heads of state and government of 27 Member States of the European Union are expected to focus on the actual and major problems of their citizens, namely, slow economy, unemployment, and migration. “In fact, many solutions to these problems already exist, but they are often not realised due to the lack of implementation. Frequently, the fault lies in the decisions of the Member States, and not at all behind the European Union. We must also be able to make this distinction and adjust our expectations accordingly,” Rõivas said.
According to Prime Minister Rõivas, it is also clear that we do not only have to do things in the right way, but also the right things and, above all, we need to strengthen the political and economic union between 27 Member States.
“For Estonia, in addition to growth, the most important topics include the security and safety of Europe, and the internal market and the information society. We need to expand our opportunities with the closest partners by means of free trade agreements,” Prime Minister Rõivas said. “In addition to free movement of capital, services, goods, and people, also free movement of ideas and information must be ensured. This is relevant in order to adapt the single market to the needs of the 21st century. To launch this, we are of the opinion that free movement of information could be the fifth freedom of the European Union.”
“Many of my colleagues share my expectations that the process started at the Bratislava summit will lead to tangible results, which are also carried out. Estonia as the holder of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2017 is ready to further develop this work in any case,” Prime Minister Rõivas added and also provided an overview of the preparations of the Presidency of Estonia to Donald Tusk. Although the Presidency of Estonia will be introduced half a year earlier, it does lead to reductions in quality.
Photos of the meeting: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/azwydulhbtr8pa6/AAARZFcK7ar8SIcrc99IVADha?dl=0