Presentation of the German Council Presidency programme

09-07-2020 - 13:58
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During the exchange of views on 7 July 2020, the German Presidency presented its priorities for the coming 6 months. The German Presidency will work under the motto “together for Europe’s recovery” and will focus its priorities on how to recover from the Covid-19 crisis; how to use digitalisation to enhance the internal market; and how to improve the competitiveness of the European economy and ensure consumer protection.

The Presidency emphasised the need of having a strong and resilient single market, stressing the importance of having an ambitious Single Market Program within the framework of the MFF. They stressed the importance of restoring free movement of services and goods in Europe. Digitalisation and AI are expected to play a key role in strengthening the internal market. GAIA-X is an important initiative to this end. The Presidency also aims to address important consumer protection issues such as disinformation, the need to protect consumers from inaccurate, manipulative advertisements and dangerous or counterfeit products sold online and the need to protect consumers from AI-enable discrimination. In addition, the Presidency aims to make a contribution to the discussions on how to restore the resilience of European supply chains, how to improve the platform economy, the need to define an industrial strategy for Europe including the revision of competition and state aid rules.