Εμπορικός Σύλλογος Κυπαρισσίας «Η Πρόοδος»:Εορταστικό Ωράριο Καταστημάτων

- Σάββατο 19/12 | 08:00 - 14:00
- Κυριακή 20/12 | 10:00 - 14:00
- Δευτέρα 21/12 | 08:00 - 14:00 & 17:00 - 20:30
- Τρίτη 22/12 | 08:00 - 14:00 & 17:00 - 20:30
- Τετάρτη 23/12 | 08:00 - 14:00 & 17:00 - 20:30
- Πέμπτη 24/12 | 08:00 - 14:00 & 17:00 - 20:30
- Παρασκευή 25/12 | ΚΛΕΙΣΤΑ

- Σάββατο 26/12 | ΚΛΕΙΣΤΑ
- Κυριακή 27/12 | 10:00 - 14:00
- Δευτέρα 28/12 | 08:00 - 14:00 & 17:00 -20:30
- Τρίτη 29/12 | 08:00 - 14:00 & 17:00 -20:30
- Τετάρτη 30/12 | 08:00 - 14:00 & 17:00 - 20:30
- Πέμπτη 31/12 | 08:00 - 14:00 & 17:00 - 20:30
- Παρασκευή 01/01 | ΚΛΕΙΣΤΑ

- Σάββατο 02/01| ΚΛΕΙΣΤΑ
- Κυριακή 03/01 | ΚΛΕΙΣΤΑ
- Δευτέρα 04/01 | 08:00 - 14:00
- Τρίτη 05/01 | 08:00 - 14:00 & 17:00 - 20:30
- Τετάρτη 06/01 | ΚΛΕΙΣΤΑ

ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣ ΑΡΒΑΝΙΤΙΔΗΣ,ΒΟΥΛΕΥΤΗΣ ΚΙΝ.ΑΛ.:ΔΕΛΤΙΟΝ ΤΥΠΟΥ

Το Κίνημα Αλλαγής στα Νοσοκομεία «ΑΧΕΠΑ», «Άγιος Δημήτριος», «Ιπποκράτειο» και στον Δήμαρχο Θεσσαλονίκης


Κλιμάκιο του Κινήματος Αλλαγής με τον Γραμματέα της Κεντρικής Πολιτικής Επιτροπής, Μανώλη Χριστοδουλάκη, και τους βουλευτές Ανδρέα Πουλά (υπεύθυνος ΚΤΕ Υγείας), Γιώργο Αρβανιτίδη και Γιώργο Φραγγίδη, βρέθηκε στη Θεσσαλονίκη και επισκέφθηκε τα νοσοκομεία «ΑΧΕΠΑ», «Άγιο Δημήτριος» και «Ιπποκράτειο».

Εκεί, συναντήθηκε με φορείς των εργαζομένων των νοσοκομείων και τις διοικήσεις τους, όπου ενημερώθηκε για την κατάσταση που επικρατεί στα νοσοκομεία που σηκώνουν το βάρος της πανδημίας, συζήτησε για τα προβλήματα και τις ελλείψεις που υπάρχουν στο ΕΣΥ, και ευχαρίστησε το ιατρικό και νοσηλευτικό προσωπικό για την μάχη που δίνει με αυταπάρνηση.

Ακολούθως, το κλιμάκιο του Κινήματος Αλλαγής πραγματοποίησε συνάντηση με τον Δήμαρχο Θεσσαλονίκης, Κωνσταντίνο Ζέρβα, όπου συζητήθηκαν οι προτάσεις και πρωτοβουλίες που πρέπει να αναληφθούν, για τη στήριξη του επιχειρηματικού κόσμου της περιοχής και της τοπικής κοινωνίας, που δοκιμάζεται ανισοβαρώς, τόσο από το υγειονομικό σκέλος της κρίσης, όσο και στο επίπεδο των οικονομικών και κοινωνικών της επιπτώσεων, καθώς και τα θέματα υποδομών της πόλης και των αστικών μεταφορών.



Διαβάστε ΕΔΩ αναλυτικά για την επίσκεψη








Συνέντευξη στο TheCaller WEB TV

Στο «ThessReport» του TheCaller WEB TV και τον Ζαφ Κωνσταντινίδη μίλησε ο βουλευτής του Κινήματος Αλλαγής Γιώργος Αρβανιτίδης συζητώντας την διαχείριση της πανδημίας και της οικονομίας από την κυβέρνηση, την ενεργειακή πολιτική της και το πρόγραμμα «Εξοικονομώ – Αυτονομώ».

Ο κ. Αρβανιτίδης στάθηκε κριτικά στις αποφάσεις τις κυβέρνησης για τον κορονοϊό ενώ κατακεραύνωσε την οικονομική πολιτική της που όπως τόνισε έχει επιβαρύνει πολύ την οικονομία της χώρας.





TheCaller WEB TV - 14.12.2020

Δικαίωμα πλήρους απαλλαγής από την καταβολή κομίστρου μετακίνησης ανέργων στις περιοχές αρμοδιότητας ΟΑΣΑ ΑΕ και ΟΑΣΘ

Άρθρο 1

Δικαίωμα πλήρους απαλλαγής από την καταβολή κομίστρου μετακίνησης ανέργων στις περιοχές αρμοδιότητας ΟΑΣΑ ΑΕ και ΟΑΣΘ

Οι άνεργοι, όπως αυτοί καθορίζονται στο άρθρο 2 της παρούσας, έχουν το δικαίωμα μετακίνησης με πλήρη απαλλαγή από την καταβολή κομίστρου με τα αστικά συγκοινωνιακά μέσα περιοχών αρμοδιότητας του Οργανισμού Αστικών Συγκοινωνιών Αθήνας – ΟΑΣΑ ΑΕ [ΟΔΙΚΕΣ ΣΥΓΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΕΣ ΑΕ (ΟΣΥ ΑΕ) και ΣΤΑΘΕΡΕΣ ΣΥΓΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΕΣ ΑΕ (ΣΤΑΣΥ ΑΕ)] και του Οργανισμού Αστικών Συγκοινωνιών Θεσσαλονίκης (ΟΑΣΘ).

Άρθρο 2

Δικαιούχοι άνεργοι – κριτήρια και διαδικασία παροχής δωρεάν μετακίνησης
Καθορίζονται ως δικαιούχοι πλήρους απαλλαγής από την καταβολή κομίστρου στα αστικά συγκοινωνιακά μέσα στις περιοχές αρμοδιότητας ΟΑΣΑ ΑΕ και ΟΑΣΘ, οι κάτωθι κατηγορίες ανέργων:

α. Άνεργοι, εγγεγραμμένοι στο Μητρώο ανέργων του Οργανισμού Απασχόλησης Εργατικού Δυναμικού (ΟΑΕΔ) σύμφωνα με την κείμενη νομοθεσία.

β. Άνεργοι κάτοχοι βεβαιώσεων ανεργίας οι οποίες εκδίδονται από τις αρμόδιες υπηρεσίες του Ενιαίου Φορέα Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης (e-ΕΦΚΑ) σύμφωνα με την κείμενη νομοθεσία.

Οι ανωτέρω άνεργοι έχουν το δικαίωμα του άρθρου 1 εφόσον διαμένουν μόνιμα:

α) εντός των ορίων της Περιφέρειας Αττικής (πλην της Π.Ε. Νήσων), με τα αστικά μέσα συγκοινωνίας του ΟΑΣΑ AE [Ο.ΣΥ. Α.Ε. και ΣΤΑ.ΣΥ Α.Ε.].

β) στην Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Θεσσαλονίκης με τα αστικά μέσα συγκοινωνίας του ΟΑΣΘ.
Η δωρεάν μετακίνηση των ανωτέρω δικαιούχων είναι δυνατή μόνο:

α. στις περιοχές αρμοδιότητας του ΟΑΣΑ ΑΕ, με την έκδοση και διάθεση στους δικαιούχους ανέργους από τον ΟΑΣΑ ΑΕ προσωποποιημένων ηλεκτρονικών καρτών μετακίνησης, και

β. στις περιοχές αρμοδιότητας του ΟΑΣΘ, με την επίδειξη πρόσφατης βεβαίωσης ανεργίας, του ισχύοντος αποδεικτικού ανανέωσης της κάρτας ανεργίας από τον ΟΑΕΔ ή τον e-ΕΦΚΑ, κατά περίπτωση, και της αστυνομικής τους ταυτότητας ή του διαβατηρίου τους.

Άρθρο 3

Προσωποποιημένες κάρτες μετακίνησης αρμοδιότητας ΟΑΣΑ
Η ορθή εφαρμογή των κοινωνικών πολιτικών που αφορά στις μετακινήσεις των ειδικών ομάδων του πληθυσμού υλοποιείται σε συνάρτηση με τη βασική αρχή του συστήματος, που αφορά τη χρήση προσωποποιημένων μηνιαίων ηλεκτρονικών καρτών απεριορίστων διαδρομών, από τις ειδικές ομάδες των μετακινουμέ-νων, σύμφωνα και με τη διεθνή πρακτική, ώστε αυτές οι κάρτες να φέρουν τα στοιχεία των κατόχων και να χρησιμοποιούνται αποκλειστικά από αυτούς.


Για την μετακίνηση των ανέργων, με πλήρη απαλλαγή από την καταβολή κομίστρου μετακίνησης, απαιτείται η έκδοση προσωποποιημένων ηλεκτρονικών καρτών μετακίνησης, οι οποίες εκδίδονται σύμφωνα με τους κανόνες του Αυτόματου Συστήματος Συλλογής Κομίστρου και με τους όρους και τις προϋποθέσεις που τίθενται στην υπ’ αρ. 04/2017 γνωμοδότηση της Αρχής Προστασίας Δεδομένων Προσωπικού Χαρακτήρα. Η έκδοση της μηνιαίας προσωποποιημένης κάρτας απεριορίστων διαδρομών για τους δικαιούχους δωρεάν μετακίνησης γίνεται με τον ίδιο τρόπο που γίνεται η έκδοση όλων των προσω-ποποιημένων καρτών.


Οι προσωποποιημένες ηλεκτρονικές κάρτες μετακίνησης μηνιαίας ισχύος, χρησιμοποιούνται αποκλειστικά από τους δικαιούχους κατόχους τους με χρήση του εξοπλισμού Έκδοσης, Πώλησης, Επαναφόρτισης, Επικύρωσης και Ελέγχου του Αυτόματου Συστήματος Συλλογής Κομίστρου που έχει εγκατασταθεί σε οχήματα, σταθμούς και στάσεις του δικτύου των Μέσων Μαζικής Μεταφοράς αρμοδιότητας ΟΑΣΑ και δύνανται να αντικατασταθούν σε περιπτώσεις απώλειας, κλοπής ή δυσλειτουργίας.

Έχει τσιπάκι; Είναι του Μπιλ Γκέιτς; Οι ΝΥΤ ξεκαθαρίζουν τα πράγματα και αποκαλύπτουν τα συστατικά του εμβολίου

 https://hellasjournal.com/2020/12/apolafstiko-arthro-ton-nit-ochi-kanis-den-echi-fitepsi-tsipaki-sta-emvolia/

Υπάρχουν δέκα συστατικά στο εμβόλιο των Pfizer/BioNTech κατά του κορωνοϊού, αλλά ανάμεσά τους δεν υπάρχει κανένα τσιπάκι, αντίθετα με τις ανεκδιήγητες θεωρίες συνωμοσίας που αφθονούν στα μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης και το διαδίκτυο.

Ούτε κάποια εξουσιομανής κυβέρνηση, ούτε ο Μπιλ Γκέιτς ή άλλος κακόβουλος μεγαλοεπιχειρηματίας, ούτε η ελίτ της «παγκόσμιας τάξης πραγμάτων» έχουν φυτέψει κάποιο τσιπάκι στο συγκεκριμένο εμβόλιο ή σε όποιο άλλο ενάντια στην Covid-19. Η διάψευση αυτή κανονικά φαντάζει περιττή, αλλά είναι τόση η δύναμη της συνωμοσιολογικής σπερμολογίας, που οι «Τάιμς της Νέας Υόρκης» έκριναν αναγκαίο να κάνουν σχετικό δημοσίευμα.....

IMF:Weekend Read- Latin America's Plight | COVID's Unequal Effect | Tackling Debt | Low Interest Rates | Reserve Currencies | Central America

 

The latest IMF analysis of global economics, finance, development and policy issues shaping the world //

Dear maria, In today's edition we hear more about how Latin America has been hit hard by the pandemic, how to combat COVID's unequal effect, issues with tackling debt, the implication of low interest rates for a long period, central bank reserve currencies, Central America's twin challenge, and much more. On that note, let's dive right in. LATIN AMERICA'S COVID PLIGHT Latin America has been hit harder by the COVID-19 pandemic than other parts of the world and faces a steeper climb to recovery, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said during a virtual event with Council of the Americas CEO Susan Siegel. While the region contains only 8 percent of the global population, it represents roughly 20 percent of infections and 30 percent of deaths from the virus. On the economic side, the region's economy is projected to shrink by 8 percent, which is nearly double the 4.4 percent contraction expected worldwide. The economic outlook for 2021 shows the region will be playing catch up with the growth of 3.6 percent expected next year compared to 5.2 percent for the rest of the world.  The MD laid out three reasons why the region is harder hit economically: previous years of slow growth, a large proportion of workers employed in contact-dependent industries that were made more vulnerable by the crisis, and an overall lack of investment in healthcare and other social systems. She also warned against a "K-shaped" recovery, whereby high-skilled workers and digital-focused parts of the economy recover but those with lower skills and vulnerable groups, like women and young people, are left behind. "Will this sober moment, a tragedy that affects virtually all of us, translate into investing in resilience of people--education, health, social protection ... [and a] resilient planet?" she asked. Watch the full event here. Promoting equity and accountability: In a separate event on Wednesday, the MD joined Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance of Indonesia; Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States; Warren Krafchik, Executive Director, International Budget Partnership moderated by Beena Pallical, General Secretary, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights to discuss how to promote equity and accountability in the COVID-19 response.  "In this crisis so much is being done so fast," she said about the scale of assistance being provided to countries. Keeping the receipts means more than merely stuffing them in a drawer. "We must use them and use them means what? Be able to track where money is going. Two, be able to bring citizen oversight of how money is used. And three, audit these receipts," she said. Watch the full event here. PAYMENTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE In a speech at the recent Singapore Fintech Festival, MD Kristalina Georgieva laid out the four cornerstones of payments in the digital age: private sector innovation, public sector involvement, regulatory and legal frameworks, and international cooperation. "Digital payments are not just for the tech-savvy – they have huge implications for the whole world," she said. "So we must tread courageously – and carefully. We must ensure that payments evolve to meet user needs while remaining safe and resilient. That’s at the micro level. And at the macro level, we need to foster a financial sector and international monetary system that are efficient and trusted, equitable and inclusive, and still dynamic." BATTLING COVID'S UNEQUAL EFFECT IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath made the case that the IMF is adapting to lessons learned from the past as it looks to support countries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. She joined Sierra Leone's Finance Minister Jacob Jusu Saffa, Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation's Jayati Ghosh, Development Finance International's Matthew Martin, and Oxfam International's new Executive Director, Gabriela Bucher to discuss how governments can stop COVID-19 from increasing inequality.  "The IMF has moved along in the sense of adapting to the lessons that have been learned," she said at the virtual event on Monday hosted by Oxfam International. "And if you look at the more recent programs over the last several years, you will see that there's a great emphasis on ensuring that there is social protection."  Top of mind: Ensuring the availability of vaccines worldwide should be a priority. Wealthier countries may end up with extra doses. "There has to be a mechanism to ensure that these excess vaccines go very quickly to the needy countries," Gopinath said. "So for me, that's top of mind, because right now ... ending the pandemic sooner would help bring back recoveries much faster everywhere in the world." Watch the full event here. TACKLING DEBT Debt looms large in the current policy debate. The issue was the subject of an event this week featuring Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, director of the IMF’s Strategy Policy and Review Department; World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart; Anna Gelpern of Georgetown University; and Ken Rogoff of Harvard University. “The bottom line is timing matters, whether countries preemptively restructure their debt or restructure until a default occurs ... has important implications,” said Pazarbasioglu. “Of course, the key question is how to design an architecture, debt architecture, to help incentivize pre-emptive debt restructuring so that we can ensure better outcomes.” Considerations for debt restructuring was discussed along with changes in creditor composition and implications for creditor coordination as well as debt transparency. The discussion also marked the release of the update on the Joint IMF-World Bank Multipronged Approach to Address Debt Vulnerabilities. Watch the full event here. LOWER FOR LONGER  Central banks have played a key role in the response to the COVID-19 shock, but taking action to provide more stimulus today should be weighed against potential financial stability risks down the road, Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor and head or the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department, writes in a blog posted this week. The blog builds on a recent paper looking at the risks posed by low interest rates over a long period. "A range of policies, including forward guidance and asset purchases, was deployed to spur a strong recovery in employment after the Global Financial Crisis. But a sharp decline in the neutral rate of interest reduced the scope to counter low inflationary pressures. Even with interest rates very low out the yield curve, inflation remained chronically low and appeared to be pulling down long-run inflation expectations in many economies. This is a concern because it would put downward pressure on nominal yields and further erode policy space," he writes. Read the full blog here. CHANGES IN CENTRAL BANK RESERVE CURRENCIES The US dollar and euro still dominate reserve currencies held by central banks around the world, but could that trend change? The answer is that it could, but right now it's only happening at a glacial pace, the IMF's Alina Iancu, Neil Meads, Martin Mühleisen, and Yiqun Wu write in a blog this week.  The blog, based on a new IMF staff paper, found that given the dollar’s (and to some extent, the euro’s) international dominance, to date, any shifts in central bank reserve holdings have been minimal. The paper also found that financial links seem to be a key driver of reserve currency holdings, and increasingly so in the last decade. This would suggest that, as long as the dollar continues to dominate global finance and trade, its dominance as a reserve currency looks set to endure. But, just as slow-moving glaciers can sometimes unexpectedly surge forward, the currency composition of reserve holdings has the potential to undergo a sudden, unexpected, and accelerated transformation. Read the full blog here. CENTRAL AMERICA'S DOUBLE CHALLENGE The pandemic and natural disasters are posing twin challenges to economic destruction in Central America, according to a new Country Focus article from the IMF's Patricia Alonso-Gamo, Manuela Goretti, and Inci Otker.  Countries have taken prompt containment measures, with the strictest enforced in the Northern Triangle of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, amid inadequate testing and tracing capacities and limited access to basic health services.  Multiple natural disasters have also added to the economic destruction and increased the risk of worsening the pandemic: two tropical storms in June in El Salvador; a severe drought in Honduras; and two recent back-to-back category 4 hurricanes that hit Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras particularly hard. Fiscal consolidation, ambitious structural reforms, attention to the financial system will be required as the region seeks to recover from the crisis. Read the full article here. WHAT'S NEW IN FINTECH What are the transformative aspects of recent financial innovation that can uproot finance as we know it? Which new policy challenges will the transformation of finance bring?  A blog by IMF and ECB staff distinguishes between two areas of financial innovation. One is information: new tools to collect and analyze data on customers, for example for determining creditworthiness. Another is communication: new approaches to customer relationships and the distribution of financial products. We argue that each dimension contains some transformative components. REAL TIME DATA SHOWS WIDENING GENDER GAP Tourism, hospitality, and other contact-intensive sectors with higher shares of female workers came to a dead stop shortly after COVID-19 infections started to spread. In our latest issue of Finance & Development, the IMF's Wenjie Chen shows how the online job posting analysis from 22 countries shows the extent of the pandemic's damage, especially to women. Women have fared worse than men even in those jobs that are more conducive to working from home, she writes in her piece "Disparities in Real Time." As the labor market readjusts to the new work environment, the study using real-time data on job listings reveals women–across all sectors, continue to drop out of the workforce at an alarming rate. Listen to an IMF podcast with Chen on her article. THE GROWING PRECARITY OF WORK The growing precarity of work is the subject of another IMF podcast with two other F&D authors, Sabina Dewan, president of JustJobs Network, and International Labor Organization economist Ekkehard Ernst. Read their F&D piece "Rethinking the World of Work" where they argue that the "new normal" of informal work driven by robots and automation isn't really new at all, and that shifting demographics and technology were upending labor markets long before the COVID-induced lockdowns.  IMF LENDING Check out our global policy tracker to help our member countries be more aware of the experiences of others in combating COVID-19. We are also regularly updating our lending tracker, which visualizes the latest emergency financial assistance and debt relief to member countries approved by the IMF’s Executive Board. To date, 78 countries have been approved for emergency financing, totaling over US$31 billion. Looking for our Q&A about the IMF's response to COVID-19? Click here. We are also continually producing a special series of notes—more than 50 to date—by IMF experts to help members address the economic effects of COVID-19 on a range of topics including fiscal, legal, statistical, tax and more. FINAL THOUGHT Thank you again very much for your interest in the Weekend Read. We really appreciate your time. If you have any questions, comments or feedback of any kind, please do write  Sincerely, Adam Behsudi Deputy Editor, IMF Weekend Read abehsudi@IMF.org

EUROPEAN COUNCIL:THE PRESIDENT

 

European Council The President

18/12/2020 | A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear readers, The year 2020 has been unlike any in our lifetime. For some of us, it was a year of loss. For many others, it was a year of illness. And for all of us, it was a year in which our 'normal' lives were turned upside down and became almost unrecognisable. The year 2020 has indeed knocked us about, but it never knocked us down. This is also true of our European Union: it stands stronger than ever. It was a year of many 'firsts'. We took bold, unprecedented decisions and — in some cases — historic action. Looking back…the crisis made us stronger When COVID struck in early 2020, like most of the world, we were taken off guard. COVID-19 is, after all, the first global pandemic in one hundred years. As it raged across Europe, it hammered our economies and disrupted our societies. But we banded together and responded with emergency measures that protected our citizens and our businesses. Since then, we have taken decisive measures to make our Union stronger and lay the groundwork for a robust recovery. First, vaccines. As we speak, vaccines are starting to be rolled out across Europe. The international community's achievement in developing vaccines in record time — less than one year — is monumental. The European Union took a leadership role in mobilising international funds for vaccine research. This global success story could also be a European success story. Second, we took an unprecedented decision: the EU would borrow collectively to assist the hardest hit and ensure a strong recovery, invest in our green and digital transitions and reform our societies and our economies. In total, we will mobilise 1.8 trillion euros in the next few years. This is a clear sign of the unity and confidence of our Union. Third, one year after committing to climate neutrality by 2050, we have just raised our ambition even further. At last week’s European Council meeting, we agreed to reduce our carbon emissions by at least 55% by 2030. This reaffirms our credibility as the global leader in climate action and solidly anchors our prosperity and social transformation to our climate ambition. But we can’t do it alone. We have therefore made our climate ambition a cornerstone of our European diplomacy to encourage others to join the fight. We want to get everyone on board. And other countries have indeed followed our lead on this ambitious path. And fourth, our long-term goals. COVID may have dominated 2020, but it will not monopolise our priorities and our vision for the future. Our vision for Europe's place in the world remains crystal clear — we want to be more autonomous, less dependent and more influential. We want a stronger Europe that contributes to a better and fairer world. Looking forward: confidence, convergence, unity The year 2021 will offer a set of fresh opportunities to build a new, post-COVID world. But it's up to us — we will need to take responsibility for the world we want to live in. We will need to roll up our sleeves and lay the foundation for our future, a prosperous future underpinned by strong climate action and a commitment to the rule of law and our European values. Our number one priority will be to relegate COVID-19 to the history books. That’s the only way to get our economies humming again and our societies back up and running. That heavy burden will fall on the shoulders of vaccines. We will need to coordinate our efforts to roll out vaccines safely and efficiently. And as we prepare for the future, we will need to get to work building a Health Union, so our healthcare systems become more resilient. This won’t be the last pandemic; we must therefore prepare and reinforce our international cooperation. The EU must continue to lead in this arena; this could be accomplished through an international Treaty on Pandemics. Our next multi-year budget and recovery fund offers a rare opportunity to modernise our economies and power forward our green and digital transitions. We must take full advantage of it. The coming year will also be important for our international relations. President-elect Biden will take office next month in the United States. The US is a long-time friend and ally. We want to re-establish an ambitious alliance, based on our common interests and shared values, including revitalising our multilateral engagement to tackle pressing global issues. As we look beyond COVID, China will remain a key partner in addressing climate change, health issues, and debt relief for poorer countries. But we want a fairer relationship. We will press ahead with our negotiations to rebalance our trade and economic relations, while continuing to defend human rights and promote democratic values. And of course, next year will be the start of a new relationship with the United Kingdom. As in all 'new' relationships, it might be awkward at first. But in time, with good will from both sides, I am confident that we can forge a relationship that is in our mutual interest. Dear friends, It is often in the hardest times that we discover our greatest strengths. And 2020 has been one of the hardest years on record. We have come face to face with our vulnerabilities. But we have also rediscovered our enormous strengths, talents and creativity. And 2020 revealed our greatest strength of all — our unity. This unity will again guide us in 2021, as we work to make Europe stronger, more confident, and a force for good in the world. I wish you and your families a safe and joyful holiday season…and all the best for 2021. Charles Michel

European Council clears the way to recovery package and agrees 2030 climate target  On 11 and 12 December, EU leaders reached a deal to address the concerns expressed on the recovery package and agreed on the 55% emissions reduction goal. They also adopted conclusions on COVID-19, security and external relations, and met for a Euro Summit in inclusive format.  Watch the video extract from the summit

"We need a new paradigm," says President Michel  On 14 December, President Charles Michel spoke at the event marking the 60th anniversary of the signing of the OECD Convention. "In the last decades we have developed our economies through the exploitation of natural resources. And now we consider that we need new resources," he said.  Watch the video from the meeting

President Michel invites Joe Biden to a special summit with EU leaders in 2021  On 23 November 2020, the President of the European Council spoke with President-elect Joe Biden, congratulating him on his election as the 46th President of the United States and Kamala Harris on her future Vice-Presidency. He invited the President-elect to join a special EU summit in Brussels in 2021 to discuss shared priorities.  Read the summary of the call

President Michel meets WHO Director-General How to boost international collaboration on health and reinforce political global commitment to implementing international health law: this is what President Charles Michel and Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the World Health Organization, discussed on 15 December. The meeting took place days after a proposal by President Michel to draw up an international treaty on pandemics.  Read more about the President's proposal

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