 Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to proceed with our meeting. We now have the great honor and pleasure of having with us and welcoming the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development, Ivan Bartos. He is joining us and he will address our plenary session today to present the priorities of the Presidency of the European Council, which will begin in two days' time. Before giving him the floor, I would just like to stress the importance of the Czech Presidency of the Council for the challenges we have had, but also to praise the way the Czech Republic has been dealing and assisting with all the situation in Ukraine, welcoming refugees from this situation. I think this praise is an act of justice that has to be made here before you, because this is one of the ways we can express and fulfill European values. I congratulate the Czech Government for doing so and we hope that this could be a example that can be copied and replicated all across the European Union, as I know it is being done. Mr Deputy Prime Minister, the floor is yours. Thank you. Thank you, Mr President, dear Vice President, dear members of the European Committee of the Regents, dear ladies and gentlemen. Let me first congratulate you, Mr President, to being elected as the new 15th President of the Committee of the Regents. And let me thank you, Mr Tsitsikotas, for the good work and cooperation we had during the mandate when he was the President. The historically the second presidency of the Czech Republic of the Council of the EU starts tomorrow on the 1st of July. And I'm standing here or actually sitting here before you, one day before the beginning. But before I start to present our priorities, let me thank also to the French Presidency for their flexibility that I may present them already now. Our presidency begins in a year of turbulent developments and changes. In a year when we shift our attention from COVID pandemic to the Russian aggression in Ukraine. In a year when our citizens and companies are affected by deep energy crisis. The history seems to repeat itself, at least in some of them aspects. I remember that in the year 2009, when we opened our first Czech presidency, we started with and we surprised the gas and Ukrainian crisis. Although at the time it was not yet marked with a war, we could see some of seeds of today's problems. The development in the year 2009 led to the decision to initiate the so-called Eastern partnership between the EU and its Eastern partner countries. And I'm glad that this partnership prevails until today. And also in the committee of the regions. I much very appreciate the work of a conference of the regional and local authorities for Eastern partnership. Our Czech delegates to the committee of the regions actively participate there and I would like to thank them for that as well as so all others. The Ukrainian crisis is here again. It is worse and it was triggered by Russian invasion of the country. As a result, our priorities on which we had been working out in them were not that relevant anymore. We had to redefine them from the scratch. They are unsurprisingly framed by the current situation in Ukraine. The aggression forced a huge number of Ukrainian citizens to flee their home country in direction of the EU and the country's neighbouring Ukraine as well as it led to energy crisis. As a country presiding the council of EU for the upcoming six months, our first priority is to cope with the refugee crisis. In this we representative of the states need to help regions and cities and towns and our villages. In cooperation with European institutions we will look for opportunities how to help the most affected and vulnerable countries, mainly those that face the highest influx of newcomers. All this in line with the principle of solidarity, efficiency and again flexibility. We will also look at available financial resources and how to make them more flexible. For me this is very important as the public budgets have been tight already before the Ukrainian crisis. We will use all possible means including the EU sources for that. In this regards I welcome very much that the Commission publish new amendments to cohesion legislation, the so called fast care. It should help us all take the consequences of Russian aggression in Ukraine and then not only as regards refugees. I am glad the Commission responded to many calls of the member state in this regard including Czech Republic. In Czechia I have coordination of cohesion policy programs in my own portfolio. I realize how delicate the situation is in public procurement, supply of goods and resources and in delivering the projects on time of the price that were actually started. And I am aware that the negotiation over flexible provisions in cohesion legislation will not be that easy. We would like to do our best to finalize the negotiation already during our presidency. In this respect we rely on the European Parliament to help us with that and that the process will be smooth and quick. We also rely on you representatives of regional and local authorities to help us implement the measures and help the people who are fleeing from the war. We will also want to contribute to quick and efficient post war reconstruction of Ukraine including reconstruction of the critical infrastructure and provision of basic services. Energy of Ukraine is crucial for the future. I cannot omit the energy security of the Union as a second priority. We will do our best to reduce energy dependency on Russia. We cannot be vitally dependent on the countries directly threaten our security. The energy union has to focus on safe access to energy sources. We will look in details on renewable energy and decanboration initiatives of the commission. Implementation of repower EU and fit for 55 or an appropriate mix of measures to reduce the negative social and economic impacts of the rising energy prices is among our high priorities. Energy poverty has become a real threat in all EU member states today. Our third presidency priority will be to strengthen European defense capabilities and cyberspace security. We need to reinforce our long-term strategy, cooperation and capabilities, provide EU joint arms purchases and provide for long-term cooperation among the member states. In the area of digitalization we need to strengthen our security and stability of the cyberspace. It is my favorite topic since I am responsible also for the agenda on the national and European level as well. As you may know in my government I am entrusted with the digital agenda. I base my education on digitalization and IT. I understand that the fight against this information hybrid threats is an important priority to all of us. If we want to win the disinformation war and stop populist tendencies we have to focus on this together. Deepening the internal market in particular in digital services and the digital economy is a part of it. We also have to improve our European technological basis and increase industrial capacity. The recent crisis have been a bitter reminder that looking for the cheapest solution across the globe might cost us too much in the end. We are already implemented key dreams in the strategy compass and we wish to reduce technological dependence and increasing industrial capacity within the EU. Also the fragility of global supply chains and disruption of commodity markets must be addressed. Our presidency motto is Europe as a mission or as a task. It comes from Czech President Václav Havel from its famous speech in 1996. We follow on his legacy by focusing on the resilience of Europe and democratic institutions. They are crucial to safeguarding the values on which European Union is built including the rule of law, promotion of freedoms and human rights. You local and regional consulers, mayors, regional governors, you represent your citizens. Here in the committee of the regions you strive to ensure that their needs, ambitions and aspirations are heard. Local and regional representatives are the most trusted politicians in Europe. It has been proven by many pools even with the recent pools within the Czech Republic. You also experience the very essence of the EU as you have to implement many initiatives which come from Brussels. You have to bear the heaviness of the immediate consequences of various situations, be it COVID pandemic or now the Ukrainian crisis and new refugees in flux. An important instrument in coping with various challenges and implementing EU policies is the cohesion policy. Cohesion policy should be a strategic instrument for the development of the regions of the EU. It contributes to their convergence and it brings Europe closer to its citizens. Cohesion policy is not only a question of money, it has its own value. It stimulates sustainable economic growth, creates long-term jobs, helps to implement the place-based policies and provides for better public governance. Therefore, during our presidency we would like to launch a political debate on the future of cohesion policy. The outcome will be the adoption of the council conclusions which will be endorsed by the general effort council on cohesion in November. A strong tool in cohesion policy is territorial cohesion. It provides for solidarity between various regions and for reducing regional disparities. In the Czech Republic we promote a sensitive territorial approach. We reflect on specific problems and needs of the individual types and regions. We plan to share good practice from implementing those territorial instruments. In this respect innovation is an important tool for the integrated development of the region. Another important topic is the perspective of just transition. This concept introduced with just transition fund is further developed in the context of the FIT455 package. There is a stronger need for social reflection of the impact of the EU policies on the ground. We have to provide for solutions to rising energy prices, energy poverty and transformation of our industry. Czechia is an industrial country by its tradition. Although we view Green Deal as an opportunity to restructure, it is a challenge that we are strongly affected by it. In this context and as a presidency we would like to organize a conference focused on just transition. The committee of region is a great ally in this. And I would like to thank you for that. After the general effort council cohesion on 22 November, we held together a conference focused on just transition of coal and energy initiated intensive regions. I look forward to this event already now. Ladies and gentlemen, the French presidency comes to an end and I would like to thank them for their work and devotion. Let me conclude my speech by the words of President Ursula von Leiland. Democracy, peace, personal and economic freedom. That is what Europe stands for today. At the time, when war is raging against on our continent. Thank you for your attention. Thank you. Now we have interventions from the floor. I will give the floor immediately to our colleague Olga Geblevic for two minutes. Thank you, Mr. President, your Deputy Prime Minister on behalf of the EPP group. I would like to thank you for presenting as the priorities of upcoming Czech presidency in those very challenging times. I'm very happy that you began your intervention by welcoming the decision to grant the EU candidate status to Ukraine and Republic of Moldova that will also encourage our Easter partners to advance on the way on the democratic reform rule of law and good governance. In Czech Republic, in Poland, my hometown and all around Europe, we continue to provide assistance to Ukrainian refugees. At the same time, Ukraine has to be rebuilt so that many millions of refugees could return to safe home. Beyond massive financial support, the Ukrainian partners need to know how the best available technologies and expertise, the local and regional level, must be an integral part of that reconstruction efforts for Ukraine. And we as local and regional authorities at your disposal in this respect. One sentence on cohesion policy, which is so important for development of our region and cities, as you mentioned. But cohesion policy funding cannot be used for every new challenge priority on EU level. So we need to keep it up, but we need the new financial resources, fresh money. And last but not least, I fully agree with you that more than ever we need to speed up an energy transition in line to European Green Deal. Independence from Russian gas, oil, coal is our top priority. We need to invest more in energy efficiency and renewable energy. For this, we need to get direct EU funds to build more sustainable and resilient local communities. Dear Vice Prime Minister, we local and regional authorities gathered in the Committee of Regents are ready to cooperate with you and to your Czech presidency to face all mentioned challenges together. Thank you very much. Thank you. Now the floor goes to our colleague Roman Linak, two minutes. Dear Mr. President, the Deputy Prime Minister, dear colleagues, I'm honored to speak to you on this occasion and I would like to thank to Mr. Bartosz for presenting the Czech presidency priorities. I look forward to our discussion today as well as to our discussion at next plenary session in October where should join us also the Czech Prime Minister, Mr. Petrifiala. The Czech presidency period comes at difficult times and I'm happy to say that I feel renewed sense of unity between the Czech government and local partners including our municipalities and regions. Please allow me to make a small remark to the five priorities and recall again as our Prime Minister, the Deputy Minister mentioned to a statement by the late Czech President, Mr. Václav Havel, which was chosen as a motto of our presidency period. In his speech on European integration in the second half of 1990, Václav Havel used a very concise term, a Europe as a task. I think that it describes precisely what we strive for and I call all actors, including us, to be involved in its fulfillment since it's our common interest to create a strong European synergy. Thank you. Thank you. The floor goes to our colleague, Katatuto, for four minutes. Thank you very much for the floor, dear Deputy Prime Minister, dear colleagues. I'm intervening in behalf of the PES Group. I'm also Deputy Mayor of Budapest. So in this position, I would like to highlight the excellent relationship. We have Budapest with Prague. We form together the Pact of Free Cities, together with Bratislava, together with Warsaw. This initiative to strengthen democracies with progressive cities in focus of city tailored and directly accessible green funding. Because we see our colleagues already highlighted there is a lot of ambition, a lot of capacity in cities. So to use this also strengthening the 100 climate neutral city initiatives, I think it's a very important issue. I know you've been highlighting that this presidency will be clouded with many crises going on. Inflation, food security, energy security. You were talking about the just transition. You were talking about energy poverty. But when you look at energy poverty, please never forget women, the burden on women, the unpaid care burden. So when we look at investments, when we look at alleviating burdens, never forget the care burden that is mostly on the shoulders of women. This is why they are affected by energy poverty more than men. Of course, we need short-term solutions. We have to protect our citizens. But of course, we are looking on the long run. And we don't know what will happen in Ukraine if the war will end, sure or not. But we know that the reconstruction of Ukraine cannot wait. My colleagues already touched upon that. So European cities and regions are ready to deploy resources to support the sustainable reconstruction of Ukraine. And this is why we will launch later today a European alliance of cities and regions for the reconstruction of Ukraine to coordinate their efforts. The COR has also appointed Daria Nardella, Mayor of Florence and President of EuroCities, as a reporter on the strategy for reconstruction in Ukraine with the objective to have the COR represented in the Ukraine reconstruction platform. But there are some concerns I would like to share. Concern number one has just happened with the COVID crisis. We are always so getting used to the war, what's happening in Ukraine. And our citizens are fatigued. And their alertness is changed and where they are turning to their day-to-day problems. So it's the role of leaders and the role of local leaders and the role of national leaders and European leaders to still keep their focus on what's happening with the war and to keep up our help. And of course, we are in a very hot summer. A lot of us are facing hot summers and forest fires and water scarcity, but the winter is coming, too. So preparation for winter in Ukraine, starting of the reconstruction, there is not really much time to waste. The Mayor of Irpin has repeatedly told us that fixing the roofs of the houses hit by missiles simply cannot wait for a long time. And of course, as Mr. Gabyevich also mentioned, this solidarity with Ukraine is worth every effort, but it should not become an excuse for putting on hold EU policies. So there are some worries from the PES groups, and I hope you will follow what's happening with the cohesion funds. So we fully support the joint statement of 28 April 2022 by 10 countries from Central Europe, including the Czech Republic, asking for more flexibility in cohesion policy. But we support the idea to postpone the last accounting year by one year until December 31, 2023. But however, cohesion policy cannot be sacrificed for short-term political goals. So we wish you all the best of luck and please have an eye on the conference in the future as you have two and the outcomes. Thank you. The floor goes to our colleague, Ulrika Landergren. You have the floor for three minutes. Thanks, and dear minister, but I will speak Swedish. Put your headphones on. Tomorrow, you will be the new presidency within the European Union, and you have your own priorities. My political group believes that these priorities are the right ones now, but at the same time, you need to show flexibility and you need to be proactive because you might need to adapt. That's a lesson we've learned recently because the global circumstances change all the time. Ukraine has received status as a candidate country, and now we shouldn't hesitate. We shouldn't try to buy more time because now we need to make sure that your government, who has been very proactive in this procedure, well, we need to see that your presidency continues to unite Europe. We need to stand united and we need to stand united faced with the Russian aggressions. We, on our part, would like to lend you our full support and we are usually an important tool because we're very close to the citizens. We have the knowledge and we have the will to help at different levels, and especially in this refugee crisis that we're in right now. And as you yourself said, it's important that there are financial resources and this should not take place at cost of the investments we need to do when it comes to the green transition and the digital transition. The cohesion funds have been used to help up the situation recently, and now you need to make sure that this does not take place at the cost of our core priorities. When we talk about energy, it's very important that we make sure that there is an energy transition, but there need to be no conflicts between the different areas that are subject to transition. At the same time, we can see that the war is speeding up decarbonization and we're doing our utmost in order not to continue to be dependent on Russian oil and gas, but we need to change things in Europe. We should not use fossil fuels now or in the future, and that's very important if we want to achieve our environmental goals. And you also raised another important issue. There is a hybrid war going on, and it's important that we have efficient tools in order to counter the speaker interrupts herself, to counter the threats that we see in the digital area. We see disruptions and we see other problems. Thank you very much. Now the floor goes to Mr. our colleague Oltrik Vlasak for two and a half minutes. Dear Mr. Vice-Chairman, I would like to address you symbolically in Czech and invite you on our preliminary session. I'm glad you represent the new Czech government, which is implementing changes that are extremely needed. The Czech Republic has just recently embarked on a new positive journey. However, in February of this year, the worst has happened. Mr. Putin has brutally invaded Ukraine. I'm happy that the Czech Prime Minister Fjella visited Kiev, together with the Polish Prime Minister and the then Slovene Prime Minister, to show Ukraine quite clearly that the European partners stand with Ukraine. On our part, it wasn't just a symbolic gesture. The Czech Republic is amongst those countries that have been helping Ukraine very extensively, not only in the area of humanitarian help, but also militarily. Putin needs to be stopped. Otherwise, no city or region in Europe will be safe. Even though we in the Czech Republic, Poland, Finland or the Baltic countries may take it for granted, I'd like to emphasize this in our discussion today, and I appeal to all local politicians who are present here today to continue to provide support to Ukraine and to member states of the EU, which accept most refugees from Ukraine. Undoubtedly, it will require sacrifices for us in Europe. Some businesses already feel the impact of the sanctions, housing and education faces pressure and energy prices, a skyrocketing, I believe, that the Czech presidency will lead the efforts to find a solution in order to be able to compensate for those problems and to fight energy poverty. I also hope that all of us who are here in this room will be able to explain to our citizens in our countries that protecting lives of others is certainly worth any sacrifice. Thank you for your attention. Thank you, colleague McCarty. You have... Yeah, thank you, Mr. President. Dear Deputy Prime Minister, you're very welcome. On the 1st of May, 2004, yourself and nine other countries entered the European Union, and Ireland at the time held the EU presidency, and we were very, very proud to see these countries entering. And at the time, Ireland, Mr. President, commissioned a poem, as we're very poetic in Ireland, and we commissioned one of our most famous poets, Seamus Heaney. And the last... And the name of the poem was called Beacons at Bjöltena, or Beacons at May, because of the entrance in May. And I just want to read the last stanza, if I may, of the poem. And it says, so on a day when newcomers appear, let it be a homecoming and let us speak the unstrange word, as it behoves us here, move lips, move minds, and make new meanings flare, like ancient beacons signaling peak to peak from middle sea to north sea shining clear and to see a phoenix flame upon clear water. And I have to say, your phoenix flame has shone very, very bright since 2004, Deputy Prime Minister, and doesn't dim, and your values burn very, very bright. We are delighted to welcome the presidency of the Czech Republic and to welcome your priorities. Certainly your focus on the Eastern partnership, the management of the refugee crisis, and the Ukraine post-war recovery really resonates with us, because we want to work closer with you. As other speakers have said, that we do have a knowledge exchange program between all of us here to help anyone involved in Ukraine crisis, and also that we want to be involved in the Reconstruction Alliance. A few weeks ago, I was in Strasbourg at the unveiling of a bus to another great Irish peacemaker and Nobel Prize winner, John Yume. And it's really, really important that we need to strive for peace in Ukraine and pave a road map for Ukraine and Moldova to join our great community. I think many of us here are fortunate and have grown up in peaceful surroundings, but Europe has changed. It's really, really important that we reach out to our citizens, we build bridges of communications, we engage with local and regional councillors. You have a mountain of work to undertake, but I honestly believe your beacons can burn brighter than ever before, and I wish you well as you quoted Europe as a task or Europe as a mission. Many thanks. Thank you. Now the floor goes to our colleague Linda Garsh for two minutes. Thank you, dear President, dear Deputy Prime Minister, on behalf of the Greens and the Committee of the Regents, I wish to comment on the priorities of the upcoming Czech presidency. The war in Ukraine is unfortunately high on our political agenda, and our cities, towns and municipalities are doing the best we can to host and welcome refugees. It is outrageous that there are cases of refugees, especially women and children, being targets of human trafficking, and we plead for strong measures to prevent and punish such crimes. The Czech presidency will also put emphasis on building resilience in the EU energy sector, and we welcome this intention, but please do not let yourselves into the trap of believing that nuclear energy is good for ensuring the EU's energy security. It is not, in no way. Besides all other negative effects, nuclear power plants depend often on Russia for the supply of raw material, which increases dependency on Russia. So I really urge you to consider this and lead us into greater resilience through renewable energies, not into greater dependency through nuclear. Considering mobility, I greatly appreciate the ambition to decarbonize transport, to reduce emissions, and to promote environmentally friendly modes of transport. We strongly suggest putting the promotion of the use of public transport and active mobility, such as walking and cycling, and innovative solutions when it comes to connecting rural and peri-urban areas with urban centers high on the mobility agenda. And lastly, I want to comment on a priority that is not on your list, which is the sustainable food production, the Farm to Fork Strategy. Sustainable food production is key towards resilient society, and industrialized mass production of food may seem like a solution in the food crisis that we are witnessing, but let's not be short-sighted. We need healthy soils. We need active pollinators to ensure our food systems are resilient and our farmers safe. We need food sustainability targets. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you so much. Now we've entered the one-minute limit. I give the floor to our colleague Anna Magyar for one minute. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen. I wish all the best to the Czech President. Congratulations here on your program. I think this shows that you wish to tackle the issue of Ukraine. As regional politicians, we have to deal with reception of refugees. That's a major task for us. And we do as much as we can to welcome them with an open heart. In Hungary, we have a wide-ranging program, which is very important for towns and cities. We want to see peace brought about as soon as possible. So please bear that in mind. I give the floor to our colleague Patrick Schwarzkiffer. One minute. Thank you very much, Mr President. Thank you, President, Deputy Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen. Czechia is taking on the presidency of the Council at a historic time, war in our neighborhood, economic crisis, never seen inflation. Just to mention a few of the challenges facing you, which means that the Czech presidency has even greater responsibility. One has to expect that following these problems, differences will only be exaggerated. Colleagues have heard from me scary data, average weights of 440 euros a month and pensioners with even less. This happens in Europe. It's true Czechia is one of the more successful member states from a former Eastern bloc, but you too have to face these problems. I think everybody knows that it is the foremost who affirms us the greatest danger. So we wish you all the best in delivering on the conclusions of a future of Europe conference. Jali Berger. Yes, colleagues. Mr Bartosz, it's great to see you again. You regard you as a neighbour given our region, and we know how successful you've been in some of your policies, shifting away from a totalitarian regime into a democracy, economic success, one of the lowest rates of unemployment throughout Europe. I'm convinced, therefore, that the Czech presidency will also be a success of the priorities that you've set up, the right ones for me. So basically all I want to say is that you can enjoy our support. And as Robert on the European Chip Act, of course, that's an important subject for me. Resilience of the industry is something which we have to bear in mind because all the necessary efforts to help people in the Ukraine crisis and through the various transitions, digital, green and demographic, can only be successfully here, have a strong economy. So all the best in your presence here. Look forward to working closely with you. Sander Eger. One minute. Gushest, a minute. Dear minister, conflict between our Western ways and authoritarian countries like Russia placed against our values at the center of what we do and Czechia certainly has shown its determination to deliver on that and expectations could not be higher given Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It's only by strength of European institutions that our democratic values can be guaranteed. Pluralistic media landscape is a necessary prerequisite for that. Russia's campaign of disinformation has to be prevented inside and outside of European Union. Russia propaganda is to a certain extent being banned in the EU but there is this Russian narrative which takes the EU to the scapegoat for unnecessary famine in Africa and we need to steer against that. We need to make sure that our economies are fully independent of authoritarian regimes and the latest energy crisis I think has shown how vulnerable we are to our supply chains over the best of your presence. Mr. Klysovich, one minute. Thank you, Mr. President. And I would like to thank Mr. Barosz for presenting the priorities of Czech presidency. Ukraine, energy security, digital agenda, cohesion policy are very topical issues and if like the current situation needs of European Union you will have our full support for them. And now in light of your motto, if your presidency, as you explained, Europe as a mission, I would like to ask you whether you will follow up on priorities of your predecessor presidencies. For example, Croatian presidency has one of its priorities, enlargement and speeding up the process of integration of western Balkans in the European Union where the Czech presidency stands on this matter. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Gotard, one minute. Mr. President, thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. President, I guess, Vice Prime Minister, we're neighbors of Czechia so we wish you the best in your presidency and delivering on these priorities and you can enjoy our support. The energy and economic resilience is really a key factor. What people feeling is inflation. We have to steer against the inflation suffered by our citizens. We have to limit it and stop it. And also, democratic results and every other priorities, you wish to harvest the results of a comprehensive future of Europe, which is a little bit lukewarm and soft. But I think there is a need for real dialogue to be pursued between you and our fellow citizens. And I really urge you to regard regional parliaments as partners in this, bringing Europe home to men and women. And I wish all the best to your presidency of the council. Mr. Androvich, one minute. Thank you, President. Unprecedented pandemic required the Croatian presidency to be flexible and adopt its program. And the same goes for the Czech presidency, because it is faced with many challenges. The war in Ukraine, the soaring prices of energy. And that's why the Czech presidency must focus on energy security of the European Union. The energy security is the most sensitive issue when we are talking about the future of our citizens. And that is why the regional market is very important playing field for cooperation. And the key to this is the common approach, more collaboration on the higher European levels. It will be a great challenge to implement all these policies. But implementation is the key issue in the next six months during the Czech presidency. Thank you. Mr. Androvich, your turn. Thank you very much. The priorities of the second Czech presidency of the council are reflected in the slogan, Europe has a task to strengthen, to renew. This is a motto taken from the former Czech president Václav Havel when he received the prestigious award for promoting the European unity named after Charlemagne, who united almost the whole of Eastern Europe under his rule. So this is the priority goal of the Czech presidency in difficult times there, and this is unity. Croatia will soon enter the Schengen area and the Eurozone. So we congratulate the Czech presidency in advance, and we hope that we will enter, that Croatia will enter the Schengen and the Eurozone, and also that the industrial complex Jurajakovic will continue working efficiently. Thank you. Peach, one minute. You have to press the microphone. Thank you very much. Do you, Mr. Deputy Prime Minister Bartosz, I'd like to highlight some things from your neighboring country, from your neighboring regions. And what should I say, Europe has a mission. Europe has a task. It means that our job will be never done. It means that we have to fulfill our aims, and I have to say that your presidency is right in five priorities you choose. All five priorities means that you are very close to citizens. You are very close to local and regional governments and I cross my fingers that you will fulfill all priorities. I say that two of them is very important from my regional perspective of you. And as I say, when we want to handle with Ukrainian crisis or crisis connected with the war and refugees, I really have a lot of support for your country and I think in a regional level we can handle with the success. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Markula. You have the floor for one minute. Mr. President, the Vice Prime Minister, let me just add to what many of the people have here stressed so that we need to be really accelerating many of the EU activities. And now I especially refer to our, let's say, a bit longstanding activities based on the European missions. Many devoted directly to climate mitigation, climate adaptation, zero pollution, oceans, waters, soil as well. They are very strongly related to the issues that now we are operating on the energy as said so that we need to get those activities moving faster and your role is now important especially in convincing the member states to put more investments in research, innovation so to create the new solutions and on those activities at the place-based innovation ecosystems locally are crucial and we all need to be ready to disseminate the best practices and help everyone in Europe closing the innovation divide and get the ambitious targets achieved. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Dekoster. You have the floor for one minute. Mr. President, Mr. Vice-President. Mr. President, Mr. Vice-President, thank you for what you said. Thank you for the kind words to the French presidency of the European Council ending today. I wanted to come back to the migratory pressure on Europe at this time with the tragic events that have taken place in Melilla on the 24th of June where thousands of migrants tried to break into the Spanish city on African soil, leading to at least 20 to 30 deaths. This city is European. It's on another continent, but it must be supported. What would your presidency like to do to note that situation on the ground and support the mayors of Melilla and Ceuta who are faced by the same migratory pressure? This concludes the interventions from the floor. Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, the floor is yours to react, comment, have final remarks. Please do. So thank you for all the words of support in these hard times, but challenging times and also thank you for depicting some of the important parts and priorities which I may be mentioned or just touched within my initial speech. I will try to answer a few of you or maybe because I made notes here and I've got notes there, so please, if I forget, somebody won't take it personally or just raise their hand, you know, and you owe me an answer to my question. First of all, and I'm happy to hear that, I believe that everyone here are strongly committed to work and resolve the crisis that came with Ukraine with Russian attack on Ukraine. And it's not only a matter of the countries where refugees are coming to, but it's a question of Europe itself. And everyone who actually had a speech here, almost everyone, stressed that topic as the most important. Maybe two things regarding to that. I don't know who used that phrase first, think globally, act locally, but the cooperation that we are trying to achieve, not only in the Ukrainian crisis, but I believe that's how the politic is done, that we are trying to put a framework, provide resources, financial resources, know how and support. And then the policies are run on the horizontal level. You are all here an example of the horizontal level and our aid to Ukrainian nowadays, but in the future in the recovery would be also based on the horizontal level. When the European Union Commission national leaders will put a framework on it, but the delivery would be done by the local companies. But they're done as such as national only companies to the Europe that would do the job. We will do the job. So that's important part of that. Maybe what I'd like to mention here is a situation of the big cities and a major and a mayors of the cities which was mentioned by Ms. Tuto. Yeah, when the crisis started and the refugee in fact started to Europe, it's always one part of that crisis thing that people flee to the cities that are on their path. They know, which is usually the capital city or where the train goes of the major nuts of the transportation. So for the big cities and Prague as well, the situation of accepting people on the land of the city is much more stressful because majority of the refugees at least for the first landing in the country is the capital city or the big city in the region. So we're trying to address that as well, helping them cities with that. And we are Europe, right? We don't move and shift people by force from somewhere else. So we are trying to provide significant help within the education, the place to live and place to work in order to offer the people option to stay until the war is over. So the role of the big cities of all municipalities but of the big cities also of providing help to Ukraine is important. As I already mentioned, the post-war UA recovery once the war is over is a goal for us all. Many countries, not only Europeans are committed to be involved. And through our citizens' money-founding or providing goods, I can mention Poland with the supplies of the cubicle houses or all countries with the digital equipment, satellites connection, we are already working on it. We have to understand that there are about six million people of internal migration feeding from the war in Ukraine from the cities where the war is. Some of them people are crossing the border to Europe and other nations, but still there are a lot of people on the move in Ukraine and they need already our help in there. And the future recovery would be significant role for all of us. I'm listening through my notes, so sorry not being that fast as I was in there. One important thing, and thank you for mentioning that it was, I believe, Patrick Schwarzkieff who was talking about the different situation of the people of European countries considering the income and obviously there are possibilities and option to face the impact of either COVID crisis, inflation crisis, energy crisis or things that are related to the war on Ukraine. I'm very happy that this social aspect of previously planned and still carried transformation of a digital and environmental had that aspect of the social sensitivity. And these days, and it's not just things that we were discussing here, but for example, even digitalization has its own people of being poor on digital aspects to access the technology, to understand the technology. So the social aspect of the war in Europe but also resolving the results or the impact of the crisis that we are facing all is very important. Funding that is provided by European Union would try to help resolve that as well. And if there is something and maybe I jump a little bit from the field we are discussing, this let's say social disintegration or the impact of the war is one of them the Russian weapons as well, right? Through the energetics cause the poverty or the miserable life to the people. So, you know, the governments of individual European states would be able to lost the trust of them people but we won't allow that. So thanks to everybody who is keeping that in mind of thinking of a transformation that everybody shall have a benefit of it and nobody shall not be threatened by the transformation or the way we are trying to solve these issues. I was also asked here about the plans of Czech Republic considering Western Balkans cooperation and path to the larger Europe. We never dropped that just because the Ukraine is emphasized. So I'm happy Ukraine has got the candidate states and we will be having a conference. Yeah, it's with the European summit that we will discuss that as well. So, and we talk about it very often and the European Union and the presidency. It's not about just Europe. So all of them partnership with democratic words are important such as transatlantic cooperation, partnership with Israel and other countries who are trying to resolve the impact of the war but not only of the war. Maybe I'll touch the thing that the States got a different opinion on that. We all agree we are heading to CO2 neutral Europe that we wanna run that transformation considering the green resources, be more green, turn to renewables, adjust the energy concepts of individual countries. But we have to understand each countries got different starting blocks, different level of dependencies. So even though the goals are set and are similar, there is still different way for each country to achieve that in that given time. So we have to understand that the transformation that will happen and we are committed that would happen in specific ways based on individual country needs, energetic situation and the way the initial energy mix was taught in that country. But we are committed to everything that we said and we are on that path. So nothing's changing on that. One important thing and it's often when something is, pardon me, when something is stressed or put into the light, it seems like we are forgetting about everything else. It's not true. When something is important, it's got priority. A lot of people talk about it, right? So some of them file us, some of them policies we are be dealing with are more under the light, are more current, more, it hurts because we are feeling direct impact of something that we made it in the history but we did not because we had plenty of time. Now we have a need to change that but it doesn't mean that long-term perspective, sustainable growth, long-term goals and commitment are forgotten, right? But as I said, think globally, out locally. So we have to put off the fire when the fire is in there which doesn't mean we don't see the house in the garden and all the aspects of the human's life we wanna improve. And I'll be getting to the very end probably. Yeah, we were discussing also Farm to Fork, the improvement of them politics. As I said, a lot of things that were mentioned here, we did not drop them because we do have a priorities. Priority is something we wanna do the significant progress within that. Maybe one thing and I already said that this morning on the digital meeting we had, we have the pleasure, we have the mission in Europe, we have the task for that half year. So we will try to carry things that we all worked together for that specific time as an honest broker, the one who tried to find the understanding of all of us, push the dialogue to the next level to the next steps, but also honesty provide and honesty requires from all of them participants. That's another important thing. But I believe it's just a specific part of a history. So we said, those are our priorities. We wanna move those little bit, but it is and it will be a long-term change that we are facing together. So I may say there is nothing special about the presidency. Yeah, there is, it's an honor to us and I'll be happy to cooperate and meet all of you on them subsequent meetings and anytime in the future, just trying to find the best solution and bring it to the region and the cities and the villages because those are the places where the people live, work, raise their kids, have a free time. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Bartos. I would like on behalf of the Committee of the Regents to convey you the message that from our side, we stand ready to help make the Czech presidency a success. In all the issues, priorities you've mentioned, local and regional authorities across Europe represented here at the Committee of the Regents. We are interested in, of course, more specifically in some issues that you've mentioned and priorities and also members have priorities have mentioned. So we wish you the best, all the success because your success will be Europe's success. So all the best. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today. Ladies and gentlemen, are we gonna proceed? I would again take advantage of the willingness of our...