Remarks by President Charles Michel before the European Council meeting on 15 Octobre 2020

We will have the opportunity tomorrow to tackle COVID-19 again. We know that it's important to make more progress at the level of the coordination and the cooperation between Member States. In recent days we took important decisions, but it's not enough. We need to continue to develop more cooperation and more coordination at the European level to limit the spread of the virus.

We will have the opportunity, also this afternoon, to tackle the future relationship with the UK. We want an agreement, but we also want to protect the level playing field. It's a question of fairness, it's a question of jobs, it's also the question of the integrity of the single market. We are ready to continue to negotiate with the UK. This is a difficult negotiation, we all know that. And we will have the opportunity to have an exchange of views with all the European leaders.

And today, we'll have also the opportunity to have an orientation debate on climate change. We need to take a decision by the end of the year on our goals by 2030. And it will be the occasion to identify what are the important building blocks to make an agreement possible in December. Climate change is a very important topic. This is also, with the European Green Deal, our growth strategy for the future of Europe and for the future of the world, it is key. And we really want to play a very strong role in order to tackle this important challenge.