Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
It was announced in Brussels early in the morning, Friday, about the most prominent outputs of the summit of European Union leaders that took place Thursday in Brussels, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, confirmed the agreement to impose a ninth package of sanctions against Russia, explaining that the delay in reaching the agreement was caused by Striving to ensure global food security.
In a press conference following the European summit, Michel said: “We are pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached on the ninth package of sanctions. The delay of about two hours was due to the necessity to ensure that we work through this procedure, including from the administrative side, which is fully verified on Ensuring food security We abide by the European Union's commitments not to jeopardize food security.
Earlier, the representative office of the Czech Republic, which currently presides over the Council of the European Union, announced that an agreement had been reached on the sanctions.
For her part, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, "We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as possible. The European Union, as you know, has supported Ukraine financially this year in the amount of 19.7 billion euros. Thanks again to the Czech presidency, today our proposal for an additional amount of 18 billion euros for 2023. The European Union is at the forefront of support for its neighbor, as it should be, and will continue to be.

War has dire consequences for our economies. This will continue next year. We are facing a potential gap of 30 billion cubic meters of gas next winter. We can fill it in. But we are still in a very high energy price environment. Among other things, there is a need to work now on the joint procurement platform. It is important that we do not sell each other out as member states but use market power to buy gas. Accelerated permit issuance is critical to the deployment of renewables. There are several projects to start, mainly in preparation, awaiting clearance. With this fix allowed, these projects can move forward. Of course, there is a need to take action on the market correction mechanism. I am confident that next Monday the Energy Council will reach agreement on all three. Another success for the Czech presidency.

But against the backdrop of a very high energy price environment, we are facing stiff competition in the clean technology sectors. The US decision to invest heavily in these sectors is first and foremost most welcome. It's good that there is a huge investment in the green field, in clean technology. But on the European side, we also need to work to ensure that the EU retains its global leadership in the clean technology sectors. We need to convince the developed industries of the European Union to continue investing here. That is why I have presented a four-point plan for leaders that brings together all the key threads of an effective EU response to the US DIA.

First, we are working with the Biden administration on the most important aspects. Second, we have to adjust our state aid rules for some years: simpler, faster, more predictable. Third, we need to boost European investment to accelerate the energy transition. In the short term, this will happen through a strengthened REPowerEU, and in the medium term through a new sovereign fund. Last and fourth, we have to accelerate the deployment of renewables because the whole issue is about helping our industry transition from a highly priced fossil fuel based energy environment, and move to an affordable, homemade and safe renewable energy environment.

Based on Thursday's discussions, the commission will now move forward and make concrete proposals. We must and we will.