Planning, costs and transparency in the presidency of the Council of the European Union
by Augusto Santos Silva on 11 March 2021 in the Portuguese daily newspaper "Diário de Notícias" as a reaction to this email action and the public criticism by foodwatch. Original text here www.dn.pt (portuguese).
The recent publication of an article on the online news site Politico gave rise to remarks and questions regarding the logistical organisation of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union (PPEU). I therefore thank DDN for this opportunity to provide clarifications that may help readers make their own judgement.
1. A European presidency is organised far in advance. In this case, the Resolution of the Council of Ministers that created the respective mission structure was published in March 2019. At that time the objective of reducing its overall cost by 10% was established, in relation to the total presidency spending of 2007. This objective will be surpassed by a considerable margin. On the one hand, the international summit (with India) is significantly smaller than the one held in 2007; on the other hand, the fact that a large part of all events (meetings, conferences, etc.) have been held virtually also generates obvious savings.
2. Covid-19 has forced several adjustments to be made over the course of the second semester of 2020. A presidency that was originally conceived in the usual terms (with physical events) became hybrid; and now the balance between face-to-face and virtual is evolving as the pandemic develops. In January, meetings with the president of the European Council and the College of Commissioners were held face-to-face; since then, the events have been primarily virtual; we hope to revert back to face-to-face meetings in the second half of the PPEU. This is why, for example, we postponed the informal Foreign Affairs and Defence councils until the end of May. I don’t believe I need to explain why we conducted the most important meetings face-to-face, whenever possible.
3. While a significant overall saving is generated by a hybrid presidency, it also entails additional costs in certain areas. Fixed structures (installations, equipment, services) have to be prepared for both scenarios: physical and virtual; and, for the former to be possible, one must, for example, redesign the installations so as to comply with the new sanitary standards. This is what we have done with the press centre. It was originally located in an internal room, where, under normal conditions, dozens of journalists could assemble. But the social distancing rules meant we had to expand the area and the supports provided. Naturally, this led to additional costs. The argument that it is a superfluous expense because the journalists have been working remotely does not stick. Firstly, it is untrue that the centre is deserted; as roughly half of it is permanently occupied by the PPEU host broadcaster; and secondly, the centre had to be operational so that, when it was allowed, the journalists could cover meetings in person.
4. A European Presidency is a very important endeavour from a political-diplomatic and security point of view, but also for the international promotion of our culture and territory. It is hard for me to understand that this is questioned in any way. But as there are questions being asked, let’s tackle them: Yes, the drivers who ensure the transportation of delegations cannot wear what they like and have to wear uniforms, which are of course purchased not by the drivers themselves, but by the organisation. Yes, our presidency, just like all the others, accepts institutional product offers (ties, handkerchiefs, pencils, notebooks, memo pads, etc.) and such exposure is used to advertise Portuguese agricultural food products (wine, olive oil, salt etc.); which now includes the provision of face masks. Yes, the meals served in the sphere of the PPEU have drinks, including wine (Portuguese, of course). Yes, we hold concerts, exhibitions and art installations, which are determined not by public tender based on price and delivery time, but rather by curators, who make selections based on programmatic and qualitative criteria. Yes, we have had to contract our own communications system, also certified by national security rules, because it would be unthinkable for ministers to communicate virtually without additional digital privacy precautions being taken. The contracts are public and audited by the competent agencies; and it is this absolute transparency that allows us to discuss utility and values.
5. Recourse to private direct contracting is safeguarded by law. The reasons for this are simple: the specificity of many services, which limits market availability, indeed aggravated by the pandemic; and time restrictions, with it being unimaginable that the PPEU could remain hostage to the slowness and litigation so often associated to contracting through public tender. Of all the 138 companies contracted to date, five had been established for less than nine months when hired; of those, two were less than three months old, and in both cases this had resulted from the transformation of the corporate nature of a service provider which was previously operational (one sole trader who converted into a one-person company and a company that increased its base of partners). I can confirm here and now that one person who did not qualify in any of the higher technical exams which he took was later hired to provide technical support services - but only once the list of candidates who had previously qualified for this position had been exhausted.
6. Finally, sponsorships. Of the many that I have witnessed, I only know of one European presidency that claimed to have excluded sponsorships. The EU Ombudsman having an opposite opinion, just in itself, does not change the law. Our decision was to reduce them to a minimum. Yes, the coffees, some juices and the notepads of the PPEU constitute donations in kind from Portuguese companies. To think that this fact allows for any kind of pressure to be exerted on our diplomacy and foreign policy would reveal a massive degree of ignorance about these matters. But it is worth reflecting with more time on the different modalities, both legitimate and illegitimate, of relationship between companies and powers, and I therefore promise to come back to this issue.
