The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, considered that Portugal is an “interesting partner” in the area of green hydrogen and converged with the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, on the need for “more international cooperation.
In a speech at the opening ceremony of the Hannover fair – which chose this year Portugal as a partner country – Olaf Scholz said that during the German presidency of the G7, which began in January, intends to “create an international climate club, which will be open to all countries that agree on some minimum standards for environmental protection.
The chancellor said that, with regard to the climate area, international partners advance “faster” if they work together and defended the need to “deepen cooperation projects, for example, with regard to green hydrogen.
“In this area, Portugal is an interesting partner. This is a potential that Prime Minister Costa and I will certainly address in detail. If there is one answer to the major challenges of our age, it is: together. Together, we will defend the international order against Putin’s aggression by standing together, with our partners and friends, just as our two countries are already doing, Antonio,” he said, addressing the head of the Portuguese executive, who was listening to him in the audience.
Scholz maintained that “more international cooperation” is needed and considered it “dangerous” to take the path proposed by those who consider that “decline in international relations” is “desirable” and that the concept of “de-globalization” is appropriate for the modern era.
“I think it is a dangerous path, and not only because Germany and Europe benefit from open markets and free trade, but because the international division of labor and the global transfer of knowledge has led to greater prosperity in recent years,” he noted.
Presenting statistics, Scholz said that the “proportion of people living in extreme poverty in the last 40 years has gone from 40 percent to less than 10 percent, and by the start of the [covid-19] pandemic, about 50 million annually moved into the global middle class.”
“When people talk about decoupling or ‘deglobalizing,’ we should not forget [these statistics]. What’s more, none of the major challenges we face internationally can be met on an individual level,” he added, citing the fight against climate change as an example.
Speaking before the German Chancellor, the Portuguese Prime Minister considered that the current moment is one of “change”, with the redefinition of the “European growth model”, but stressed that, for Portugal, the strategic autonomy of the European Union cannot mean closing itself “to foreign trade” or forgetting “the importance, not only economic, of the links between all the countries of the world”.
“It means, rather, that we have to act to ensure more sustainable, safer value chains that strengthen the European Union in a globalized world. This is not the time to “de-globalize”, this is the time to better organize the global market”, he sustained.
In this sense, the Prime Minister considered that it is “essential” to conclude trade agreements that are being negotiated by the European Union, “namely the most powerful of all, the one that will link the European Union to Mercosur.
“This is therefore a moment to densify the ties between our industries and to take advantage of the potential for joint work between large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises, both in Portugal and in Germany. These ties have already proven to be mutually beneficial, and will continue to be so in the future,” he concluded.
With the slogan “Portugal makes sense”, Hannover Messe’22 – considered the biggest industry fair in the world – started this Sunday and ends on Thursday, having chosen Portugal as a partner country for this year’s edition. According to the Prime Minister’s office, 109 Portuguese companies are participating in the fair, developing “activities in the areas of engineering solutions, energy solutions and digital ecosystems.
On the sidelines of the Hannover fair – which opened this afternoon with Olaf Scholz – António Costa had dinner with the German chancellor in a meeting closed to the media. On Monday morning, the prime minister and the German chancellor will visit national pavilions at the fair, before heading to Brussels, where, in the afternoon, they will take part in the European Council meeting.
