The outgoing prime minister, António Costa, will meet the president of the European Commission, the secretary-general of NATO and the president of the European Parliament, as well as his German counterpart, in Brussels between today and Friday.
According to the Prime Minister’s office, this round of contacts “with some of the main European players with whom he has worked the most” will allow António Costa to convey a “message of thanks for the work that has been built up over the last eight years”.
António Costa will take part in the European Council meeting between Thursday and Friday, which, in principle, will be his last as Prime Minister.
This morning he will meet with European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and the Dean of the College of Europe, Federica Mogherini, the former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs.
Later in the morning, the Prime Minister has two meetings with the Commissioners for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, and for Employment and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, who is also the European Socialists’ leading candidate for president of the next Commission.
In the early afternoon, António Costa will meet with the president of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, with the commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, and in the late afternoon he will meet with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
Later today, the Prime Minister will inaugurate a photography exhibition in Brussels entitled “Europe with us!” and is scheduled to meet with Elisa Ferreira, the Portuguese Commissioner for Cohesion.
On Thursday morning, the outgoing prime minister will meet with the secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance.
This will be followed by a meeting of the European Council and on Friday he will have an early morning meeting with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and take part in the ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the European Economic Area.