At the end of a meeting with the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, Costa said that the series of meetings held on Monday and Tuesday in Strasbourg aimed to address the preparations of the Portuguese presidency of the EU in the first half of 2021 - it seems that not only one year remains, he noted - but also some more urgent and pressing issues, such as the need to approve the new multiannual financial framework, which is a good agreement for Europe and Portugal.

"This is a debate that will continue. I am afraid we will not reach an agreement at the next [European] Council in December, but it would be very bad for Europe if we let the Croatian presidency pass [in the first half of 2021] without a final agreement that would allow us to start working now on the regulations and what would ensure a transition between the two frameworks," he said.

Costa stressed that "for the European economy, it would be terrible if there were a gap between the two frameworks" - the multi-annual budget still in force (2014-2020) and the 2021-2027 budget -, as was the case in the negotiations on the previous financial framework.

"We had this experience seven years ago, we know how much this compromised the Portuguese economic recovery and, at a time when Europe is facing several signs that are not exactly encouraging, it would be absolutely incomprehensible that due to our collective inability we would add one more problem to those that I already fear and that does not depend on us", he said, hoping then that at the most in the Croatian presidency this first phase of setting in motion the new multiannual financial framework will be concluded.