Madam President, Commissioner de Palacio, I would like to thank the Members of the Commission for the position they adopted, which showed realism. We must ask ourselves whether it is necessary to get caught up in a crisis before we start to speak about better strategies. Nothing would now be easier than calling on all Member States of the Union to substantially decrease taxation on oil products up until the price of a barrel of crude hopefully returns to the 22 – 25 US dollar mark, or thereabouts. And it would be just as easy now for the Member States and their Ministers of Finance to declare that taxes should not be touched at all. The reason for this is the difficulty of replacing tax revenue in the short term, and the long-term consumption-curbing effect of taxes whereby we aim to have an impact on the future state of our environment. However, something has to be done. People have had enough, and above all the livelihood of people in certain occupations is directly and badly endangered, as the Commissioner said, to mention just the fishermen, farmers and people who drive for a living. In the longer term, fuel prices will bump up inflation still further and threaten the whole EU area with an economic setback. The Member States now have to find a common approach in both the short and the long term. Measures taken separately by individual countries under pressure from the protests will only make the situation more problematic and will distort competition. The responsibility for action clearly lies with national governments. Short-term measures will be the hardest. Naturally it is essential to have intensive negotiations with the OPEC countries to increase oil production, if that is possible in general, thus easing the situation by ensuring steady supplies. It will be difficult to get a quick result, however. This means that very precise measures with regard to taxes on diesel and heating oil, for example, within the realms of possibility, will be a good solution, if they are implemented generally. The reasons for the crisis can be found, not just in problems with supply, but also possibly in the refinery chain structure, the nature of the fuel market, futures market practices, and storage policies in certain countries and areas. It is claimed that the refinery chain is in the hands of so few that a cartel-like situation has developed in the market. I myself am not claiming that this is the case, but we need to look into the situation. One question is this: is the Union in a position to negotiate strategies for vital stocks of oil both within its own territory and with the United States, as, apparently, the decline in US stocks and now their need for replenishment are pushing up the spot price of oil even further. The Commissioner has already mentioned the dilapidated state of production machinery in Russia, a large oil producer. Is it not time – the question is obviously mainly directed at Russia, but it is for us to consider also – that we embarked on measures that would persuade people to invest in Russian oil production? In the long term, as the former Saudi Oil Minister, Sheikh Yamani, suggested, the permanently high price of oil will lead to other forms of energy. With a glint in his eye, he said that the Stone Age did not end because people ran out of stones. What is essential now, however, is the ability on the part of the countries of the Union to react in the short term. Is it actually so that a reduction in the relatively same rate of tax on liquid fuel until the middle of next year by national governments throughout the Union is impossible? (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE