Date: 2018-09-12
Madam President, at its heart, today's State of the Union was actually an appraisal of the Commission, of us in this Parliament and of the whole European Union. Too often, when we are wrapped in our bubble of commentators' blogs, news cycles and work programmes, we forget that it is the people, the taxpayers and the voters, that we serve and not the other way round. But we hear many in this Chamber tell voters that their concerns are unfounded, or that the way they have chosen to vote is nationalistic or populist. But by attempting to shut out parties that do not share their vision and do not believe in the project, they also shut up many voters and push them further away. I know that Mr Juncker has worked very hard to regain the confidence of voters. But many people in many EU Member States feel that the EU has lost its way, that it has failed to deliver on issues such as jobs. It has failed to deliver on their concerns over migration; it has failed to deliver on them feeling safer in their home countries, and on the things that they care about. So when politicians here talk about winning back their confidence, it rings hollow to those that are still willing to listen, as they feel that they have heard it all before. I remember only too well in 2014 as President Juncker addressed this Chamber full of freshly elected MEPs, he declared it to be a moment to be a new start for Europe and said that we should play as a team with common policies. Yet voters have seen attempts to push divisive migration policies that sadly, rather than helping people, have reduced sympathy in some quarters for refugees and those fleeing war and persecution, rather than going around the table and asking each country what they can do, rather than telling them what to do. He spoke of greater transparency but the public read in the papers of the appointment of a Commission Secretary-General that was clouded in secrecy. He said that Europe cannot spend money that it does not have but they see a multiannual budget demanding more money at a time when one of the largest net contributors is leaving. He talked about considering giving the euro area its own budget capacity and powers but, as the people of Germany will tell you, there is no such thing as European money. My Group agreed with Mr Juncker when he said: 'we don't need a European solution to everything' and this is still the case. So European Conservatives and Reformists ask that this Commission President and future Commission Presidents listen to the people who have lost confidence in the EU. I know at times that our Group can be the greatest critics, but real friends tell each other the hard truths and we work together where we agree. So the ECR calls on the Commission to start delivering the kind of European Union that people want and deserve. Not an EU which increasingly replaces national governments, not a European Union that is dismantled and destroyed, but a reformed European Union that Mr Juncker promised to deliver here in this Chamber five years ago. With vital elections next year, this is the eleventh hour for the EU. It is time to move on from the 1950s model of a federalised EU, an outdated vision of yesterday and it is time to deliver an EU shaped by the wishes of its peoples, those who want a better tomorrow.