Conclusions of the Special European Council meeting of 9 February and preparation of the European Council meeting of 23-24 March 2023 (debate)
Speaker: Manfred WEBER (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern e.V.)
Date: 2023-03-15

  Manfred Weber,  on behalf of the PPE Group. – Madam President of the European Parliament, Commission, Council, dear colleagues, good politics starts, first of all, with a reality check. Eight out of ten global champions are from the US. Apple’s market value alone is bigger than Germany’s entire stock market. The 10 leading companies investing in quantum computing are in the US or in China, not one single company in Europe. And in artificial intelligence, American firms invest six times more than European firms. 
Europe, dear friends, let’s see: the reality is not competitive enough. And that’s why the EPP is happy that competitiveness is now top of the agenda in the European Union, thanks, first of all, to the Swedish Presidency, but also to the engagement from the European Commission this week with the proposals.
The EPP was always advocating for a jobs, jobs, jobs agenda in the European Union. And competitiveness is not an abstract word, it is about securing our European way of life, it’s about our welfare, about jobs. Europe will never be sovereign if it is not competitive. And no doubt our strength is the single market, the largest market in the world. That is what we should use.
And there we must still invest to enable more growth. We at the EPP, we don’t believe that spending money will solve our problems, first of all. For us a competitive Europe, what counts is trading with the world: best ideas, access to resources, efficient administration and a social approach.
Let me go to these concrete points. Speaking about trade, the whole problem with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) started, let’s be honest, when parts of this House rejected the TTIP negotiations. If we had TTIP, we wouldn’t have to deal with IRA now because our Canadian and Mexican friends have full access to America.
A competitive Europe needs trade, and in this legislature, Europe is lacking fresh, ambitious approach when it comes to new free-trade agreements. We see no progress, for example, on Mercosur: 800 million consumers, or if I may say friends because they are closely linked to Europe. The friends from Mercosur area are waiting for us. We need new free trade agreement with the United States and we need a free trade union with the democracies in the world.
A second point: the competitive Europe should also not limit innovation and forbid technologies. In our last session here in February in the in the European Parliament, a majority decided to ban the combustion engine. I ask myself, who is now producing cars for areas, for regions like South America? I don’t think that they will have in 2035 enough electric charging infrastructure in South America that they can buy all-electric cars. The combustion engine is still necessary.
We hear some different voices, Stéphane from the Liberals and others are telling us that combustion engine is necessary and Bruno Le Maire is telling us that it is not any more the case. So we need a clear idea. We think that innovation and allowing technologies is the right answer, and not forbidding them.
I want to underline that a third point for us is the strategy to raw materials. China is more and more dominating global resources, and that’s why we welcome very much the Commission proposal for raw material strategy for Europe.
The fourth point is that we need competitiveness also with tackling cutting red tape, and I think with more ambition. In the short term, we should stop additional burdens for our economy in war times – they are struggling, they are having enough problems – they don’t need additional burdens. And in the mid and long run, I agree with Ursula von der Leyen that we set limits to bureaucracy by the European Commission and put all vice-presidents in charge to realise it.
I welcome the Commission proposals now for a competitiveness check on all new EU regulation and to reduce the reporting obligations for our economies and make our single market more competitive with less bureaucracy. So a competitive Europe, European regulation and cutting red tape have to go hand-in-hand. And, above all, we need a competitive Europe that must guarantee a social Europe. Being social means providing people with a job and with a decent income, especially our young generation. Our youth needs quality jobs.
We need jobs, jobs, jobs. Dear friends, Europe invented the cars because it was competitive. Let us invent now the next step of a digital age, like, for example, a digital Airbus project. Let’s make Europe the competitive powerhouse of this world.