Debate: Conclusions of the Special European Council meeting of February and preparation of the European Council meeting of - March
Date: WEDNESDAY, 15 MARCH 2023
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

I agree with Mr Lamberts that the European economy is, and will always be, based on ‘high value added’. Therefore, we have developed the concept of competitive sustainability, and I really would like to thank this House for the support for the Battery Regulation, where we place this concept for the first time into full practice. Each battery placed on the EU market will have a QR code telling us exactly what is the carbon footprint, where the critical raw materials came from, whether they have been ethically sourced and, of course, what the warranty is for their recycling.  I think that thanks to this approach we have over the last five years got more than EUR 180 billion of investment into this sector with 160 industrial projects and more than 30 gigafactories, which are being built in Europe despite all global competition. Of course, I totally agree with all of you that these investments must continue. So I would like to also reassure Ms Charanzová that we are in close contact with the industry, and the proposals you heard this morning from the President of the European Commission on fast permitting, on granting better access to public and private finance, and to have a forward—looking, critical raw materials act, as Mr Gallée was suggesting, to make sure that we will use the new approach to state aid and work with green procurement, as Ms Cavazzini was referring to, and to develop the concept of how to use tax breaks and simplify our procedures, are exactly the responses the industry was expecting from us.  So what I want to say is that this is what was proposed by our industrial leaders and this is what we are going to deliver. I believe that this is a powerful signal that we want European industry not only to stay in Europe, but to expand and prosper here as well.  Ms García Pérez, Mr Moreno Sánchez and Mr Schirdewan have been making very important remarks, together with several honourable Members, on how the high energy prices are affecting our households and our industry. Yesterday’s reform, presented by my colleague Kadri Simson on the EU electricity market, should not only accelerate the deployment of renewables, but also protect our households and our industry from unreliable suppliers, from hikes in electricity pricing, and help us to overcome the dependencies which have been proven to be so dangerous for our security of supply.  As you know, our leaders in the European Council have decided that we should, for the first time in the history of the European Union, do our utmost and to purchase gas in a common way. Because we know that gas will play the role of a necessary transitional fuel for some time.  We have talked to major gas consumers, to steelers, to fertiliser producers, to aluminium smelters and operators, to SMEs in the textile, glass and ceramic industry, and they’ve been very obliged to us that we are actually aggregating their demands and that we will enter into the negotiations with the global suppliers, because otherwise they will simply not be able to reach that level of the negotiation.  So what we are looking for here is to get the best prices and the best conditions from global markets for economy in the European Union. Yesterday, we opened the process of registration for all those who want to purchase gas together, and in May, as I said, for the first time in history, we will start joint procurement of gas for EU consumers.  We believe that the common political and economic weight of the European economy will bring us not only better security of supply, but also lower energy prices, which are so crucial for addressing the cost of living of our families, but also the competitiveness of our industry.  To conclude, I really would like to thank this House for the strong and continued support for Ukraine, which is as needed now as it was a year ago.