Debate: Presentation of the programme of activities of the Slovenian Presidency
Date: TUESDAY, 6 JULY 2021
Speaker: Ursula von der Leyen
Language: EN

They all welcomed the investments made available by Next Generation EU. This recovery programme is going to frame our action during the Slovenian Presidency. Europeans want to finally leave this pandemic behind and all of us are there to help them achieve exactly that.  Und zuallererst bleibt unsere Impfkampagne entscheidend. Die gute Nachricht ist: Sie wird endlich zu einer Erfolgsgeschichte. Mit anderen Worten: Es zeigt sich, dass sich das Durchhaltevermögen gelohnt hat. Mitte April lagen wir noch 25 % hinter den Vereinigten Staaten, wenn man die Anzahl der Erwachsenen mit mindestens einer Impfung betrachtet. Heute sind dies nur noch 5 %, und die Lücke schließt sich immer weiter. Das ist gut, aber wir dürfen uns auf keinen Fall zurücklehnen. Wenn wir uns die Impfquote anschauen, dann gibt es noch immer erhebliche Unterschiede zwischen den Mitgliedstaaten. Derweil breitet sich die Delta-Variante aus, und viel zu viele Impfdosen bleiben ungenutzt im Kühlschrank liegen. Das heißt, wir müssen unsere Anstrengungen deutlich steigern, um die Menschen in Europa davon zu überzeugen, sich impfen zu lassen. Impfungen bedeuten Schutz, Impfungen bedeuten übrigens auch Freiheit. Der beste Beweis dafür sind die 250 Millionen Europäerinnen und Europäer, die sich ihr EU-COVID-Zertifikat heruntergeladen haben und sich damit auch frei bewegen. Das ist ein großer Erfolg. Europa liefert, und wir werden mit dem slowenischen Ratsvorsitz intensiv daran arbeiten, diese Erfolge zu vertiefen. This is also true when it comes to our economic recovery. In recent weeks, we raised EUR 35 billion on the capital markets. They were massively oversubscribed. This will not only allow the pre—financing to be disbursed quickly, but this also demonstrates the profound trust investors have in Europe.  So now we are fully ready, and I know I can count on the Slovenian Presidency to approve as many national plans as possible before the end of July. The next six months will be crucial to ensure that Next Generation EU delivers on the transformation that Europe needs. We have now assessed 14 plans and there are many more to come. The good news is that Europeans are investing like never before in education and skills, in labour market reforms, and in affordable and energy—efficient housing. Just to give you some numbers, until now EUR 45 billion will be spent on education, upskilling and reskilling alone. We all know this builds the bridge into the labour market of the future for people who have to go through this transition with us. In addition, EUR 15 billion have been earmarked to increase the efficiency of public employment services, also crucial for the labour market. In other words, this time we will get out of the crisis together, we will modernise our economies and we will leave nobody behind.  This is what Europeans expect from us and the Slovenian Presidency: to work together, despite our differences, in order to deliver results for each and every European, and the Commission is ready to do that. But the way in which we leave this crisis behind is also linked to the question of trust – trust investors and businesses can have in good governance, trust that sound measures to fight corruption and fraud are in place, and trust in free media and independent courts. This is also important for European taxpayers because they ultimately finance the recovery.  Therefore I count on the Slovenian Government to continue the important work on the rule of law files. We will present our second edition of our rule of law reports in the coming weeks. In these reports, we scrutinise the situation in each and every Member State according to the same criteria. I look forward to the discussions of these reports, because our last meeting with leaders demonstrated how central values and the rule of law are, and tomorrow, in our debate on the last European Council, we will discuss how to best defend our values and the EU’s financial interests.  Mesdames et Messieurs les députés, la Slovénie est aussi une passerelle vers les Balkans occidentaux. Je me félicite donc que la Slovénie, dans le cadre de sa présidence, souhaite mettre l’accent sur les relations de l’Europe avec cette région. Je suis sûre que le sommet de l’Union européenne avec les Balkans occidentaux, qui se tiendra en octobre, enverra un message important aux pays concernés: le message qu’ils sont des partenaires stratégiques essentiels pour l’Union européenne. Et j’espère qu’avec la présidence slovène, nous pourrons dynamiser les processus d’adhésion de l’Albanie et de la Macédoine du Nord. C’est dans notre propre intérêt et c’est une question de crédibilité, parce que pour l’Europe, une promesse donnée doit être une promesse tenue.  Slovenia knows how important that is. In 2008, Slovenia was the first of the new Member States to take on the EU Presidency. Back then, 13 years ago, you, Prime Minister Janša, were serving as Prime Minister of your country for the very first time – and some might still remember the remarkable speech you held right here in the Hemicycle.  You reminded the Members of the European Parliament that people who were not born in the European Union have a very special relationship to our Union. You said, ‘For us, the European Union is not something to be taken for granted. We are prepared to do everything to ensure that the European Union is preserved, developed and strengthened’.  To preserve, to develop and to strengthen our Union: this noble task is an obligation for all of us, in the next six months, and of course beyond. To preserve our values, values like diversity, the freedom of the media and the rule of law, to strengthen our resilience and to build a more sustainable Europe and to develop the tools our Union needs to be better equipped for the challenges that lie ahead.  For this task, Prime Minister Janša, you can count on me and on the Commission, and in this spirit I once again welcome Slovenia at the helm of our Union. Long live Europe!