Debate: Presentation of the programme of activities of the German Presidency
Date: WEDNESDAY, 8 JULY 2020
Speaker: Ursula von der Leyen
Language: DE

Die Corona-Krise stellt vieles in Frage: gesellschaftlich, wirtschaftlich, auch unser eigenes Selbstverständnis, die Art, wie wir uns selber sehen, und die Art, wie wir uns auch im Verhältnis zu anderen sehen. Das Ganze spielt sich ab vor einer Kulisse, einer Welt, in der die Halt gebenden Strukturen sich auch immer weiter auflösen. Wir denken – durch die Corona-Krise ausgelöst – über den Wert von Solidarität und Gemeinschaft anders und neu. Wir denken neu und anders über den großen Wert, den unser gemeinsames Europa hat, das jeden Tag neu erarbeitet werden muss. Und ja, es war am Anfang so, dass viele nach innen geschaut haben, auf das Kleine und zu wenig auf das Große und das Gemeinsame. Aber dann haben wir uns zusammengerissen und wieder mit europäischen Augen gesehen und wieder mit einem europäischen Herzen gefühlt.  Frau Bundeskanzlerin, auch dank des Beitrags Deutschlands in den vergangenen Wochen ist dieser Geist für die Verantwortung für das Ganze wieder in Europa zu Hause. Im Angesicht dieser Krise hören wir aus allen Himmelsrichtungen unseres Kontinents inzwischen Worte und sehen wir Taten, die Anlass zur Hoffnung geben, dass wir es gemeinsam schaffen können. Was gut ist für Europa, das ist auch gut für uns. Wenn ich das höre, dann weiß ich: Das ist wieder der Klang Europas, den wir hören wollen, und dieser wiederentdeckte Geist der Verantwortung für das Ganze. Das ist kein schlechter Wegbegleiter, wenn man in den Startblöcken einer Ratspräsidentschaft steht, die wegweisend sein wird für die Zukunft unserer Union. The challenge ahead of you, the rotating Presidency, and ahead of us all in the next six months, could not be more extraordinary. In the last six months, more than 100 000 lives have been lost in Europe because of COVID-19. We have entered the worst recession in almost 100 years. The summer forecast from yesterday shows a contraction of more than 8% this year, with only a partial rebound next year. This crisis is deeper and it is way broader than the one ten years ago. But the one ten years ago is still vividly present in our minds. Some of our Member States during that crisis endured sky-rocketing youth unemployment. They saw young people leaving their homes in droves in search of job opportunities elsewhere. They saw an unprecedented drop in public investment to historically low levels, all of which ultimately damaged public programmes and public infrastructure severely. For many, this was a traumatising experience.  But it does not have to be that way. In other parts of our Union the economy was supported by strong public investment from the very beginning of the crisis. People were able to stay in their jobs. That was when the concept of ‘Kurzarbeit’ was implemented on a large scale and this allowed some to come out stronger from the crisis than when they went in. We should draw lessons from this and this time we should do it together. If we do it right we can also emerge stronger from this crisis thanks to a common European purpose and thanks to Next Generation EU. And this Presidency has chosen one word at the core of its programme – ‘gemeinsam’, together, ‘tous ensemble’ – and that’s the engine of our Union.  There are two points I want to emphasise. First of all, solidarity means that those who need it get more support. But what it does not incentivise is a lack of action, and that is why in Next Generation EU investment is linked to reforms based on our existing country-specific recommendation in the European semester. Let me tell you each and every Member State has homework to do. There is not one Member State that does not have country-specific recommendations that should be linked as reforms to investment. If we want to come out stronger from this crisis, we must all change for the better. There is not a single Member State that is exempt from that – we must all change for the better. This is also what European people expect from us. They are certainly very different in their individual expectations, but are completely united in wanting to drink clean water, to breathe fresh air, to see their children grow up in nature. What they certainly do not want is that politics contributes to increased flooding, to heat waves, to droughts, to the loss of millions of species. This is a very real scenario in case of non-action and therefore economic recovery is inseparable from the European Green Deal, from digitalisation and from resilience.  My second point is: do not neglect the core Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), our seven-year budget over Next Generation EU. We need them both. Next Generation EU is for the acute crisis, but the MFF is there to stay. It is the most important tool with which to implement our long-term goals – research, innovation, migration, foreign policy, security, to name but a few. These policies need real European added value, and they need a strong seven-year budget to bring all that to life.  All this has to be agreed now, in the next weeks, to clear the path for all the other topics that we want to tackle. By the end of the year we will have to chart the path towards our goal of a climate-neutral Europe. In September, we will propose the European Union’s new 2030 climate target, underpinned by a robust impact assessment and here, cooperation with the European Parliament and the European Council will be vital. We will also aim to click the digital transition into a higher gear.  Mesdames et messieurs les députés, au cours de cette présidence, nous ferons le maximum pour trouver un accord avec le Royaume-Uni sur nos nouvelles relations, tout en respectant nos principes et en préservant notre unité européenne. De même, il est important pour moi de maintenir une relation transatlantique forte, même s’il y a beaucoup de problèmes. Le partenariat avec l’Afrique figure au cœur du programme de la présidence allemande ainsi qu’au cœur de mon programme. En faisant face à ce virus, nous devrons montrer que ce partenariat avec l’Afrique n’existe pas uniquement par beau temps mais que nous sommes également solidaires quand le ciel se couvre. Et nous devrons également continuer à travailler avec la Chine pour bâtir un partenariat plus équilibré. Enfin, et surtout, le moment est venu d’ouvrir la conférence sur l’avenir de l’Europe. Nous voulons tous donner le coup d’envoi dès que la situation sanitaire le permettra. Pour toutes ces questions, je suis heureuse que nous puissions compter sur l’expérience de l’Allemagne, en commençant par le Conseil européen de la semaine prochaine. C’est le moment d’agir ensemble, et pour reprendre votre devise: «Gemeinsam. Europa wieder stark machen», «Together for Europe’s recovery», «Tous ensemble pour relancer l’Europe».