Debate: Presentation of the programme of activities of the French Presidency
Date: WEDNESDAY, 19 JANUARY 2022
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

If you look at the number of topics which we’ve been discussing today, ranging from the hard security challenge to the east of our borders, to issues of social fairness, economic and climate policy, and migration, down to the economy and the need for strategic autonomy, all this just testifies to what kind of crucial times we are living in, and in what kind of a crucial time, Mr President, your Presidency is arriving to head the European Union.  Therefore, allow me just one personal point on the issue of where we are now, and where we were five or six years ago, because sometimes I think it’s worth remembering how it was. I remember it very vividly because, at that time, we were very worried – also in this House – that an anti—European wave could be sweeping across our countries, across our European Union. We were worried that we would have more exits from the European Union, and we were very concerned about the possible weakening of European cooperation. I have to say, Mr President, that your commitment to Europe, your commitment to France, to the people of France and to European countries, presented to the tune of the European anthem in Paris, changed the mood. I would say that it changed the political course – and we know how badly we needed it at that time – because it brought us new ambition, new courage, new hope and new determination to build a Europe which would be stronger and better prepared for future challenges. I think the debate this morning focused on how we can do that. I’m glad that many honourable Members have been very fair, because a lot has been done. We have never had such a transformative budget and transformative funding as we have with Next Generation EU. We have clearly demonstrated that when it comes to vaccination, Europe – if it pulls as one – can really deliver what I would describe as miracles. Just let’s remember where we were a year and a half ago and what kind of dramatic debates we had in this House. We adopted a commitment to be the first continent in the world to be climate neutral, and we are working a lot and delivering in the area of defence. We are working a lot on strategic autonomy. Thierry Breton sits with us all the time. He’s doing a lot of work on new technologies. Something I am very glad about is that we are focusing much more on the future of Europe than we have done in the past. So what I would like to conclude on is that I agree with all those honourable Members who are very clearly demanding – and rightly so – that we should do more, that we should deliver it faster, and that it should be more actionable and more results—oriented. The question is, of course, how to do that. I’m glad to say that a lot of the proposals which address the core issues and which have been repeated in the interventions of many honourable Members, are addressed in the proposals that have already been put on the table by the European Commission.  What we need – and here I totally agree with Mr Verhofstadt – is unity. We need a close collaboration and cooperation with the European Parliament and we need ambitious Presidencies.  Mr President, I think that you represent such an ambitious Presidency, a Presidency which is focused on strategic delivery, on the future, and which is committed to concrete results. I would just like to say, on behalf of the Commission, that we are ready to work with you as closely as possible, hand in hand, because the success of your Presidency will be the success of Europe, it will be the success of France, and therefore we should focus on close cooperation and close coordination as much as possible.