Debate: Conclusions of the recent European Council meetings, in particular on a new European Competitiveness deal and the EU strategic agenda -
Date: TUESDAY, 23 APRIL 2024
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

But I have to say that thanks to our common actions, energetic steps, innovative measures and, I would underline, interinstitutional and European unity and solidarity, we have proven wrong all those who hoped that those unprecedented crises would bring turmoil into Europe and into the European Union.  We have proven that the European Union is indispensable in this new, rough world. And our economy has clearly proven to be more resilient than many thought. And thanks to SURE and Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, who just joined us, we have saved millions of jobs and businesses across all EU Member States.  Having said all this, I fully agree with all the honourable Members calling for more clear European focus on competitiveness and on tackling bureaucracy. We have just completed a series of clean transition dialogues with industry, and we are actively communicating with our citizens and NGOs on all aspects of the Green Deal.  I can tell you that the main takeaways are quite obvious: our citizens, but also our industry, want to live in a cleaner environment, healthier nature, and want to have a more competitive economy. I would also underline that there is a clear link between our strong performance in clean and green tech and our overall competitiveness. We are competing with other major economies in sectors and in areas like who would manufacture more performing batteries, who will make better electric vehicles, better heat pumps, who will be more efficient in constructing hydrolysers, and who will be capable to scale up production much faster than the other competitor in the commodities like green steel or green hydrogen.  So, therefore, we have to continue to work very hard in those sectors and, of course, to fight for competitiveness and our industry in our European way. This means with full respect for high European social values, with social fairness to underpin the unique social model built over the generations in Europe. We have to lower prices of energy. We have to fight very hard for the global level playing field in a more assertive way. And also we have to make sure that those companies who produce in a sustainable way, with a low carbon footprint and treat their employees decently should be rewarded for their work and not punished by usually ending up on the second or third place in the public procurement.  So we would need to adjust that approach as well. If you look at public procurement across the European Union, we spend through public procurement around EUR 2 trillion per year. It’s 14 % of our GDP, and this is a massive fiscal instrument, which we have to learn how to use better in the future, because what we need is more investment into our economy and less bureaucracy.  A lot of you addressed the issue of the Capital Markets Union, and I think it’s very obvious that this should be a clear priority for the next Commission and for the next European Parliament. We cannot afford to have EUR 33 trillion in our savings accounts, with a better prospect to be invested elsewhere than in the European Union. We just have to make it more attractive, more conducive, to make sure that these huge fiscal reserves we have on savings accounts in our banks would be invested here in the European Union.  We also hear you loud and clear on the need to simplify, streamline and use modern technologies when it comes to oversight, when it comes to reporting. Very soon we will present to you and to the European public detail report on reduction of annual administrative burden and also on the reduction of reporting obligations. But I know that this will not be enough, and that we simply also in this area will have to go much further. And I’m a strong believer that with a new technology, let’s say, with the satellite imagery, use of the artificial intelligence and the digitalisation of our administrative processes, we can achieve much more than until today.  Honourable Members, Madam President, this legislature comes to a close, and I really would like to use this opportunity to thank all of you for excellent cooperation and to call for support again in the future for more European unity, more European solidarity, because, let’s be honest, also, next mandate will be challenging. And I think that it would be at least as difficult as this one and therefore we need the European spirit, we need cooperation, and we need this interinstitutional and European solidarity to navigate us through the times which will be ahead of us.