Debate: Presentation of the programme of activities of the Swedish Presidency
Date: TUESDAY, 17 JANUARY 2023
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

But for that to happen, we must continue to put all our efforts into tackling the far-reaching challenges facing us. Challenges which have not disappeared with the changing of the calendar. The Commission therefore welcomes and supports the Swedish Presidency’s focus on its main priorities. First, we must maintain our unity and determination in supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people against Russia’s war of aggression and the Kremlin’s barbaric attempt to weaponise even the winter. With the conflict in its eleventh month, Ukraine continues to defend its land with bravery and tenacity. Our support likewise is unwavering, with the first tranche of the unprecedented EUR 18 billion support package set to be disbursed still this month. We continue to work relentlessly to keep the Ukrainian electricity grid functioning, including by providing power generators and transformers under the EU civil protection mechanism. And we will resolutely support Ukraine in its reconstruction efforts. The international donors platform that we are setting up together with our G7 partners will help coordinate our efforts here. In addition, we welcome the Presidency’s demand for those responsible to be held accountable, and we remain fully behind the commitment towards Ukraine’s integration into the European Union. At the same time, we need to take action to address the myriad repercussions of the war. This means making swift progress in the work on security and defence, including via the adoption of the European defence industry reinforcement through the Common Procurement Act and our updated maritime security strategy. Secondly, we must continue to overcome the energy crisis – a consequence of the war in Ukraine being felt deeply by citizens and businesses across Europe. Russia’s effort to blackmail us by weaponising energy and manipulating our dependency on Russian fossil fuel imports has failed thanks to our solidarity. We have reached 20% in gas savings and introduced a gas price gap, which, when matched with a warm winter, have led to our storage level being at 83%, very high for this time of the year, with gas prices now lower than they were before the war. Thanks in no small part to our work to accelerate permitting procedures, we deployed twice as much renewable energy capacity as expected last year, but there is still much to be done. Work is ongoing to operationalise the EU energy platform to enable the joint purchase of gas, and I had the pleasure of chairing the first meeting of the steering board yesterday. In this effort, it is vital that we effectively leverage the EU’s political and market weight. At the same time, we need to further scale up renewables, which are critical for our long-term energy independence, as well as for the green transition. As President von der Leyen said last week, we should aim to double our renewable energy capacities this year again. This brings us to the third priority of the Swedish Presidency: furthering our work to meet our climate ambitions. We look forward to the swift conclusion of the remaining trilogues for the ‘Fit for 55’ package – the beating heart of the European Green Deal – and stands ready to assist the co-legislators as needed. We also count on the Swedish Presidency to make as much progress as possible on other European Green Deal proposals, including the zero pollution package and the proposal on packaging and packaging waste. This, in turn, will help boost our competitiveness. In the framework of the 30th anniversary of the single market, a landmark we celebrated in this chamber yesterday, we therefore welcome the focus of the Swedish Presidency on our Union’s economic competitiveness, a key part of its strength. We look forward to working with the Presidency on a number of relevant measures, including the review of our economic governance framework and the implementation of our upcoming single market anniversary communication. Our economic relations with third countries are also important for our competitiveness, and we anticipate making progress on agreements with several key partners under the Swedish Presidency. We also welcome the efforts to reinvigorate the EU’s economy through additional investments in the green transition under the REPowerEU. However, we must also consider how best to support Europe’s thriving clean-tech industry at the time when others around the world are taking measures which could negatively affect our competitiveness as well as reduce investments into Europe. For example, we are currently working with the US to reduce the negative side effects of its Inflation Reduction Act. But we still face unfair competition from China’s massive subsidies in its clean-tech sector. In response, under the Swedish Presidency, we will introduce measures including on strategic raw materials. We also need to update our state aid framework to better facilitate public investment. And finally, we are also pleased to see the Swedish Presidency focus on migration. At a time when migratory flows are once again on increase, a robust framework for our migration and asylum system is vital. We already have many answers to the challenges we face in the pact on asylum and migration, so we look forward to advancing on this issue in the coming six months. Honourable Members, dear Prime Minister, as you can judge from my voice, it is proof that the weather in Kiruna was cold, but I can tell you that the atmosphere was very warm and the spirit of cooperation was very, very strong. So therefore, I’m very glad to conclude by saying that all of us in the Commission, and I’m sure in the European Parliament, are really looking forward to working with you, with your team, with the Swedish Presidency. I believe that in this spirit of European unity and solidarity, we will deliver for the people in Europe and for the European Union. So, once again, thank you very much for your attention. And Prime Minister, all the best of luck for the Presidency.