Addressing the Opening Session of the European Parliamentary Week, the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said that there is more which can be done to support Ukraine and to help European citizens address high inflation, costly energy prices and painful household bills.
© European Union | The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola with the Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag Andreas Norlén
Speaker Norlén, Vice-President Dombrovskis, Distinguished guests and colleagues,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the opening of the 2023 edition of the European Parliamentary Week.
Three days ago, we marked one-year since Putin launched his full-scale military aggression against independent and sovereign Ukraine. One year of brave Ukrainians risking their lives to protect their homeland and to defend our values. One year of global instability as Putin persists in his illegal and ruthless pursuits.
Last year when I addressed this forum, I spoke about the impact of crises on our economies and our response to them. The war in Ukraine was only a few weeks old yet the effects of inflation, energy and food prices had already started to impact citizens and businesses throughout Europe. I wanted to draw parallels between our response to the pandemic and the one that would be required from us in the face of Russian aggression. Both were challenges that necessitated a European response. I believed then, just like I believe still, that the choices we will make in the course of this war, will prove decisive for the current and future generations of Europe.
Today, I am here to tell you that I am proud of the choices we have made. I know that it was tempting for each one of us to go at it alone, yet we resisted. We defied Putin, confounded cynics and came together like never before in solidarity with Ukraine and in defence of our values.
In doing so, we remained open and frank about the cost that it would have on our citizens. Nevertheless, we managed to find unprecedented ways to shield our economies and societies from the effects of war. The difficult - yet necessary - step to move away from Russian energy supplies is one of many decisions that will make our Europe more resilient.
A year later, I do not wish to underestimate the challenging situation we still find ourselves in. I remain painfully aware that we have not yet done enough - for Ukraine and for our citizens.
The war in Ukraine remains on going. We cannot allow war fatigue to set in - that is what the Kremlin is hoping for. It wants to exhaust our systems and our patience. Ukraine still needs more support.
And our citizens need more support too. In this time of global instability: of high inflation, costly energy prices, struggling industries and painful household bills - Europe needs to build on its biggest asset.
This year, our Single Market marks its 30th anniversary. In this time, we have seen more opportunities for people, businesses and consumers than we could have ever imagined. Being the world’s largest single and democratic market has strengthened our place in the world. Even in times where our European way of doing things is being put into question. We are still setting global standards. Because our way of open societies and open markets works.
We can build on this. We should speed up investment in Europe, to put the European economy back on a stable path of growth. Two years ago, NextGenerationEU was our historic response to the effects of the pandemic. Two years later, it is now also crucial to our response to the effects of Putin’s war. The recent agreement on REPowerEU will accelerate the green transition and strengthen the European Union’s strategic autonomy. And even after all this, NextGenerationEU funding is still capable of financing more key investments and reforms. We only need the political will to do it.
Just a few weeks ago, it was reported that energy and electricity firms made record-breaking profits in 2022. Now is the time to double down on the idea of a windfall tax on energy companies.
I know that last September, Member States had agreed on a form of a windfall tax, but this will only start applying this year and will be limited in scope. When we are looking at around €40 billion worth of additional revenues for one energy firm alone, at a time were citizens and businesses are on their knees, it is clear to me that there are far too many still falling through the cracks.
The latest forecasts show that the European Union will be able to deploy more renewable energy in the next 5 years than it has in the past 20. The need for this transition is not a threat, but an opportunity. If we stick to our democratic values and pursue our climate agenda with our tailor-made regulatory framework, I am convinced that the European Union will be able to gain a competitive edge globally.
And in doing-so, we must avoid the temptation of participating in a protectionist race. We do not need to fence ourselves in. Our economy has grown over the years precisely because we stood for the opposite.
Our way of doing things, works.
To achieve this, what is once again required from us is a bold, coordinated and united European response - a relationship which this inter-parliamentary dialogue has been nurturing for years.
This year, the European Parliamentary Week brings together 111 parliamentarians from 39 chambers across 29 European countries. It is particularly special for me to be welcoming the representatives from the national parliaments of Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina including Speaker Denis Zvizdić, who for the first time are participating in this forum as European Union candidate status countries.
Let me also take this opportunity to thank our colleagues from the Swedish Riksdag, in particular Speaker Andreas Norlén, for facilitating this important conference and keeping inter-parliamentary cooperation high on our agenda. By exchanging ideas, we will learn together to find the best solutions for all citizens, ensuring that no one is left behind.
I wish you all many fruitful discussions and I look forward to hearing the perspectives from all speakers and colleagues from across all the National Parliaments and from this House.