Together, we can shape a better Europe - President Metsola  

 

Together, we can shape a better Europe - President Metsola  

Brussels  
 
 

"This June, Europeans will choose their future. We are ready to take Europe to the next levels. To forge a stronger Union, in tune with times of change, that makes people believe. Together, we can shape a better Europe." President Metsola made these remarks at the Europa Forum in Brussels.

       

Dear President Calviño, Dear Nadia,
Dear President Murphy, Dear Tony,
Dear fellow colleagues Members of the European Parliament,
Dear Europeans,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be with you here today at the first Nueva Economía Fórum being held outside Spain. 

I am especially touched by the words of the new President of the European Investment Bank, Nadia Calviño - who runs this bank, but I also know her as a committed European and a friend. As she said, not too long ago, the idea that the EIB President and the European Parliament President would be wearing high heels on stage would have seemed impossible. That down the road there would be the President of the European Commission and Head of the Central Bank walking in the same shoes would have surprised many. Now, few give it a second thought. 

We’ve come a long way.

We know a little bit what it is like for women in politics and how great the responsibility is on us to keep making cracks in that glass ceiling to make it easier for girls and women who come next. 

And when we talk about the main achievements of the European Union, we will talk about legislation and rules put in place - but I also want to acknowledge how far we have come in terms of societal and political change, in terms of giving European girls and boys, role models. We should not make the mistake of assuming that it is something that came about by accident. 

It came about by people who sacrificed, by people who believed, by people who voted. 

We are about to embark on a process leading to the largest multinational democratic exercise that the world has ever seen. That places on us an onus of responsibility that we should be ready to shoulder. 

Democracy is something we too often take for granted in Europe. 

A few days ago, democracy lost one of her flagbearers, the death of Alexei Navalny in his Russian arctic prison, is a reminder again of why we must stand up for Europe. Why it matters what Europe looks like in the next five years. Why it matters to us and to the world. 

There is a lot at stake. And we must be able and ready to meet this moment. 

When I took office, I spoke of how people across Europe would look to the European Parliament for leadership and direction, while others would continue to test the limits of our democratic values and European principles. 

How brutal that test would be when just a few week later, on the 24th of February 2022, Russian tanks rolled into sovereign independent Ukraine. 

I am really proud that Members of the European Parliament, EU institutions and Member States rallied with unprecedented unity. Also unpredictable in the first few hours after the election in January 2022.

And we will continue to condemn this aggression. We will continue to impose crippling sanctions on Russia’s war machine. We will continue to call for Russian assets to be used to re-build Ukraine. We will continue to assist Ukraine in becoming full members of the EU. On top of this, we will continue to provide political, economic, military, financial, humanitarian and diplomatic assistance to Ukraine.  We will do this for as long as it takes. 

I am asked this a lot. Why do you say for as long as it takes? It’s been two years. Can we continue to uphold it? My answer is always clear. We will do this because our values and our way of life matter. Because if there is one that that the European Union and Europe stands for, is humanity. For real peace. Peace with dignity, with accountability and with justice. 

It is the same philosophy that drives our reaction to the situation in the Middle East. To the horrific humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. That is why we have pushed for a ceasefire, the return of the hostages so viciously taken in October and for Hamas to no longer operate with impunity. That is how we get more aid in to Gaza. That is how we save more lives. And crucially that is the basis for us advocating for a two-state solution that gives perspective to the Palestinian people and security to Israel, with Gaza led by legitimate Palestinian authorities.  

This is how we find that peace that has eluded generations. The answer can only be political. Our hearts must be big enough for all the victims and our minds must have the capacity find the political will to break the cycle of history.

Peace cannot be taken for granted. We’ve seen how war is no longer unthinkable. Europe’s collective security is paramount. That is why we need a real security and defence framework, one that does not replicate what exists but it complements it. We must be ready to adapt to changing global realities. For a situation that we did not invite, that we did not want, that we did really everything to avoid - but one that we must stand ready for. This is Europe’s call for peace. 

And our security is essential for all of us - not only because of State actors. In a couple of weeks, we will mark 20 years since those deadly terrorist attacks in Madrid that killed 193 people and injured nearly 2000 others. We still mourn the loss of loved ones. 

The last years have not been easy - but as the saying goes: the strongest steel is forged in the hottest of fires. That is why I argue that - despite everything -Europe is stronger than it has ever been. That the crises we have faced, have shaped us, have made us more resilient, more determined and more united than ever.

As President of the European Parliament, together with Members, we have made it our mission to go beyond these walls, to bring Europe closer to its citizens and to build a stronger Europe. One that makes everyone’s life a little bit easier, a little bit fairer, a little bit safer. 

The European Union is by no means not perfect. There is much left to do and much left to deliver. Our processes sometimes frustrate even me. But my answer is not to destroy, but to build. To build better, to build more sustainably. To listen more – more to our young people, more to our farmers, more to all those for whom the promise of Europe still seems too far away. To deliver effective laws that help people, that tackle corruption and abuse, and that end the intergenerational struggles of poverty, of inequality and disenfranchisement.

I am convinced we can recapture the enthusiasm for Europe. We can show that politics is a force for good, a vehicle for positive change in our communities and our societies. That is how we can convince people to vote in the next European elections in June. 

By showing tangibly, concretely, to each and every individual, that Europe can deliver. 

How at the height of the pandemic - that hit countries like Spain very hard - we managed to ensure the joint provision of vaccines and ventilators. We made huge steps forward in our joint capacity for healthcare. We supported jobs and businesses, and came together like never before to agree on 723 billion euro Recovery and Resilience Facility, which has helped national economies recover. Our economic governance – the European Parliament played a very crucial role in that regard - yielded results. 

On migration - a European issue that requires a European response. We have been asked by our citizens each and every elections. In every country, in 2019, we were asked to address this challenge, multi-faceted, different, depending on each country, geography – to be addressed at a European level. And we managed.

Together, we have defied the odds by reaching a monumental European deal. A deal that is fair with those who are in need of protection, a deal that is firm with those not eligible for asylum and one that is harsh with traffickers who exploit the most vulnerable. We will go into these elections with a message that no EU Member State will be left alone. Because we know how that narrative can capture a political spirit of a campaign and drive people to the fringes, because we would not have explained well. We would not have communicated our successes, that we did it.

On enlargement, the EU opened accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova last year. We have granted candidate status to Georgia and are stepping up our engagement with the Western Balkans. To this day, and we are convinced in the European Parliament, that this is the European Union’s greatest geo-political asset. We experienced its windfall before, and we must be ready for a Union of 30, of 33 or 35.

On the digital transition: our new laws are critical and will ensure the modernisation of our legislation, of the way we keep up with technology, in order to help innovation, growth, competitivess, but also to protect, to safeguard our children online, while at the same time boosting our economic growth, to strengthen our autonomy and freedom. We used to talk about the term ‘strategic autonomy’ a lot before 2022. How different that term today means, and how necessary and multi-faceted it is today.

For the next generation of Europeans, with ERASMUS PLUS – I am a proud Erasmus alumna - Youth Guarantee, asked of us by so many of our young people, Horizon Europe, academia – how important that was, InvestEU, we are giving young people across Europe the opportunity to fulfil their ambition. As you said Nadia, we don’t say this enough. People pass by our villages, our towns, our cities, and we have not told them that that is thanks to the European Union, that that is thanks to investment in our national capital, our national talent. Let’s make sure that we do it, because we can prove that Europe means something they can touch, they can see, they can benefit from everyday.

On Artificial Intelligence, on protecting journalists from abuse, on trade, on climate, on levelling up our societies. We have made real inroads. We are at over 800 pieces of legislation in this mandate alone. It will be a real record. The question is how to bridge it with communicating and implementing it correctly.

The European Union has been the most influential global actor in advancing the international agenda on decarbonisation and the fight against climate change. This is extremely important. Never let it go from the very top of our agenda.

But it is also true that there exists an invisible line that people cannot be pushed beyond. People must have confidence in the process. They must be able to afford it. Otherwise we will not succeed and this would risk driving more and more people to the comfort of the political fringes.

That is why we must be better able to cushion the economic and social impact of our decisions. On agriculture specifically, we need to find a balance between ensuring our farmers are able to feed our continent and secure their livelihoods, and their children’s livelihoods, while saving our planet. I am convinced we can manage that. In each country, as I go from one country to another to discuss not only with the authorities but with young people, I am meeting also farmers with different individual requests, different individual demands and frustrations, which we need to be able to understand. We cannot have gone from asking them 4 years ago when the pandemic hit, to help us, to take their products and put them in our societies because we depended on them, only for us to tell them 4 years later that we can, in any way, do the green transition without them.

So, while we are proud of our successes we must also be honest about where we can do better, where we have gone too far, too fast. Where we have not gone far enough and where we did not match people’s expectations. 

We must discuss real concerns. How to keep people’s trust in our project. How to maintain European competitiveness in a polarised global context. How to build a just, green and resilient future, how to boost innovation in European manufacturing in the context of tense global economic relations; how to safeguard our energy security. And we must be prepared for further change still. 

We need to stay on a stable path for sustainable, long-term growth. But bringing sustainability into our economic model, must be part of a broader strategy that incorporates every sector, it must provide real incentives and safety nets, and above all it must work for people. 

It worries me that in many places, there is a generation of people who, despite having all the information of the world at their fingertips, are more sceptical than ever before. Who are tempted by a cynical black and white narrative, when the reality is always a thousand shades of grey. Who take the rights that Europe protects and the opportunities that our Union gives for granted. We cannot allow that generation to either stay home or retreat to extremes.

Next week I will go to Spain to encourage Spanish people - especially young people - to vote in the European Elections on the 9th of June 2024, and to raise awareness about the importance of choosing the Members of the European Parliament that will steer European policy over the next five years. The next year five years will not be easy.

What sort of European Parliament we see for the next five years matters. 

The next 105 days will be about pushing back against the easy-cynicism that has crept into the political discourse of too many. About how we can build instead of destroying. That is what we mean by constructive forces. 

I am convinced that we can do that. We have managed extremely well, despite all the difficulties, over the past 5 years.

And I am convinced that people will hand back the next European Parliament as an Institution that is stronger, that is more agile and that is better able to deliver.

We can only do that if we don’t take Europe for granted. 

Thank you very much.
 

You can read the President's speech in Spanish here.