The integral speech by the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, today 24 June, to the European Council.
«More than a year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we find ourselves in a context that offers us unprecedented challenges. The vaccination campaign is advancing, the recovery mechanisms have been set in motion, but new threats to our security require a strong European voice. The events in Belarus, with the hypothesis of a state hijacking of a civilian plane to arrest opponents of the regime, require us to make a leap in quality and timeliness of our response. We will come back to this later, but I would like to take this opportunity for a preliminary observation on the functioning of our institutions.
Climate change
Today you are called to discuss important measures concerning the commitments made by the European Union in the framework of the Paris Agreement on the climate.
Our citizens rightly expect those promises to be fulfilled and Parliament is doing this by working on legislative proposals.
More precisely, as you know, we are negotiating the Climate Law together with the Council. The question of the climate target for 2030 and the application of the principle of climate neutrality have been the subject of complex discussions. We have now come to an agreement, which in itself is good news even though there is still a lot of work to be done.
I would respectfully point out that, according to the Treaties, the conclusions of the European Council are political agreements between the Heads of State and Government. Parliament cannot be called upon only to affix its stamp of approval to accomplished facts. The role of co-legislator of the European Parliament, in the areas attributed to it by the Treaties, must not be compromised. Instead we are witnessing attempts to do so with regard to various sectors and subjects, such as the Climate Law. I am sure that in this case too – as in the MFF – we can find a way to work together while respecting their respective prerogatives, for a better result for the European Union.
As far as we are concerned, Parliament is committed to arriving at an ambitious climate and energy package before the summer, with a strengthened emissions trading system and more ambitious targets on renewable energy and energy efficiency. This commitment is inseparable from the adoption of far-reaching social measures: the green transition must be just and accompany workers in this step, with training, protection and support for employment. In Porto we gave our word to the social partners and European citizens and we must act to keep it.
External relations / Russia
A strong and common European voice is needed on the international stage now more than ever. Democracy is not set in stone. It is fragile and if we don’t protect it it can crumble faster than we dare to imagine. We are witnessing an increase in disinformation, direct provocations to Member States and the entire EU and the exploitation of crises by authoritarian regimes to silence critical voices or limit media freedoms. In this changing environment, the EU must redefine and strengthen its role on the world stage. An attack on one Member State is an attack on all. In fact, the safety of one is the safety of all.
Yesterday’s events relating to the forced landing in Minsk of the Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius are of unprecedented gravity.
President Lukashenko’s regime has deprived Roman Protasevich and another person accompanying him of their liberty, and they are now detained in Minsk.
We demand the immediate release of both without conditions and the possibility for them to leave the country.
An international investigation is certainly needed to ascertain whether the safety of air transport and passengers has been jeopardized by a sovereign state and whether we are in the presence of a violation of the Chicago Convention.
But our response must be strong, immediate and unified. The European Union must act without hesitation and punish those responsible. Tonight you have a great responsibility to prove that the Union is not a paper tiger.
Regarding our relations with Russia and China, or enlargement or neighborhood policies, Parliament has always said that our strategic interests go hand in hand with our values.
It is clear that Russia’s latest sanctions were not only directed against myself and that of Vice President Jourova but also against our respective institutions. Instead of intimidating us, this encourages us not to stop.
La Russia rilasci Alexei Navalny.
NGEU / Own resources
Last year showed what we are capable of when we stick together. We have adopted an important tool for recovery. For the first time in the history of the European Union, substantial budgetary resources financed by a joint loan are allocated to the EU Member States. It is worth mentioning that we are talking about a total of € 390 billion in grants for three years.
We now need to focus on implementing the recovery and resilience mechanism, which will be decisive in supporting recovery in Europe after COVID-19. It offers unique opportunities to enhance the growth potential of European economies, while promoting the EU’s goals of improving economic equity and reducing the effects of climate change.
The adoption of the own resources decision is necessary to give impetus to our recovery. We count on national parliaments and governments to complete the ratification processes as soon as possible.
European certificate COVID-19 /
We are approaching the second summer since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and people are longing for a well-deserved break. Unfortunately, the virus does not go on vacation. For this reason, our citizens look to us for a solution that guarantees the protection of their health but also the resumption of mobility and a normal life.
We are particularly pleased with the work done together with the Council on the Covid 19 Certificate to avoid a mosaic of national solutions that would have harmful effects for citizens, tourism and economic recovery. We welcome the result of the trialogue which led to a provisional agreement last Thursday.
For Parliament, the certificate cannot be a precondition for free movement. We have also made it clear that no one should be discriminated against because of their health conditions or health choices and we want only the necessary data to be included.
The real turning point will be the speed of the vaccination campaign in the European Union. Furthermore, given the current health situation in many countries around the world, it is essential to think and act beyond our borders. That is why, as I said at the G20 Global Health Forum, everyone needs to follow the European Union’s example by exporting vaccines and donating surplus doses to low- and middle-income countries.
But that’s not enough. Efforts must be made to boost production in these countries and, in the medium term, to allow for the mandatory sharing of licenses for this purpose – using the flexibilities already allowed within the TRIPs agreements at the WTO.
I welcome the Commission’s comprehensive proposal for action in the WTO, a courageous proposal which we support and which places the Union together with the United States at the forefront of global multilateral action in this crisis.
We also believe that it is right to explore all options that can enable vaccination of the world‘s population in a short time, including patent suspension options, if they contribute to this end.
Immigration
Ladies and gentlemen, I know that today you will not be talking about immigration, but I believe that the year we have behind us – in which we were together capable of courageous and unprecedented choices – places us before the responsibility of making equally courageous choices.
A great power like the European Union can present itself as a global player only if it shows that it is capable of jointly managing a structural phenomenon such as that of human mobility.
Also in these days we are witnessing shipwrecks of sea carts in the Mediterranean, desperate people who arrive swimming on the Spanish coasts, many human tragedies that are consumed on the way through the Balkans or the Italian and French Alps.
Are we really sure this is our identity card? Could this lack of concertation live up to our history?
I think not and I think it is necessary to act together on three fronts.
First, to save lives. This is a legal and moral obligation and we cannot leave this responsibility only to NGOs that perform a substitute function in the Mediterranean. We must go back to thinking about a major joint European Union operation in the Mediterranean that saves lives and takes away the land from traffickers. We need a European search and rescue mechanism at sea, which uses the expertise of all the actors involved, from Member States to civil society to European agencies.
Second, people in need of protection must be able to arrive in the European Union safely and without risking their lives. We need humanitarian channels to be defined together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and a European resettlement system based on our common responsibility. We are talking about people who can also make an important contribution to the recovery of our societies affected by the pandemic and the demographic decline, thanks to their work and their skills.
And finally, therefore, we need a European immigrant reception policy. The European Parliament adopted its resolution on this matter just last week. Together we define the criteria for a single entry and residence permit and assess nationally the needs of our labor markets, which are large – we saw this during the pandemic when entire economic sectors stopped due to the absence of immigrant workers . We will be up to the recovery if we are able to open the doors to regulated and necessary immigration for the future of our societies and our social protection systems.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is not enough just to ask to be closer to the citizens in the interventions during Europe Day. This principle must guide our every single action and be at the center of all our discussions, even those that will take place today.
Thank you”.