Speeches

Mr President, international interest in the Arctic is constantly growing and must therefore be given a much stronger role in all the European Union's policies. In the European Parliament, when we talk about the Arctic, we often focus only on environmental and climate policy, which is very important, but it is great that this report sees the opportunities and challenges of the Arctic much more broadly. The potential of livelihoods, transport and infrastructure and the need for sustainable investment in the region are also on the agenda. It offers a lot of opportunities. Climate change in the Arctic has long been seen as a difficult problem. Over the past fifty years, climate change has progressed three times faster in the Arctic than in the rest of the world, and its effects are visible everywhere, including through rising sea levels and different weather conditions. Therefore, the fight against climate change is important for the Arctic region, and it is particularly effective there to reduce emissions of black carbon, or soot. At the same time, climate change has meant that the Arctic is now much easier to reach. This is reflected in the fact that maritime traffic in the Barents Sea and the entire Arctic Ocean has increased and continues to increase as ice conditions change and new sea routes open up, and has increased interest and competition in the region. More and more countries and companies outside the region want to take advantage of its potential. This is also of great importance in terms of security policy, as has already been pointed out here, and it is important that the European Union does not remain a bystander here.

Mr President, Europe needs more skilled labour from the rest of the world. This requires faster and smoother pathways. It is a good and welcome step that the blue card is now being renewed. We know that until now its criteria have been so high, both in terms of the level of training required of the talent, the level of pay and the employment relationship, that very little has been done with the Blue Card, and few even know about its existence. I hope that the renewed Blue Card will work better and will be a really smooth, fast and efficient way to get to work in the European Union when it comes to high-level talent. We need to reduce the bureaucracy involved. It has already been pointed out here that in many Member States it currently takes months, even more than a year, to get a work permit in the country. In this respect, it should now be possible to speed up the Blue Card in such a way that we commit ourselves in the Member States to allowing applicants who have arrived in a few weeks with a Blue Card to enter the labour market. It would be an effective way to renew access to employment.

Mr President, strengthening the European Research and Innovation Area is of the utmost importance for the competitiveness of the European Union as a whole. The current COVID-19 crisis has once again underlined the important role that science and research play in responding to the great challenges facing humanity. We have been building a common European Research Area for over 20 years, but there is still much room for improvement. I am particularly disappointed that we are still far from the level of investment that is needed, that at least 3% of GDP should be invested in research and development, as we have set ourselves a long time ago in Europe. More needs to be done now. Similarly, I would like to highlight in particular three areas where a stronger European impetus is now needed. The Commission communication is welcome, but more concrete action is needed. In particular, we need to improve the exploitation of research results. That's where we still have a big backwards. We must focus on strengthening excellence, quality-based research and its funding everywhere. Research careers and mobility of researchers within Europe and internationally need to be accelerated and improved, with a particular focus on women's research careers. And last but not least, academic freedom, freedom of science, must be safeguarded throughout Europe.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the co-rapporteurs, thank you all for the good cooperation in bringing this important regulation into force. We have really many years of negotiations behind us, and I am very glad that this week we can finally endorse this Connecting Europe Facility regulation, which will fund over EUR 30 billion in the next seven years for important cross-border infrastructure projects in both transport and energy and digitalisation. This is very important for Europe's competitiveness and the functioning of the internal market, that we have a modern, fast infrastructure that connects the European internal market and strengthens our industry and the capacity of our societies to function. The most important sectors for the European Union in the coming years will be precisely the acceleration of the Green Deal and digitalisation, i.e. Europe's ambition to become climate neutral by 2050. Of course, it means really big reforms and investments for both industry and societies. Modern, efficient infrastructure plays a key role in this, as well as in accelerating digitalisation. If we want industry and our societies to be competitive and, on the other hand, all businesses and citizens to have access to the opportunities of digitalisation, it means that investment in this sector is needed across Europe. After all, the Commission has estimated that as much as EUR 280 billion per year should now be invested, that the objectives of the Green Deal could be achieved and, in this respect, the Connecting Europe Facility and its added value can help kick-start these investments. A very big innovation, of course, with regard to this programme is that now at least 60% of all investments will be directed towards infrastructure that will specifically reduce emissions in the future, that is to say, this is very strongly linked to the achievement of climate objectives. Energy will continue to play a key role in the coming period. It is important that we are able to connect European energy networks, that we have energy flowing from one Member State to another, and that no country is dependent on an exclusive energy source. We have separately identified the most important projects in the field of trans-European energy networks, but in addition to this, this programme is now also financing cross-border renewable energy projects as a new element. This is a new element here. Similarly, as regards digitalisation, the programme will finance a fast, modern network across Europe. A particular focus will be on, among other things, 5G corridors, as well as the very high-speed connectivity required by different supercomputers, on the one hand, and cross-border cable connections, on the other. Investments in this area will also need hundreds of millions of euros in the coming years to keep Europe competitive in the digital economy. As far as transport projects are concerned, my colleagues from the Committee on Transport and Communications will open this up in more detail, but I am particularly pleased that rail investment is now a major priority, because it will also contribute to both fast and safe transport across Europe and, of course, to the achievement of climate objectives. Sustainable transport solutions across Europe and their support play a very important role in this. A particular focus in the coming years will be on achieving synergies, i.e. our goal is that now that Europe is investing in new, modern and high-speed infrastructure, we will be able to connect more transport networks, digital networks and energy networks, including by having an infrastructure for the distribution of alternative fuels along all major transport corridors and having very fast digital connections along all major transport corridors. This will precisely help us to have an efficient, well-functioning and modern internal market that will help our businesses and industries to compete internationally, but it will also help Europe to achieve the very ambitious climate goals we have set in the future. It must also be said that, while we can now rejoice that many years of negotiation are behind us and that we have reached an agreement with the Council and between Parliament's positions, the budget that was achieved here – more than EUR 30 billion – is, of course, a significant budget, but it would have been important for Parliament to have invested even more in digital networks, even more in transport infrastructure, as well as in energy infrastructure. These are really key issues for Europe's competitiveness, and it is a pity that the Council was not prepared to increase funding for the Connecting Europe Facility any further. Now, of course, it is desirable that, once the Member States have received a very significant boost from the Recovery Fund, the Member States should also now allocate funds to infrastructure projects that provide genuine European added value and are cross-border projects, because it is quite clear that investment in infrastructure is needed for Europe's economy, success and future competitiveness.