Speeches

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Greece has been and remains a staunch supporter of the European perspective of the Western Balkans, a process that began in Thessaloniki in 2003. But obviously the European perspective is linked to a number of conditions, such as respect for the Copenhagen criteria, common values, respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights. See for example what is happening in Albania, which despises the human and property rights of the Greek ethnic minority. Our colleague Freddie Beleris was convicted precisely for defending these rights. These issues are also mentioned in the Council decisions, as is the need for North Macedonia to respect bilateral treaties. The treaties are international, legally binding instruments for the parties involved. Candidate countries should foster cooperative relations with their European neighbours, align in a European direction in their foreign policy and not identify with third parties and authoritarian leaders. Enlargement must go ahead, but the candidate countries must also show their commitment to this path.

Mr President, at a time when geopolitical challenges are increasing, Europe must act more decisively. We have developments in Syria, where we have to show that there is a unified policy in Europe and that we are moving with initiatives that we are taking. We do not need third parties or mediators. We must move towards ensuring Syria's territorial integrity and follow political processes that are inclusive and inclusive of all sides. There is also a need to protect minorities, especially the Christian community and cultural heritage. And, at the same time, we should do everything we can to facilitate refugees who want to return to Syria and at the same time avoid refugee waves to Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Europe has for centuries been at the forefront of innovation. Not anymore. And we don't lack people or talent. There are talented people everywhere. Recently we had a very important conference in Thessaloniki, where very good ideas were heard. But we have a problem. We have a hard time turning good ideas into action, into a product. And to do that, we need to change a lot. A new institutional framework is needed that unleashes forces and does not stifle innovative ideas, as is currently the case. Easier access to financial tools is needed so that an idea can become a product. We need better infrastructure. We need to give the right to a second chance to a project that fails, by reforming the bankruptcy framework. We have to do all this now. We don't have time. The needs are here and we need to act now.

Madam President, energy prices are one of the biggest problems facing Europe's citizens and businesses today. When talking to people, a large part of their income goes to energy prices; And when you talk to businesses, they see an increased cost and they keep telling you that they can't compete with the rest, who have cheaper energy prices in other countries. There is an interconnectivity problem. We see countries that have cheaper energy prices, precisely because their systems are interconnected, and others that have much more expensive prices, and we see overnight increases of 50% in wholesale, which are not justified by any factor whatsoever. We need to act and act now. Investing in networks and calculating energy prices differently. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has sent a letter to the Commission. A delegation of the European Commission came to Athens. It's time to act and act now.

Mr President, when you talk to a small and medium-sized businessman, one of the first things he tells you is: Do something with bureaucracy! The bureaucratic and regulatory burden that we have to deal with on a daily basis is enormous. Between 2018 and 2022, 5,422 pages of legislation and 850 new obligations for European businesses were added. The production of settings is so fast that it is difficult for a company to monitor it. It is a legislative labyrinth with many overlapping provisions. Significant resources that could go into growth are spent in order for a business to be able to respond to the labyrinth of regulations it is called upon to manage. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, this burden is even greater. We must finish with words and act immediately. We need a bold reduction in administrative burdens. The Commission is committed to reducing red tape and annual reporting obligations by 25%. It's not enough, it's not enough. We need to go even further, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. Only in this way will we make business life easier, our continent more competitive and the income of our...

Mr President, the self-declaration of the pseudo-state in Northern Cyprus has been an open challenge to international legitimacy. The continuation of its existence is an open wound in the body of Europe. Europe cannot and must not get used to this barbaric illegality that has been going on for decades now on its own territory, on the territory of one of its Member States. European solidarity with Cyprus must be absolute, complete, continuous and active until it is vindicated. Europe must stop turning a blind eye. The illegal separatist entity that has declared itself a state and audaciously asks for its recognition by the international community has no self-existent status. It is a disguise of the occupation regime that has been imposed in the northern part of Cyprus and bases its existence on the Turkish invasion and occupation troops. Our refusal to accept the faits accomplis of the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus sends a message to those who seek revisionism and border change today. Ladies and gentlemen, occupying European territory is a challenge for our Union itself, for Europe itself, and must be treated as such. The European Union must exert all its influence to reach a solution on the basis of UN resolutions. The occupation and partition of Cyprus must end.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, European citizens often feel unprotected from unfair practices, but also from the way in which many transactions are carried out, particularly in the new digital environment. In e-commerce many times consumers do not feel in full control of their transactions due to the complex rules and clauses included in the notorious fine print. In many cases there are hidden fees, while the design of many digital services adds to children and leads to additional fees through video games. At the same time, every year, consumers in the European Union buy, without their knowledge, products that do not meet European quality and safety standards. Another important issue is that large multinational companies take advantage of their dominant market position to impose geographical supply constraints, imposing unnecessarily high prices. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has sent a letter to the Commission and I believe that he should address the issue. Strict adherence to the rules and, where necessary, further tightening of legislation and cooperation between authorities is necessary for European consumers to feel protected.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we all understand the consequences of a possible extension of the war, the dramatic consequences. The solution in the region is absolutely clear that it cannot be military. It can only be politics. Here too, the European Union can play a more decisive role. We recently saw, in the motion for a resolution at the United Nations, 13 Member States of the European Union voting in favour, 12 abstaining and 2 voting against. We must have a unified strategy for the Middle East. It is a crucial issue both for the European Union and for peace in the world. We need a solution that guarantees Israel the right to exist safely and, at the same time, leads to the creation of a Palestinian state on the basis of UN resolutions. At the same time, we must help Lebanon to stabilise the situation there, because there will also be multiple repercussions. One and a half million people are displaced. Many of them will go to Europe. The European Union must therefore act more decisively.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately the phenomena of the climate crisis, the extreme phenomena that we have been experiencing in recent years, are no exception. It will be the new normal. In my country they have been expressed both in the form of large fires and in the form of floods and action is needed on three levels. The first level concerns prevention, how we prepare to deal with such phenomena that will appear more and more often. The second level is what we do when a phenomenon breaks out, in civil protection. Here, too, we need better cooperation at European level in order to deal with such phenomena, because no single state can deal with them. The third has to do with how we stand by people when they have been devastated by such phenomena. And here we need to increase the resources of the Solidarity Fund. The citizens of Europe need to see us beside them when faced with such phenomena. We are pioneers as Europe in the green transition. In order to cope with the phenomena that will occur in the meantime, we need to increase speed. Obviously we cannot eradicate these extreme phenomena. But we can help people cope with their consequences.

Mr President, our societies and citizens are constantly facing the consequences of the climate crisis. In recent days, these consequences have taken the form of extreme events, with floods in Eastern and Central Europe and fires in Portugal – events that are increasingly affecting my home country, Greece, with the most typical being the floods in Thessaly last year. We must not wait for a catastrophe to come to face a situation that is the new reality. And these are not statistics and figures; These are changes that affect our daily lives. Extreme events are one form of the consequences of the climate crisis. We see the phenomenon of water scarcity and the great impact on agricultural production, as our farmers are constantly faced with unusual weather conditions. Millions of people live in conditions of great uncertainty. We need to hear their voice. While times have changed, I'm afraid we're going by the standards of other times. Alongside the implementation of the Green Deal, it is a matter of immediate survival to deal with the effects of the climate crisis. The resources at our disposal are not sufficient. We also need to speed up assistance procedures, cut red tape and strengthen our coordination. It is impossible for each country to address problems of this magnitude and intensity on its own. People are waiting to see Europe next to them in conditions of extreme crisis. So we have to adapt to the times that have changed. Conditions have changed; We need to change, too.

Mr President, I am from Greece, a country that has known the migration problem very well for many years, not only because it is located at Europe's external borders and in an unstable geopolitical region, but also because hundreds of thousands of people – in a very short time – have reached Evros and the Greek islands. Many times my country's government has been criticised for pursuing a strict but fair immigration policy. For many years, the logic was "let the first-receiving countries deal with the problem". Today it is clear – and loudly – that migration concerns the whole of Europe and is not addressed by unilateral actions to close land borders. A European response is needed with stricter protection of the external borders, protection of the Schengen area – an important European acquis, solidarity between us and fair sharing of obligations, cooperation but also pressure on third countries to accept returns. Europe has borders and the decision of who enters Europe must be our decision and not that of the smugglers.