Speeches

Mr President, Vice-President of the European Commission, Šefčovič, Minister, I agree with all the colleagues who said that we are living in a historic moment. Let's go back 70 years, to June 22, because today is June 22. On June 22, 1940, a truce was imposed on France. On June 22, 1941, Operation Barbarossa began in Eastern Europe. Today, the European Union faces its greatest geostrategic challenge, which in turn generates a huge security crisis, with humanitarian collateral crises, the energy crisis and the food crisis. We must respond with sanctions to the aggressor and with solidarity towards the victims. We must grant the status of candidate state to Ukraine and Moldova, because, we must recognize the European vocation of these two countries and if the European Union wants to be geostrategic, then we must defend our values and give the status of candidate state to these two states. (The speaker agreed to respond to a blue card intervention)

Madam President, of course, the invasion of Ukraine has serious budgetary implications affecting the 2023 budget and beyond. We need to be ready to support Ukraine and also our citizens. Our focus should be on the provision of humanitarian aid and assistance to the millions of refugees fleeing the war. We also need to ensure that our citizens will receive the necessary support in dealing with the overall economic and social consequences of the war, since the explosion of energy prices, higher inflation and lower growth will inevitably continue to push poverty upwards and fuel more inequality. What is also clear is that neither the flexibility of the current MFF nor the Next Generation EU fund are sufficient to cover all the pressing needs. There is, therefore, a need to rethink our overall budgetary framework as it is dangerously reaching its limits. The dramatic situation in Ukraine means that the Union’s budget for 2023 cannot be business as usual.

Madam President, I cannot believe that I have to stand up to address war and its atrocities on our continent. Never had I expected in my political life that we would have to deal with such a tragedy in our European House. CARE is a very good title. To ‘care for’ means provide for us, to look after, to ‘take care of’ means look after, keep safe. That’s what we need to do for our Ukrainian friends. All these elements came together in the Commission proposal for a regulation regarding ‘Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe’ of 8 March this year, in particular helping the Member States in the front line. That the Commission moved swiftly, barely two weeks after the Russian invasion and that the Parliament is also moving very fast with an urgent procedure underpins this debate. Moreover, the instrument chosen, a draft regulation, is legally our strongest instrument, is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. The possibility of 100% co-financing to respond to this ugly war and the usage of payment appropriations from the 2014-2020 programming period and from REACT-EU is the right way to approach matters. However, depending on the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis and how the war evolves, we already have to see which financial means could be made available post-30 June this year. What we need to do is that the uprooted Ukrainian friends find a place to stay, find work and find a school for their children. In order to become self-sufficient, language training should be encouraged, as well as child- and medical-care provided. If the EU is a place with a heart, now is the time to show it. The CARE proposal puts us on the right track.

Madam President, I would like to thank our rapporteur Grace O’Sullivan and underline the very good cooperation between the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on Transport and Tourism, ensuring an ambitious EP position on the Eighth Environment Action Programme (EAP) in view of the interinstitutional negotiations. The Eighth EAP aims to set out a framework for EU environmental and climate policy actions, and a monitoring system until 2030, based on the European Green Deal, to guarantee that the EU is on track with climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest and achieve its 2030 biodiversity strategy towards a sustainable well-being economy within planetary boundaries. These are ensured by the active engagement of all stakeholders at all levels of governance, mainstreaming gender, contributing to reach the European pillar of social rights, the UN SDGs and the due diligence concept.