Speeches

– Dear rapporteur, thank you for the balanced proposal for a strategy on forests, which is a very important strategy, as we have already heard. I come from Slovenia, which is the third most forested country after Finland and Sweden, where forests have been sustainably managed for centuries. We have 80% of the forests owned by individuals - farmers. They are the ones who have managed these forests well for centuries. It is therefore important that we continue to respect the principle of subsidiarity, that countries manage forests together with forest owners, and that we allow this multifunctional function of forests. We know how important wood is as a building material, but on the other hand, we know that biomass is also important for many forest owners. In the years when we are also at risk of energy poverty, it will also play an important role in this part. Congratulations again on the report and let the forest maintain its multifunctional function as it has done so far.

Mr President-in-Office! As we can see, frequent heat strikes, droughts are becoming more frequent, especially in the southern part of Europe, which also includes my country, Slovenia, in this southeast, and agriculture and forestry are certainly the biggest victims of this phenomenon. I therefore agree with my colleagues who stress how important it is, on the one hand, to strengthen civil protection systems, that we are also prepared for forest fires, that we limit them as soon as possible, and that, in the field of agriculture, proper water management is certainly very important. I myself come from an area where we have combined, on the one hand, both the construction of a hydroelectric power plant and irrigation, which takes precedence over energy use, and in this way we try to solve problems. Irrigation certainly requires modern technology with low water consumption and, on the other hand, suitable crop rotations, as well as genetic techniques to obtain plants that are more resistant to drought.

Dear Commissioner, I would like to express my sincere thanks for the fact that you have prepared a delegated document which, in the first phase, identifies green technologies, technologies that enable the production of low-carbon electricity, as well as technologies that enable the transition to a low-carbon society. Why will I support the document? Because, for the first time, I/we are responsible for energy security and the irresponsible energy policy in Germany, which my fellow socialists and greens set up in 2000, it has led us not only to energy, but also to military dependence on Putin. I will therefore vote in favour of this delegated act. Nuclear energy is a low-carbon energy. Today, 50% of all low-carbon energy produced in Europe is atomic. I also support, of course, the expansion of wind, solar energy, but unfortunately it does not allow for a green transition and can only be made possible by using gas during the transition period and, in the slightly longer term, nuclear energy. I am in favour of technological neutrality. I also support the profession that, unlike batteries and solar cells, has found that this document does not affect our safety either during operation or with proper storage, which is a prerequisite for nuclear energy in the long term. And I want an equal treatment of these technologies, just one more sentence, and, on the other hand, independence from Russia, because today more than half of the gas is from America.

Mr Mayer, one simple question. I'm from Krško. I was mayor for 13 years. The nuclear power plant in Krško is Westinghouse's technology. This is American technology. And it is not correct that, as has been the case many times, you are misleading the public about a Russian technology in Krško. This plant was ranked among the best nuclear power plants in Europe in the stress tests. And it is also among the top 10% of the world's best nuclear power plants, according to all the performances reviewed by the profession.

Mr. President! Allow me to begin by congratulating the people of neighbouring Croatia, its government on the successful implementation of all the reforms that led to Croatia fulfilling all the conditions for joining the euro area and, on the other hand, on the willingness of the people to join the euro area framework. I come from Slovenia, where, after we joined the European Union in 2004, we decided to join the euro area in 2007. And if you ask today's economists, as well as the people, what counts the most since joining the European Union, the adoption of the euro is one of the greatest values that connects us today and also gives us a competitive area for our work. I am sure that Croatia, as a tourist country, will take great advantage of this entry into the euro area, but on the other hand, tourists coming to Croatia will also be a little less inclined to lose money in currency exchanges, so congratulations to Croatia and many successes on the difficult path that awaits you in the future.

Mr President, honourable, with the Fit for 55 legislative package, we are responding, on the one hand, to climate change and codifying the commitments made in the Climate Law and also in the Paris Agreement. We intervene in many areas that will affect our lives; on the one hand, efficient energy use, renewable energy sources, and on the other hand, reducing emissions from transport, buildings and industry. Agriculture contributes a significant share both in the basic agricultural activity and in forestry through its sinks. However, we must not forget about the social and economic impact of this package. We must maintain technological neutrality, whether we are talking about electricity generation, nuclear power, or even modern internal combustion cars. We must also pay attention to energy poverty and the competitiveness of the European economy. We must keep in mind, however, that the rest of the world, which produces 90% of emissions, must keep up with our efforts and otherwise we will all fail together. In any case, with the war in Ukraine, we see that we are not living in an ideal world, so we must also pay attention to the effects of these horrors around us.

Dear rapporteur, Mr Omarjee, Commissioner, Mr President. 20 million Europeans live on 2400 islands in 13 countries and many of these islands face demographic problems as young people leave the islands. Natural obstacles such as remoteness, mountainousness, as well as numerous natural disasters such as fires and, last but not least, a tour of the island of La Palma, where the volcano caused a real devastation, all point to the problems the islands are dealing with. Agriculture, fishing, tourism are the basic activities that usually give the opportunity to earn a living. It is right that in our European policies too, when we talk about digitalisation today, we think about the connectivity of these islands, e-health, how to use digitalisation in tourism, energy challenges - we will talk about the Fit for 55 package this week - also give an opportunity for renewables, and all this must receive special attention on the islands, as well as higher co-financing. Mr rapporteur, I am happy to support your report.

I support some elements of this amendment to this legislation in the part where we are talking about younger people who have access to elections. I also support facilitating access for people with disabilities. In any case, I am very reserved and I am opposed to transnational lists. We are all elected in the states. We have our own constituencies, we address the voters, and then we answer to those voters. Every weekend on Fridays I am a lot of people and no one has ever asked or spoken to me about the fact that this democracy in Europe would be better if – I do not know – the Slovenian was represented by someone from Finland or elsewhere. We are united in political groups and there we can also represent our political interests of the groups. However, what has been said in the debate, that this is now a proxy for this lead candidate and that this is a guarantee that the lead candidate will also be the chair of the commission, is simply not true and is misleading. Thank you.

Madam President, thank you for the floor. The Russian aggression and barbaric killing of people proves that the world we thought we were living is collapsing before our eyes, a world where dignity, human life, is respected. Putin did not take over Ukraine in two days. Apparently, he won't take it in two months, and we can probably prepare for a two-year long war, as military experts predict. Putin did not win, because the Ukrainians were united, because they heroically, bravely resisted the aggressor, and on the other hand, because we too in Europe have shown unity and are helping Ukraine in its struggle with both weapons and humanitarian things. We must be aware that, in these sanctions, we are not supported by the whole world, but by the democratic world. That neither China, nor India, nor the Arab countries joined in. Serbia has not joined either, and some European countries are already colliding. This will be a tough fight. In any case, we must persevere in this fight. Russia will not stop our sanctions, they can weaken it. Russia will stop the weapons that Ukrainians need. I am very much in favour of the Czech Republic and the United States. And we, too, need to strengthen this support in the military field even better and more strongly on this path. Humanitarian aid is certainly also needed, and there is no time for speculation on sanctions. For 20, 30 years, Germany financed Russia with gas purchases, thinking it was an orderly state. Today, however, we see that we are financing the war and that, at this time of war, we have invested so much money – 536 billion – in Russian gas, it is unacceptable. And we have no right to worry about how we will live, and in Ukraine, people are dying defending European borders, defending the democratic system. Glory to Ukraine. We owe it, we are responsible for our full support for Ukraine.

–Ukrainian disaster. Russia's aggression on 27 February shattered the European dream that our security will be taken care of in NATO and in the United States, that we will have energy security guaranteed in Russia, and also in food security, which is better taken care of than the first two, we see how dependent we are on the market of Ukraine and also Russia. Even before this war, we saw major increases in prices on both the energy side and, consequently, fertilisers, and a lack of supply of fertilisers, which is why food security was threatened earlier. However, this crisis certainly requires us to do what the Commission has proposed - to take decisive action to ensure maximum production this year. And also what we have written in the strategy to thoroughly reflect on the impacts of these strategies that are on our table. If we have not been given an earlier impact assessment of what these strategies mean when they should have been given, now is the time to seriously consider this. Thank you.

Honourable Commissioner, Honourable Chair, Colleagues! The 8th Cohesion Report has made it very clear that cohesion policy is a success and we urgently need cohesion policy in the future, because there are still large disparities between regions. And this basic principle of solidarity, which cohesion policy is, must continue to work actively and with sufficient resources in the future. The Covid crisis has shown new problems and we have managed to adopt a recovery and resilience plan in the European Union. And since all quotas under the financial perspective 14-20 have been unused in the past, all those employed with cohesion policy at national, regional level are very busy. As a result, there are also significant delays in the adoption of partnership agreements. These days, we see a new crisis, Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and a wave of new refugees coming to the European Union. I, too, am very supportive of taking care of these unfortunate people who have had to flee their homes, and also of spending resources in cohesion policy to this end, so that municipalities, regions, can provide good care for those who are most in need these days. However, this Ukrainian crisis, if we may say so, will certainly also change our priorities, and I think that the partnership agreements will also require a great deal of creativity from the European Commission in order to respond to the challenges that will also come as a result of this crisis.

Mr President. Dear Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, esteemed Minister Anže Logar. I am pleased that today we are discussing the conclusions of the summit on the Western Balkans, which took place in Brdo. We have the order Thessaloniki 2003, most recently Sofia 2018, Zagreb 2020, Brdo 2021. That is, we have been talking about this for almost 20 years, and as we see, the biggest initiative, the initiative in this process, is taken by those countries that are close to the Western Balkans. Probably because we are most aware of how turbulent this area is, how we are connected to it, how it affects us, whether we are observing the migrant crisis or, if you will, observing how Russia, Turkey, China are strengthening their influence in this part of Europe. It is no secret that the process has certain problems, which are on the one hand both within the EU. We have, in my opinion, an unnecessary blockade of Macedonia at the moment. I certainly think that we should open the process to Macedonia and Albania. On the other hand, we also have problems in the region itself. We still have unresolved disputes at the Serbia-Kosovo border, then problems within Bosnia. However, the functioning of the rule of law is something that should be strengthened. But when we look at everything, we see that the process of transition of young people into the European Union is actually happening. And these people are coming to the European Union, which is possible for any of the Member States, and a real disaster for this area. I therefore hope that our government succeeds in stepping up these efforts and that these enlargement processes happen as soon as possible, and that also, and above all as soon as possible, the people of the Western Balkans get back confidence in the European Union and faith in the future of the European Union, which has been weakening recently in this area.