Debate contributions by Daniel OBAJTEK

Mr President, thank you very much. We talk about sanctions, we organize summits. But what's the truth? Does Europe want to move away from oil and gas? Is Europe just doing fiction? Zero, in fact, in all of this. Specifically: In 2024, Europe bought oil and gas from Russia for €22 billion. That's only 1% less than before the war. Countries such as France, Belgium and Spain have bought several times more Russian gas. Where did the gas land? In Germany through interconnectors. What sanctions are we talking about? The war has been going on for three years. In fact, the European Union has strengthened Vladimir Putin with its decisions. Why is that? Because, through war, raw materials are much more expensive. You have given Russia time to diversify, to organize new logistics, to sell much more gas to even China, to Turkey or to India. Do you think Russia has lost that? No, I don't. Russia has benefited from this. Shame on you! Look at Poland. It is a poorer country than France or Germany. In 2023, we moved away from Russian oil and gas, we built infrastructure, we showed the whole of Europe that we can do it. We've been talking for three years, and what does that mean? We adopt sanctions for a year, for two. In the meantime, we buy through other companies, other directions. Thank you very much, but this is really a scandal.

Madam President, I'm sorry. What does the interest in this debate and the security of the European Union and Poland look like today? Then see this room. Where are your colleagues to talk about security? It's just a mockery. You're talking about oil and gas. You buy all the time. Germans buy oil all the time. It flows through Polish territory. France buys gas all the time. You talk all the time about the Merkosur deal. That's billions of euros and dollars for Russia. Tell me what you're going to do here and now, here and now, to end this. The 19th package of sanctions can be implemented swiftly.

Mr President, thank you very much. Europe in an industrial crisis. And we see this industrial crisis very strongly today. I refer only to the data when it comes to the GDP of the United States, where it is over 9 trillion more than the GDP of Europe. Ten years ago, Europe was ahead of it. Today we have a terrible problem with the industry. Today, we not only have a problem with the energy-intensive industry here and now, but we also have a problem with other industries. We have an issue with the petrochemical industry. We are fighting Russian oil and gas, but we do not see that Russian oil and gas products go to the European market. They are destroying the entire petrochemical industry, which will soon be practically impossible to recreate. I'm not even talking about another industry: It's a pharmaceutical company that's also leaving Europe very quickly. Europe is slowly becoming a desert. I'm not saying all of these things are bad. They are good, some of them. We just don't have time. The industry needs a drip here and now very quickly. This drip must be very simple. I often say this: the suspension and reform of the ETS. The ETS does not serve technology now, the ETS primarily serves to speculate on prices and clog budget holes. We need to change that as soon as possible. I really urge us to act as soon as possible in this regard.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Dear Commissioner, We are all discussing this. You are all really talking about this problem that has occurred in Spain, and in fact most of you are voting very differently. And you must understand that you will not deceive the laws of physics. There is no zero-emission energy without a conventional power plant. You have to understand this, but there will be no conventional power plants if you always change your mind. After all, conventional power plants need projects, regulations, quick investments, and above all capital and a stable European Union policy in this area. We cannot forever discuss what is emission, what is not emission. We know what the emissions are. We have to come to terms with this and do a technological transformation, but based on logic, economic calculation, the laws of physics. This logic is lacking. We cannot put everything on zero-emission energy. We must also invest in nuclear energy, in a large atom, in a small atom, in gas and in coal-fired power plants.

Madam President, thank you very much. Dear Commissioner, Today we need very quick decisions and very quick reforms, especially with regard to the ETS. As far as energy-intensive industries are concerned, they need solutions now and here, because they cannot withstand the issue of energy costs. Reducing energy costs is first and foremost important here and now for us to be competitive. I have submitted a draft amendment, i.e. a simple matter to convert the cost of the ETS into investments. This means that issuers – those who pay the ETS – can very quickly turn this into zero- and low-carbon investments. After all, the issue of the ETS, the ETS, was created so that we could carry out the processes of decarbonisation and transformation. Prime Minister Draghi himself said that the ETS does not play the role of decarbonisation. Why can't we implement the plan to convert the ETS into investments? Then we have quick capital, quick decisions, quick investment in the economy. We all care about that.

Mr President, thank you very much. Dear Commissioner, President von der Leyen's presentation of a plan to reduce energy prices is nothing more than a scandal. It does not contain any real, fast mechanisms so that we can reduce energy prices as soon as possible. The proposed contracts for difference and long-term contracts were already in place and these contracts did not really allow for a reduction in energy prices, either in Poland or elsewhere. The proposal to reduce taxes is nothing more than, in general, something that Member States can do. They do not have to ask the Commission. Expansion of the network. You are right, the expansion of the network, but it will actually take decades and will consume billions of euros. We are not able to do this quickly. The solutions are as follows, ladies and gentlemen, to save the industry here and now, to reduce the price of energy. Suspend the ETS issue. Immediately reform the ETS for one simple reason: there cannot be financial institutions in the ETS that actually raise the prices of the ETS and convert the ETS into investments when it comes to issuers.

Mr President, thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen, Declarations, declarations, declarations, reports – all about the same thing. All about the fact that the European economy is dying, that industry in general is dying, agriculture is dying. Of course, that's what happens. Industry is dying, agriculture is dying, because we have excessive regulations, regulations that are destroying us. The Green Deal, which is literally economic Marxism, has nothing to do with the free market, with the economy, or with a just transition. We need to put an end to this. We can't rely on regulations forever. After all, we cannot proceed with these regulations for months, weeks. In business, in industry, we need time, lead time, because we will never be competitive. China and America will be competitive. And there the whole of Europe, the young Europe will travel. That's where she'll work. Europe will die. He's going to die economically. So we need to react very quickly and act to make Europe grow. First of all, time.

Madam President, thank you very much. The steel sector across Europe is made up of more than 500 companies and 2.5 million people who work in this sector. Through EU regulations, green ideology, we will bring these people to the pavement. In the last year alone, production in Europe has decreased by 10%. If we do not implement solutions now, there will be no one to help. Steelworks and steelworks will go bankrupt. What do they need? Tools that protect the market from imports into Europe, low energy prices through the introduction of Contracts for Difference or, even better, the temporary suspension of ETS fees. These solutions are on the table. But will they have the courage to do so? Remember the founding fathers of this community. First of all, it was the Coal and Steel Community. They were protecting their market, the European market. Today, we are destroying the European market by introducing regulations – regulations that are not in line with the economy.

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I would like to thank you. You can't compete with either China or the United States. Excess regulation, lack of capital. Instead, you want to increase the competitiveness of the old Europe at the expense of the new countries, the new European members. Example – Poland is one of the largest producers of batteries for electric cars in the world. Suddenly you come up with a regulation that makes it unprofitable to produce batteries for electric cars in Poland. Instead of taking into account the emissions of a given factory, you want to take into account the emissions of the entire country. As a result, factories producing electric batteries for cars will be shut down in Poland over time. It will be produced in a completely different part of Europe. And will it really pay off? Will it be profitable to build factories there, to automatically add the cost of production of these batteries to the cost? Will these batteries be competitive? Europe cannot compete with itself. We have to compete with China, we have to compete with the United States. Instead of facilitating transformation, we throw logs at our feet. Instead of fighting China, we are competing with ourselves.

Mr President, thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am a Member of Parliament, this is my first term in office and I do not understand something. Do you really want to tell anyone that work visas are a threat to Europe at a time when tens of thousands of people have entered Europe since 2015? Take a look at what Europe looks like today: dangerous, rape, drugs, robbery. Of course, it also lasted before, but definitely on a smaller scale. Today, Europe has a big problem. My country, Poland, has been criticised many times for not wanting immigrants. We were asked, we were threatened, also the Hungarians. See if today it is dangerous in Poland, in Warsaw? No, it's safe. Is it dangerous in Budapest today? No, it's safe, ladies and gentlemen. And I don't know if working visas will really change anything in Europe's security. They're not gonna change anything. But also the Germans, after all, when it comes to employees from Kenya, are happy to invite. And not to mention the closure of the borders by Germany. These are serious problems today.

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, I'm sorry. 21 sheets of paper cost about one and a half euros. It wasn't worth one and a half euros. Propagandaistically, no PR person would be ashamed of it. Beautiful words – the introduction of energy and climate-related directives. And what's really going on with that? The reform of ETS 1, ETS 2, which puts a very heavy burden on all economies, because it is really a tax in addition to fuel. Buildings Directive – renovation of buildings, installations, heating. Some people in Europe will simply have to give up their homes because they cannot afford to keep them. Prohibition of the use of internal combustion engines. Look, during the floods, would electric motors or different electric cars be able to do it? After all, Europe is not able to produce 30% of chargers. We need to get 70% of our chargers from China. An unrealistic hydrogen economy. Even the Court of Auditors has said that there is no way to implement either technologically or financially. So what would be better? It would be better for you not to make a decision for five years. You'd be better off paying for those decisions. Business would self-regulate, self-invest, self-invest in modern technologies. This business would be competitive. There would be new jobs. It would introduce technologies that lead to lower emissions. The proof? See how the European Union’s GDP has developed – 0.5%. How did the GDP of the United States develop in 2023? 2.5%. China? - Mm-hmm. 5%. What are you really talking about in terms of the competitiveness of the European Union? Where do you see some plans? The question of atoms. You think the atom doesn't. One time you think an atom does. Once you think that gas is emission, but it will be considered non-emission. You really change your mind all the time. I believe that the end of dreams – Europe should wake up, because it will not be competitive. Wake up, Europe, if you don't want to wake up, this is where I leave the alarm to wake you up. We are talking about different European programmes. We talk about the importance of politics for the economy, but we don't. And I don't say that as a politician, but I say it as the president of the largest company in Central and Eastern Europe. I spoke to international business. No one in Europe will invest because it is over-regulated. Europeans will lose their jobs.