Debate contributions by Pilar DEL CASTILLO VERA

Mr President, Commissioner, a competitive economy with a strong digital footprint – artificial intelligence, cloud, data centres and so on – requires high-capacity electricity grids that contribute to lower energy prices for households and businesses. However, while demand is already growing exponentially, our networks are still old, to the point that more than 40% exceed four decades. On the other hand, it is estimated that the costs of network congestion could reach €26 billion over the next five years. Moreover, we are still a long way from the 15% interconnection target set for 2030 – in the case of Spain it is only 3.6%. In this context, the Commission proposal is right to simplify licensing procedures, to strengthen security already from the planning point of view – and this is important – to optimise the use of networks through digitalisation and to increase funding under the Multiannual Financial Framework. All this with an overview, and not only of the sum of the parts: This is a vision at European level, i.e. a single market approach. I believe this is the way; a path that will also facilitate the development of priority projects: I am referring to the eight energy motorways – in the case of the Iberian Peninsula through the Pyrenees via the Iberian Highway—. Interconnections with energy islands need to be resolved urgently. The legislative process is now coming to Parliament, and it is our responsibility to act as quickly as possible.

Mr President, Madam Vice-President of the Commission, the digital bus must help accelerate innovation and competitiveness. The proposal focuses on data, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, as we know, and in the case of data, as the Commission says, it is about having more coherent and unified legislation, integrating different rules into the Data Regulation. The Data Regulation has opened up enormous possibilities for innovation, development of new business models and competitiveness in all sectors. The manufacturing industry, the agricultural, health sector, the after-sales sector or airlines and a long etcetera have to benefit from the Data Regulation. On the bus, the Commission proposes to further strengthen the protection of industrial secrecy against third-country entities subject to jurisdictions with legislation not equivalent to that of the European Union. However, without undermining this, we need to ensure that the vault key of the Data Regulation remains intact, i.e. the user's right to access industrial data generated by their own connected devices. In short, it is about balancing guarantees and rights, which is key to accelerating innovation and competitiveness.

Mr President, Commissioner, we have a valuable roadmap to end Russian energy imports, a guide that includes an ambitious list of actions. Some concern nuclear energy, as mentioned, with measures to prevent new uranium supply contracts. On the other hand, Russian oil should be replaced by 2027 as the deadline. But most of these measures are related to gas, such as banning imports for contracts. spot, to be completed by the end of 2025, and for long-term ones, to be completed by the end of 2027. In relation to the latter, the Commission should design effective and legally sound tools to facilitate the termination of such contracts. take or pay European companies are not penalised. In other words, legal soundness is essential. Otherwise, the Europeans will have to pay for the contracts and Russia will keep the gas.

Madam President, I am going to help ensure that this debate does not take longer than necessary, because there are others who come later and I want to help ensure that they can be managed well and that we do not delay.

Madam President, Commissioner, the total collapse of the Spanish electricity system leaves us with a first lesson: there is an urgent need to eradicate the messianic vision of renewable energy and the demonisation of nuclear energy. This confrontation has been the hallmark of the energy policy of the President of the Government and his Minister Ribera. Energy security does not need confrontation, but balance. It requires every energy source to fulfill its role, from renewables to nuclear, from gas to hydraulics. Each one has a precise and essential contribution. Only from technological neutrality can the stability of the energy system be guaranteed. And this is what the Government of Spain is systematically ignoring today. Now, Commissioner, it is urgent to ensure an independent audit, an audit to be entrusted to the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, energy-intensive industries are a fundamental part of the European economy and play an indispensable role in value chains such as defence and automotive. For years they have had a great competitive capacity and have been at the forefront in quality and innovation. But now their competitiveness is progressively weakened. In fact, declining production and offshoring are a reality. That is why we have to have – because these are new times that demand it – new formulas. Today our industry needs a truly effective revitalizing formula, based on active principles such as faster and simpler permitting, an attractive regulatory environment for investment and affordable energy prices, which in turn require a more integrated energy market with interconnected, digitalised and more flexible grids. In short, it is a formula that combines more innovation, more simplification and more investment. In that sense, the Net-Zero Industry Regulation is a good starting point. And now the announced Industrial Decarbonization Acceleration Act has to take steps in that same direction.

(start of off-microphone intervention) ... to check this data that you are giving me and that I can also offer you other different data, because it seems to me that it is what we can do in this context of the question that you ask me. So we can gladly share that data at another time.

Mr President, thank you, Commissioner, for being with us. Indeed, in 2022 – as you yourself mentioned – the Versailles Declaration led us to commit to phasing out Russian gas, oil and coal imports as soon as possible. And, in response to that commitment also mentioned, the REPowerEU plan has now made it possible to reduce dependence on gas and other fossil fuels, so that, in 2023, imports of Russian gas from the Union fell below 15%. But there is still a long way to go. That percentage that I have mentioned is not shared by all countries. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of countries, such as my own, which remains one of the main buyers of gas. It is clear that we need additional efforts: continue to diversify supplies, strengthen our relationships with reliable partners and explore new partnerships with other regions. Of course, we also hope that we will soon have the roadmap for the phase-out of Russian gas that has been announced by the Commission.

Mr President, Mr Executive Vice-President, the Draghi report marked a path, and now we have a compass to go through it. The destination is clear, a competitive Europe, but on this path speed matters: the European Commission has stepped on the accelerator with a series of key measures that we will be progressively getting to know, within a few days, the Clean Industrial Pact. But special circumstances require special procedures, we cannot afford long implementation or transposition deadlines: We need to lighten, with immediate effect, the bureaucratic burdens on our businesses, and we need to make rapid progress in removing the barriers to our internal market, which are those that prevent us from taking advantage of the continental scale that is our best asset. We cannot allow the awareness of urgency to be diluted in a new and lengthy legislative procedure and be late again: That is why it is imperative that we have mechanisms for rapid intervention, and I believe that this is where the omnibus instrument stands, a total of five simplification packages aimed at existing legislation. There is, of course, to welcome the first of them very soon, and it must be said that the destination is clear: We have the route, arriving on time is in our hands.

Mr President, Commissioner, every person must have his or her chance in the digital transition. Only with proper training will everyone be able to take advantage of the full potential offered by digitalization. This gap, as Mr Draghi points out, with countries that have more developed both technological innovation and technological training is, to a large extent, what explains the deficit we have with respect to the competitiveness of countries such as the United States. It is imperative that competitiveness and digital training go hand in hand. Digital training should be present throughout the education period; for example, programming should always be incorporated at the beginning of school education, so that pupils understand the digital nature of the system in which they live. On the other hand, the European Union must increase the number of STEM graduates, which, despite progress, is still far from meeting the demand that exists in these profiles. It is also essential to strengthen digital training in vocational training systems. Finally, the updating and acquisition of new digital skills must be constant throughout life; What's more, it has to be guaranteed. In short, digital training is not only key to achieving an innovative and competitive Europe, it is also key for each person to have their opportunity in this process of digital transformation. And, I add, it is not only essential, it is also urgent: The time is now, tomorrow will be late.

Madam President, the Draghi report puts Europe in the mirror and sets out a path of competitiveness with the central objective of increasing productivity. We need to be productive to be competitive, and to be innovative to be productive, and order, in this case, is important: Europe must innovate to produce, and produce more and better to compete. As stated in the report, the productivity gap between Europe and the United States is largely explained by the technological factor. Indeed, the development of 5G, the Internet of Things and technologies such as artificial intelligence offer an opportunity for unprecedented innovation, and Europe cannot continue to be late for this event. To do this, appropriate resources need to be deployed, such as a 5G and 6G network infrastructure where innovation can nest. On the other hand, access to hitherto largely underutilised industrial data is essential. Data is, on the other hand, the nutrient for the development of digital technologies: we need to move towards a European data space in a single market. In short, the report puts us on a broad and well-signposted path to a digital and competitive Europe. Mr Draghi says that the challenge is existential, and I think it is. For this reason, the time is now: It'll be late tomorrow.