The co-President of the Greens/EFA, Ska KELLER, gives her statement after the speech on the State of the European Union 2022 of Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

KELLER, Ska (Greens/EFA, DE)

state of the European Union 2022 (T)

State of the Union debate - SOTEU 2022: Statement by Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Dear Commission President, dear colleagues, dear Mrs. Zelenska, it's a big honour that you are here with us today and your presence reminds us that while we talk a lot about the problems that we're facing in the EU, the real consequences of this war, of aggression, of poaching are carried by the people in Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, A brutal invasion led against the peaceful people of Ukraine simply because they chose to live in freedom and democracy. And Putin cannot live with the fact that people live in liberty with human and civil rights and that nations work together peacefully.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Freedom and democracy, principles the EU was founded on, are the biggest threats to him. And all together, we must face this atrocious aggression with determination and with courage. Just as Ukraine is showing us, Europe needs to support and continue to support Ukraine in their fight for peace and self-determination and even scale up those efforts.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, And the past days have shown that the Ukrainian people are able to resist the attack. And it is now that Europe needs to stand by their side. By your side. While Ukraine suffers most from the attack, there is also consequences for the EU. We must be prepared for tough times ahead. To do that, we must show solidarity to the outside, but also to the inside, by ensuring that the costs and consequences are carried by the strongest shoulders in our society.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, With the skyrocketing energy and food prices, we must act. We know that many citizens in our Union are fearful of what the winter will bring. Fearful of being unable to heat their homes, feed their children, pay their bills. And we cannot turn a blind eye to the situation of the most vulnerable people in our Union. Already now, every fifth person in the EU lives in poverty, and the scale of the increase in prices means that many more households will be at risk.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, It is our duty to ensure that people who are struggling get support and that the greed and profits of a few don't lead to misery of many. So let us take bold policy steps to make sure that everyone gets through these tough times. And I welcome the Commission president's proposal to skim off windfall profits from energy companies, something that we, as Green/EFA group, have been calling for since the beginning of this crisis.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, The only true way to end our energy dependency is, on the one hand, to use less energy, and on the other hand to produce more renewable energy. Sun and wind provide us with much more power than we could ever possibly use. So let's profit from that. Fossil fuels have been a driver for ecological disaster and for dangerous dependency.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Renewables are the true catalyses for peace, security and stability. Now is the time to scale up investments into renewables, to put solar on every roof, insulate buildings, and make sure sun and wind carry us into a new era of sustainable and affordable European energy production.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, And let's make no mistake, Commission president and colleagues, the climate crisis is probably the biggest political test for our generation. All over Europe, we experience the devastation the climate crisis is bringing and will bring to our continent and to the world. This summer, massive droughts and heatwaves have paved the way, have paved the way for wildfires, killing a substantial amount of our harvests as well, and led to thousands of deaths that came prematurely.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, The cost of non-action is immense. It is time to act and to quickly build a brighter, cleaner future, to capitalise on the enormous potential that the green transition brings in terms of sustainable economic development, well-paying and future proofed jobs, cleaner air, and better quality of life for our citizens.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Dear colleagues, dear Commission president, Putin's war against Ukraine is also targeted at our EU values and at democracy. In order to stand strong against opponents and threats, we have to defend those values within the EU and without exception. And I am grateful for your strong words on rule of law, Commission President.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, However, we have heard very promising words before. What we're lacking is action. Thanks to Parliament, we have instruments at hand. But now they need to be used, including the rule of law conditionality. Dear Commission president, please respect the conditionality instrument and the political will of this Parliament. No money should be given to the governments of Poland and Hungary unless they clearly return to the path of rule of law.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, And I want to tell, dear colleagues from the EPP and especially to you, Mr. Weber, be careful who you form partnerships with. Looking at Italy, you are playing a risky game, with democracy and with our shared values, just for power. A game that could backfire for all of us. A group that claims to be part of the Democratic majority should not partner with people who wear Putin fancier shirts, nor parties with fascist logos. Not in Italy, not in Spain, not in Sweden. Not in the EP. Nowhere and never.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, And it is a bit awkward that I say this as a Green, but the centre right has a very important role to play in Europe and part of this, together with all of us, is to ward off the extreme right, and if you open the door to them, you are doing a big, big disservice to Europe. But, I believe, also to your own party.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA, DE), co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Dear Commission President and dear colleagues, yes, the State of Union is full of challenges stemming from the war in Ukraine to the rule of law to the climate crisis. We are facing a big test. However, I am convinced that the EU has the strength to face these challenges. If we work together, work together towards a new energy independence, a climate neutral continent, and maybe most importantly, for a European Union that deserves and maintains the trust of our European citizens, founded on values, founded on solidarity. Thank you very much.