Following Russian invasion of Ukraine back in February, MEPs discuss how to deal with the social and economic consequences for the EU of Russia’s war in Ukraine with the Council and Commission, and how to reinforce the EU’s capacity to act. Opening statements by Brigitte KLINKERT, French Minister Delegate to the Minister of Labour, Employment and Integration and by Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

EU - Ukraine (T)

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

troubles in Ukraine (T)

European Commission

European Council

VON DER LEYEN, Ursula (DE, EC)

solidarity with Ukraine (T)

KLINKERT, Brigitte

The social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine - reinforcing the EU’s capacity to act: opening statements by Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour and by Ursula VON DER LEYEN, EC President

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Introduction to the debate

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, Madam President of the European Parliament, President of the European Commission, ladies and gentlemen, Members of the Parliament. The United Nations Agency for Refugees believes that over four 5 million Ukrainian civilians have already left their country due to military aggression from Russia.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, During the last informal meeting in Versailles. The heads of state and government, in your event, have firmly condemned the unjustified military intervention and unprovoked aggression from Russia against Ukraine. And they reaffirmed that the European Union and its Member States will continue to provide political, financial material and humanitarian aid in a coordinated manner.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, The Member States have made significant coordinated efforts to take in millions of refugees beyond the humanitarian crisis. It has also inevitably led to the slow down of the post-COVID recovery period. Coordinated European actions have allowed us to offset the worst of the social and economic consequences. But there are still major challenges ahead of us.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, This wage wave of refugees will undoubtedly have budgetary consequences, which are difficult to estimate for the European Union and its member states, particularly the member states that border Ukraine. However, it represents an opportunity for the European Union. If refugees want to integrate in a long term manner into the labour market, into their host countries.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, In April we adopted a budget which would allow us to mobilise different European funds in order to finance the welcome of Ukrainian refugees. For example, investing in education, employment, housing, health care, childcare services and also in basic material assistance.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, Furthermore, on the 4th of March, the Council unanimously adopted an implementing decision which would allow us to set up temporary protection for people fleeing war in Ukraine and will ensure human harmonised rights throughout the European Union, while ensuring that there is a fair share of the effort being made between Member States.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, It's the right to live and work in the European Union, but also to have access to social care. Some member states are also providing financial support to refugees when they arrive. In order to provide support for school age children. They will have access to national education systems. Adults can have access to training courses and integration into the labour market through the active implementation of public services for employment and involving social partners.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, In economic terms, the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the sanctions and countermeasures. Their impact on the value and transport chains, and the cuts to international transport. These are also going to have an impact on the European economy that's already been weakened by the COVID 19 crisis. This will be a long term impact.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, Raw materials such as wheat, cereals and energy will be affected. Increasing inflation in the EU is going to impact our businesses as well as energy supply and security, and we will have to fight against certain shortages as a priority. The Member States agreed to reduce Member States dependence on gas and oil and coal from Russia as well as on their dependence on fossil fuels in order to be free from Gazprom and a new order to ensure supply chains.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, Europe has to diversify its supply to accelerate the production of green energy, to ensure that they have joint purchasing for energy and reduce demand. At the same time, we have to maintain our competitiveness on the global level in the long term, even though we are seeing higher energy costs. Reducing our dependency will require a certain number of actions, such as the digital and green transitions under the French presidency.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, The Council is doing everything it can to ensure the supply of gas in the coming winter. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure strong European solidarity and to ensure that we respect the sanctions that we have set. I also welcome the fact that the Commission will be presenting the Repower EU programme on the 18th of May in order to take European joint actions in favour of more affordable, safer and more sustainable energy.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, We are at a historic turning point in terms of our energy independence and our transition. The green transition will provide new opportunities for jobs and at the long term it will free us from our end energy and dependency that is holding us back. Clearly, this social short term effects, particularly for the most vulnerable, have to be re-examined in light of the current situation and how it evolves.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, Currently, this transition is our only viable solution. Therefore, we have to accelerate our efforts on energy efficiency, on renewables and on hydrogen. Energy poverty today affects about 34 million people in the European Union. That's about one in five people whose income is below the poverty threshold, they declare that they can not afford to properly heat their home.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, As we announced in the fit for 55 package, in order to ensure a fair transition towards climate neutrality, the Commission has said that it will examine the green transitions impact on the social sector and on employment.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, The Commission has also undertaken discussions in view of the final adoption of recommendations, which will ensure a fair transition towards climate neutrality and which will also fight energy poverty and will ensure targeted actions for individuals to ensure that they have essential energy services.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, We will have further monitoring of the implementation of the fair transition and particularly looking at its impact on the most marginalised groups and those most at risk of energy poverty. Some Member States have also already ensured access to energy for the most vulnerable groups as a priority in line with a target 20 of the European Social Goals.

SOUNDBITE (French), Brigitte KLINKERT, Delegate to the French Minister of Labour, We have to act in a decisive manner in order to fight against the worst effects of the conflict on our societies and our economies, and ensuring that we show solidarity and unity between Member States in our actions. Our priority has to be protecting and consolidating our economic and social model, at the same time ensuring that nobody is left behind. Thank you all very much.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Thank you, Madam President, Madam Minister, Honourable Members. Next week we will mark Europe Day. It is the 72nd worst day of our Union. And on this Europe day, we will talk about, of course, the future of our Union, how we make it stronger and more resilient, closer to the people.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, But the answer to all these questions, we cannot give allowance alone in these days. The answers also given in Ukraine. It is given in Kharkiv, where Ukrainian first responders venture into the combat zone to help those wounded by Russian attacks.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, It is given in the small town of Bucha, where survivors are coping with the atrocities committed against civilians by Russian soldiers. And it is given these days in Mariupol, where Ukrainians are resisting a Russian force which greatly outnumbers them. Because they are fighting to reaffirm basic ideas that they are the master of their future and not a foreign leader, that it is the international law that counts and not the rights of mate, and that Putin must pay a high price for his brutal aggression.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Thus, the future of our European Union is also written in Ukraine. And therefore, today, I would like to speak about two topics. First, about sanctions. And second, about relief and reconstruction for Ukraine. Today we are presenting our sixth package of sanctions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, First, we are listing high ranking military officers and individuals who committed war crimes in Bucha and those who are responsible for the inhuman siege of the city of Mariupol. This sends another important signal to all perpetrators of the Kremlin. We know who you are. We will hold you accountable. You're not getting away with this.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Second. We finally did swift stabbing. Stabbing is the largest Russian bank. It holds round about 37% of the whole banking sector. And we will also do this with two other major banks in Russia. By that, we hit banks that are systemically critical to the Russian financial system and Putin's ability to wage destruction. This will solidify the complete isolation of the Russian financial sector from the global system.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Third. We're banning three big Russian state owned broadcasters from our airwaves. They will not be allowed to distribute the content any more in the European Union in whatever shape or form bid on cable via satellite on the Internet or via smartphone apps. We have identified these TV channels as mouthpieces that amplify Putin's lies and propaganda aggressively, and we should not give them a stage anymore to spread these lies.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Fourth. The Kremlin relies on accountants, consultants and spin doctors from Europe. And this will now stop. We're banning those services from being provided to Russian companies.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And my final point, number five. On sanctions is oil. When the leaders met in Riverside, they agreed to phase out our dependency on Russian fossil fuels. In the last sanction package. As you know, we started with coal. Today we are addressing our dependency on Russian oil. And let us be clear, it will not be easy, because some member states are strongly dependent on Russian oil. But we simply have to do it.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, So today we will propose to ban all Russian oil from Europe. This will be a complete import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline crude and refined. We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion. So in a way that allows us and our partners to secure alternative supply routes and at the same time be very careful that we minimise the impact on the global market.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And this is why we will phase out Russian supply of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year. Thus, we maximise the pressure on Russia, while at the same time, and this is important, we minimise the collateral damage to us and our partners around the globe because to help Ukraine, we have to make sure that our economy remains strong.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Honourable members. With all these steps, we are depriving the Russian economy from its ability to diversify and to modernise. Putin wanted to wipe out Ukraine from the map. And he will clearly not succeed. On the contrary, Ukraine has risen in bravery and in unity. And it is his own country, Russia, that Putin is sinking.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Honourable members, we want Ukraine to win this war. But we also want to set the conditions for Ukraine's success in the aftermath of the war. And this is my second point. Relief and reconstruction. The first step is immediate relief. This is about short term economic support to help Ukraine cope with the fallout of the war.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We have done a lot already. Let me remind you, a micro financial assistance package or the direct support to the Ukrainian budget. In addition, we recently proposed to suspend all import duties on Ukrainian exports to our union for one year, and I am sure that the European Parliament will put its weight behind this idea and this proposal. But we all know this is not enough for the short term relief.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Ukraine's GDP is expected to fall by 35% to 50% this year alone. And the IMF estimates that from May on, Ukraine trade needs €5 billion per month. Plain and simply to keep them country running. So to pay pensions, to pay salaries, to provide for basic services. We have to support them. But I also know that we cannot do this alone.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, So I very much welcome that the United States announced massive budgetary support. And we as Team Europe's, we have to do our share to. But then in a second phase. There's the wider reconstruction effort, and you all know that the scale of the destruction is staggering. Hospitals and schools, houses, roads, bridges, railways, theatres, factories. You just name it. So much has to be rebuilt.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Of course, in the fog of war. It is difficult to come up with a precise estimate, but economists are talking about several hundred billion euros. And here, honourable members, I think Europe has a very special responsibility towards Ukraine. With our support and of course, with the help of the international financial institutions and other global partners, Ukraine can rebuild their country for the next generation.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And this is why today I propose to you that we start working on an ambitious recovery package for our Ukrainian friends. If we do it right, this package should bring massive investments to meet the needs and the necessary reforms in parallel. So it should address the existing weaknesses of the Ukrainian economy and lay the foundation for sustainable long term growth.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, It could set a system of milestones and targets to make sure that the European money truly delivers to the people of Ukraine and is spent in accordance with European rules. It could help fight corruption. We have to do that. It could align the legal environment with European standards and radically upgrade Ukraine's productive capacity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And this will bring the stability and the certainty that is needed to make Ukraine an attractive destination for foreign direct investment. And eventually. Honourable members, it will pave the way for Ukraine's future inside the European Union. Slava Ukraine. Your long live Europe.