Live Replay of the debate on the future of Europe with Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister during the plenary session in Strasbourg (11-14 March 2019)  The following transcription is the result of an automatic process. Check Against delivery.

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

future of the European Union (T)

EU - Slovakia (T)

PELLEGRINI, Peter (SK)

Debate on the Future of Europe: opening statement by Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister (10:12 - 10:38)

SOUNDBITE (Original), Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President of the commission, distinguished leaders of the political groups, honorable members of the European Parliament. I should like to thank you for the opportunity to take part in this debate about the future of Europe. And it is a real honor and privilege for me to be here today as this Democratic House represents all European citizens.

Human history is driven by a desire to achieve ideals and create better future, this is exactly what was at the birth of the European Union 60 years ago. This is what started democratic changes 30 years ago in Czechoslovakia we were driven by ideals of peace prosperity and unity the project of the European Union brought peace to Europe and it brought us stability freedom and prosperity. It brought us success. And even to smaller countries like Slovakia.

Ladies and gentlemen. Slovakia has rolled back to advanced Europe began in 1989 driven by desire for freedom, democracy, human rights, economic and technological progress. By joining the EU and NATO 15 years ago we made our return to where we have always belongedi.e. the Western European and trans-Atlantic system of values. The story of Slovakia that followed has been one of exceptional success. Nevertheless the path has not always been easy and straightforward.

We've had to make it through times of economic collapse and difficult transformation process. We've had to grapple with high unemployment restructure the banking sector and implement structural changes in the economy. We've build democratic institutions under the new Slovak sovereign statehood and we've managed to overcome a period of democratic crisis and we met the challenging NATO and EU accession criteria.

EU enlargement in the period from 2004 until 2013 is a classic example of a win win process. The new member states who were given the prospects of modernization and growth while the old member states expanded the area of stability and single market today Slovakia is a fully fledged member of the European family we are among the EU countries with the highest GDP growth. We are a stable member of the eurozone with relatively low unemployment levels and from a country of immigrants.

We have recently become a country registering more arrivals into it rather than people leaving it. The overall atmosphere in the country has changed as well. Our citizens enjoy more freedom and are richer but they have also grown more demanding when it comes to their political representatives. We tap into this potential in an effort to modernize our country. Slovakia has a robust civic society and enjoys a high degree of media freedom.

We are of course aware that there are areas where we need to do more notably in the education system. Research and innovation potential streamlining the functioning of state administration and curbing corruption. Slovakia story can also serve as inspiration for the EU right now. If there is a will major challenges and roadblocks can be overcome successfully. **** sloughed defining the great Slovak and European diplomat one of the founders of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918.*****.

There is nothing they cannot achieve refugees I see only my name is Joe in each sandwich I orgasms said whose message guided us after our accession to the EU as well at a time when a lot of work still required completion.

We went through the difficult process of joining the Schengen and euro area. We have never come to a halt on our road to integration as we sincerely believe in the power and rectitude of the European idea. We consider a united Europe to be the natural environment for our existence. I am convinced that for us there is no alternative we made this obvious also during the Slovak presidency of the council the Bratislava summit sent a clear signal of EU unity in the aftermath of the shock result of the UK referendum.

However Slovakia just like the rest of Europe is currently not fully immune to the attacks against EU values. This is also true in the highly important area of freedom of speech. Any attacks on journalists trigger a legitimate public backlash as we have seen in Slovakia too. This is a sign of great maturity of our democracy and our citizens. It's been a year and a couple of weeks since the murder of the journalist John council and his partner Martina Augustin about these days double murder of young people send shockwaves through the general public as well as the political establishment. We all have one common goal. I want to assure you. And that is to uncover and punish the perpetrators.

And as I stand here I would like to express my gratitude to the European Parliament including the rule of law a monitoring group for the help and cooperation provided up until now albeit quite critical at times. And I also like to thank Europol for their help in the investigation which has delivered the first concrete results as several accused persons have already been taken into custody awaiting trial today on behalf of Slovakia. I can confirm that in these difficult times we have every intention of remaining in the group of the most closely integrated EU countries.

We are ready to assume our adequate share of responsibility for the common integration project as well as contribute to shaping our European future. The Slovak presidential elections are just around the corner. I am confident that the Slovak citizens will prove their maturity by selecting a candidate with a clear pro-European orientation and it is my view that the party I represent smell social democracy being the governing party could not have put forward a more pro-European candidate than the Commission vice presidentMr. Macron each sending a clear signal about values to the country itself as well as to the outside world.

Ladies and gentlemen the success story of Slovakia is to a certain extent defined by where we come from Central Europe is a natural living environment for Slovakia. Based on our history geography and culture.

After all a regional political cooperation is the essence of EU success Franco German cooperation Weimer Benelux Baltics or even the Visegrad Group are bringing new initiatives and ideas and strengthening our union Slovakia currently holds the presidency of the Visegrad Group. Our main objective is to bring a positive agenda to strengthen the EU of course we are aware of differences maybe even criticism and misunderstandings but at these challenging times we need to keep everyone on board at the table. And when we need to solve. Our disputes through dialogue.

The European Union is the result of a strong vision and immense efforts of several generations we are simply obliged to protect it. Especially now when Europe and Western democracies face dramatic new developments we are surrounded by challenges coming from all directions both from inside and outside Europe. We see growing Russian and Chinese aspirations which require a strong and united EU response. We see that climate change can have an unpredictable economic political and social impact on our lives we see a new wave of technological revolution. Industry for zero. Europe as we know it will survive only if it stays in the forefront of technological progress and innovation.

To achieve this our governments have to become also governments for ****. Moreover we face many challenges coming from within Europe growing social differences destroy original social contract. We face dramatic aging of our societies, regional socio economic disparities do not contribute to a feeling of unity. Many people feel that they are being left behind in this context. It is no surprise that mass immigration from countries outside the EU has caused new tensions and conflicts.

We forgot to talk to our citizens about Europe. About democracy about our plans for the future. When they hear no answers from us they turn elsewhere. Lack of communication can become a breeding ground for this information and fake news. One example was the British referendum in 2000 16 it is obvious that isolation isolationism protects and protect protectionism and nationalism are not a solution our answer must not be fragmentation into small national states with limited resources but stronger unity of the EU as a global power.

Ladies and gentlemen as my 17 colleagues have done already. Let me be brave. And that I mean in presenting my vision of our common future a vision of an attractive union that citizens can trust and support this still remains a valid message of the Bratislava summit first a union which is united. Prosperous and secure. Second. A union which is globally relevant a union which is honest to its citizens and union which cares about its own future. However we need to find a common path. To achieve our ideals. So my question is how shall we get there. First we need to be united unity was the most frequently used word among my colleagues who have already addressed this House and they are completely right. Without unity among the member states we would become subjects to the decisions of others.

We cannot be credible and successful in achieving our ideals if we do not overcome the last left overs of the former east west divide. We have to get rid of the stereotypes through which we perceive our differences. Here I would like to recall the worlds of the highly regarded Slovak politician Milan Hodža who served as a prime minister of Slovakia Czechoslovakia in 1935 38 and back in 1942. He wrote European security cannot be built only in the West. It also requires central Europe and the common democratic ideals and institutions of both provide hope for the future. I believe that beyond differences and geographical boundaries there lies a common interest. We need to communicate try to understand each other and perhaps go the extra mile on both sides

There are many positive examples of differences being overcome to name just two major examples the posting of workers or the dual fuel food quality on the other hand there is one major issue on which we failed to communicate on both sides. Migration we must work out a solution that can work for everyone immigration must be manageable. And migration should serve the European interests yet we cannot preserve political unity without achieving sufficient socio economic convergence and cohesion in the EU. In other words we must use prosperity for the benefit of all we must mitigate the negative consequences of globalization and prevent tax avoidance by corporations. We have to make them consistently pay taxes in the countries where they really operate and generate their profits. We have to combat growing inequalities in society. And redistribute wealth more efficiently the introduction of the European minimum wage would be one way to create social solidarity my government is particularly committed to the European pillar of social rights.

Which should provide a strong social dimension in the European Union of the future. Slovakia also advocates fair labor mobility which will allow our citizens and companies seize the opportunities of the single market. And therefore we welcome the agreement to establish the European labor authority. And we have already declared our intention of hosting it in our capital Second we need to be globally relevant. We need the EU which plays an important global role reflecting its economic power.

We must take action to unify our forces and increase capacity building in defence. Therefore Slovakia strongly supports permanent structured cooperation on security and defence. Pascal while ensuring complementarity between the EU and NATO globally relevant. Also means that we should uphold our long term commitments we are not an exclusive club. We want to be an inclusive community open for those who fulfill criteria. And even for those who once left. It is in our strategic interest. Otherwise somebody else will fill the vacuum around us.

At the same time global means having significant economic power backed by a strong currency and based on free but fair international trade the EU has to remain the champion in this regard. Third. We need to be honest to our citizens. We cannot promise our citizens life without problems. Hard work. And challenges. The EU has no magic wand to solve all problems. However we can offer our citizens a credible vision of our future and turn that vision into tangible deeds. We need to make our citizens and above all young people feel a sense of ownership.

The EU is not some fictitious distant Brussels. We are European Union. We need to confront. We need to confront those who tell us otherwise. Ignoring them or ridiculing them is not a solution. We need to challenge them by facts. The EU is now a large and strong community. It provides us with a collective identity because there is something about the EU that is also personal. However it does not take away our national or personal identity our unity must be a unity of values within the diversity of our national regional and local cultures. And finally the fourth. We need to care about the future soon in the run up to the European elections you the European political parties will have an opportunity to present a new realistic vision of our union.

The European debate has become very lively and intense at many levels. Political and civic national and regional. My appreciation goes to President Macron who has significantly stimulated these discussions with his own vision of the future. And I do agree with him. We cannot be trapped in the status quo and give way to resignation. We have to renew our union it is up to us leaders to find a common path and instruments which citizens can trust and support. Because we need freedom progress and protection in the European Union. We have to find a way of protecting the four freedoms that are at the core of EU integration we need an EU wide debate on what our strategy and aspirations should be for the middle of the century.

The EU will certainly have to undergo a major transformation towards a climate neutral economy we need a transition which is socially just towards our citizens and fair towards our businesses. An important issue for the future development of the European economy is digitalisation and automation on the one hand. There is a great concern that people will not have enough jobs because robots will replace them. On the other hand there are great concerns about the lack of skilled workers on the market. Yet in the future we shall need even more highly skilled people the best evidence of this is that the countries with the highest number of robots per job is Germany South Korea Singapore. Have the lowest unemployment rate they are currently around one hundred fifty one rabbits per 10000 working places in Slovakia.

That is more than half the European average and the highest level in Central and Eastern Europe. We should not be afraid of technological change. We only need to adopt smart and responsible policies if you want to be honest in our aspiration for the future we must have the right tools such as the next multi-annual financial framework the current EU budget represents only 1 percent of EU DNA while focusing the budget on new challenges we should not give up on cohesion policy calls for his reduction in the next IMF effort reflect a wrong understanding of the role of Cohesion Policy. It is indeed cohesion policy that helps rich and poor regions to converge and contributes to economic growth. Even in difficult economies times I mentioned.

I mentioned that we need to speak about our future and please. How can we speak about the new MFF. Without to have a clear vision of the European Union. I don't think that it is a right approach that first we see which kind of budget we have. And then we decide. What we can pay out of this budget. I think we should do it otherwise. First we have to see where we would like to be in next 5 7 10 15 years which are our priorities and then to decide. How big and which kind of budget for our priorities we need. This is the approach which I like more than than what we do in this moment. And when I speak about new technologies.

Please we have to say very open that and I'm not speaking about European Parliament but in general at the European level we are not able to catch the speed of the development in this area. We are always behind we are facing a digital revolution but we are not able to do some. A revolution in the in the regulatory framework. We are always behind we are trying to regulate something which already people are using and sometimes we are doing such a regulation that we overregulate everything and then we are crying why we are not at the same level than the United States or Asia where the innovation environment is growing up and we are still divided in 27 or 28 28 different regulations.

So please we need to think about some flexible legal regulatory framework not to regulate each simple thing which is going on in our lives because this is not the future in the digital revolution. We need to put only some basic rules on the table and some framework which is quite flexible enough because we politicians are not able to act as fast as we need to act. And that's why I mentioned the world. If we speak about industry for zero we need to push our member states that in their stage we have also governments for zero because in this moment I think we have. In some countries maybe government to zero somewhere maybe 3 0.

But I am not sure if we have somewhere governments for zero which are reflecting the needs of the future. Ladies and gentlemen the European elections are quickly approaching and we need to mobilize our forces to fight against fake news hybrid threats and cyber propaganda. Make people feel the urgency. Talk to them about the importance of the EU for their everyday lives make them understand that elections matter. That is their only opportunity to steer the EU and they should not let other speaks for them.

There is a lot of work ahead of us. Let me finish my speech with the words of one of the founding fathers of European integration Germany people only accept change when they are faced with necessity and only recognized necessity when a crisis is upon them we must be brave and determined. We have to make changes and make the union attractive to all. A union that is able able to learn from its past mistakes in order to prepare itself to embrace the future. And once again we need the vision of an attractive union that citizens can trust and support. Thank you for your attention.