Wopke HOEKSTRA, gives a doorstep in Strasbourg (France) after his approval as Commissioner by the European Parliament. The footage shows his arrival and doorstep. The transcript is the result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

2023 Commissioners' hearings (T)

hearing of Wopke HOEKSTRA 2023 (T)

Wopke HOEKSTRA (NL)

Doorstep by Wopke HOEKSTRA, gives a doorstep in Strasbourg (France) after his approval as Commissioner by the European Parliament

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, Well, I have to say, I'm really looking forward to getting started. Because, of course, it's an incredible amount of work to do. So I hope to be in Madrid as early as next Monday. Even in the hustle and bustle, in Berlin and Paris, of course, you saw an incredible amount of work to prepare for the head in the coming period, because that will really be a very steep climb. An incredible amount must be done to make it a success.

Q&A, Question about the long road to take before being confirmed as a Commissioner.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, And you say this is the process. And that, uh, I've experienced that now, but, frankly, I've experienced a lot of Commissioners. It was also good, but that made me, uh yes, even more looking forward to starting formally now.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, I've also had a lot of, many conversations over the past few weeks. Not only with parliamentarians, but also with other commissioners and with people from the international arena. But time is short and the task is big. Uh, towards the head H. So we really need to get started with that now.

Q&A, Question about the mandate just received.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, I think uh, that shows that there is broad support in Parliament. I also deliberately spoke very widely with parties and also said in parliament that I want to stand for continuity, for ambition, but also for courage, for doing things together because this is such a big task that you can only do together and where you have to work with all kinds of groups in society, and with civil society?

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, From the industry, to top people. People who, uh, are very concerned about the climate, of course, also farmers from the food industry. All those parties that I also mentioned in the circle.

Q&A, Question about the questions asked during the hearings.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, No, I think that debate also serves to, clarify in full focus and transparency what the assignment is, what my ambition is and how I want to implement it. And again, I'm going to do that with a lot of ambition. And again, it's a really a complicated competition that we as Europe and as a world still have to go, but also with an uh with a big emphasis on, uh, doing this together with parties in society.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, Yes, that's it. That's exactly what you say and that's why I hope to be in Madrid on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in uh Berlin and Paris. Uh, and in the coming weeks, uh yes, I'll be on all continents to make sure we do everything we can to help the international community take the next step? Because the targets have to be raised. But we also have another financial bottleneck, where we are staring at right now.

Q&A, Question about some of the controversies he created in his political family.

paragraph-13 Uh, and we also need to solve that within your own political family. Are people also shocked by, uh, the green promises you've made? You said that, maybe you've become a green piece to put on. What do you say to them?

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, I say exactly the same thing I said to everyone earlier this week? That I want to work very broadly together. That I also think that this theme also includes ambition. Uh, because we owe that to the current but certainly also to future generations. And that, together, we are certainly making a success of the headline from Europe.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, Because yes, if you look at Europe through a straw and you can say that there are differences in positioning, but if you zoom out, uh, you'll see that we mainly have bridges to build bridges to the rest of the world. And that there is an incredibly big task to take the rest of the world along too. And making sure we do more to combat climate change.

Q&A, Question about the Commissioner's main goal for COP 2023.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, So what we're going to do is in the first place, of course, global stocktaking and immediately after that we do need to make sure that the ambition level and the officially declared ambition level of individual countries actually goes up. And in order to do that, we also need to unlock the financial situation.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, And I feel that is also a tremendously important obligation for all of us, but certainly for us as Europeans and for me personally. And all the conversations I will be having as of upcoming Monday, but also in the weeks and months to come, will be geared towards, you know, making sure we break the financial deadlock, increasing the level of ambition and making sure the world community gets together, comes together at a COP to take another tremendously important.

Q&A, Question about his views on the difficulties on the Green Deal packages adoption that have been put by the some members of the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, And I've been practising tremendously to be able to at least make it sound decent off on set and I'll pick up my lessons again. But in terms of Q&A, as you've also seen in the hearing, I deliberately stuck to to do English. For the pact what we will do is do our utmost to make sure that of course, the Green Deal survives in full. That we do more a piece of the rest of the world and that we will continue with ambition in the remaining 12, 13, 14 months of this mandate.

Q&A, Question regarding the Commissioner's views on Eurobonds.

paragraph-6 N your hearing, you apologised or you said you regretted the comments that you made about Eurobonds and pooling debts during the pandemic. Do you have any message for Southern member states who might be worried citizens in Italy or in Spain who might, or Greece who might be worried about the fact that you are now in a very, very powerful position in Brussels?

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, Well, you know, I've said what I what I had to say in the hearing and by the way, particularly did the folks from the Netherlands recognise that was similar to what I said in, I think April of of 2020. What I think is is tremendously important is that as a climate Commissioner and in fact as any commissioner, you need to be fully independent and make sure you stand for the interests and the well-being of all Europeans, regardless of where they come from. That is my task and that is what I will deliver on.

Q&A, Question about the intentions of staying in the position after the European elections.

paragraph-9 And do you intend to stay in this and as a commissioner, beyond the next elections, or is this just an eight month job?

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, Well, many of you have made a habit in the last couple of days and weeks to look back a bit. I think now you're jumping forward maybe too much. We have, I think, some two months to make the COP into a success. That is a very steep climb. And it is something I am anxious to get started with because there's a lot that we need to do as Europeans. So let's please first deliver on that, then deliver on the rest of the agenda. That is actually my focus, as it should be.

Q&A, Question regarding his position about the requests from local governments for more resources for environmental reasons.

paragraph-12 Local governments in Netherlands and in Europe, of course they want more resources to the to, to, to, to be, to your, to engage in climate policy, etc.. And what is your message for local governments when you give them some slack, or will you give them more resources or what what is your position on that?

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, Well, what I've said also in the hearing, but I'll gladly repeat it, is that it is tremendously important to work together with all stakeholders, with all governments, and clearly also local governments. And if you, for example, look at the tremendous challenge we face in terms of adaptation, you see that there we make a deliberate attempt.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner on Climate Action, We've now included, I think, some some 300 regions already to also work together at a local or at a provincial level. And I think that is something we should continue because in the end, you know, the problems occur at a local level. Thank you.