Maroš SEFCOVIC, European Commissioner for Interistitutional Relations, addresses the plenary and the leaders of the Parliament’s political groups after the speech of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU. The motto of the French Presidency is “Recovery, Strength and a Sense of Belonging”, to underline that, in order to fight the health crisis, the rise of aggressive foreign powers and climate disruption, the best response is a European response. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery,

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

ŠEFČOVIČ, Maroš (SK, EC)

French Presidency of the EU (T)

Presentation of the programme of activities of the French Presidency: statement by Maroš SEFCOVIC, European Commissioner for Interistitutional Relations

SOUNDBITE (French), Maro&scaron; &Scaron;EFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, President of the Parliament, president of France, members of the European Parliament, it is a pleasure to speak at the start of this debate and I'd like to congratulate you, my dear Roberta, on your election as President. I know that President von der Leyen regrets not being able to be present here today in person, and that reminds us once again that the COVID 19 pandemic is still very present in our lives. I'm nevertheless certain that she shares my feelings today. I'm pleased that Europe can count on the experience and wisdom of France.

SOUNDBITE (French), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, During the coming months we will be living through a crucial time in our history. The French presidency begins in an agitated geopolitical context.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, And indeed, you only need to look at our immediate neighbourhood. There is just a short plane ride away, couple of hours, for security architecture of our continent is being challenged. We see old failed ideas that are emerging of power, block competition of spheres of influence. And we Europeans are resolutely opposed to entire countries being once again treated so disdainfully as mere backyards. We categorically reject the threat of use of force, one of the fundamental principles that underpin European security, as enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, And we stand ready to take action if necessary. And we have made clear any further military aggression against Ukraine will have massive consequences and severe costs. At the same time, we welcome the recent diplomatic activity from US-Russia talks to the NATO-Russia Council and the OPEC meeting, and the Commission remains in close contact with the US administration.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, We Europeans will do everything in our power to protect and nurture our model of peaceful democratic governance, and its central tenets of dialogue and diplomacy. We will strengthen it from within and protected against outside threats, from cyber attacks to hybrid threats, such as we have seen recently on the border with Belarus. For these two projects will be particularly important in the coming months.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, The Strategic Compass, our new European white paper on defence, will set out our common strategic vision while the defence package. We aim to strengthen our capabilities. And I know how my colleague, High Representative and Vice President Josep Borrell is working closely with the Minister, Le Drian and all the ministers of foreign affairs and defence in that respect.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Mr President Macron has made very important remarks on the importance of the EU-Africa Summit. Also we, in the Commission, are looking at this occasion as the possibility of the new beginning and a new Start in this very important strategic relationship.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, We very much appreciate your remarks on the Western Balkans because they rightfully so should be on the top of our priority lists. And we will, of course, listening very carefully about your wise words on our relationship with the United Kingdom, they are our neighbours, our allies, and I think all of us in this house would like to see them again as our strategic partners. For that to happen, we need to rebuild the trust and trust is being built through respecting the agreements.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, The agreements reached and recently signed, ratified the withdrawal bid on trade and cooperation, albeit proper implementation of the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, and we, on the side of the European Union and on the side of the Commission, will show all the flexibility, all the goodwill to make this happen. But we need a good partner on other side.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Mr President, you have been highlighting how important our unity and cooperation in the world is, and I am very glad that the French presidency is going to focus on all the important priorities because the world around us is indeed becoming more unpredictable. And Europeans rightly expect us to protect the vulnerable members.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Ladies and gentlemen, the need to focus on threats of today and the challenges of tomorrow is, of course, also true for the European economy. Despite the pandemic, we have already embarked on the modernisation of the economy and the society towards more sustainable way of living and working, a way of living that preserves both the health of the planet and the livelihoods of our people. That is our economic growth model for the next 10 years and beyond.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, We have already built a solid foundation for this through Next Generation EU. It is a 800 billion euro recovery programme. We are not only investing to fight to finally put the pandemic behind us, we are also investing in our sustainable and digital future. Tackling the structural challenges of our economies while ensuring that everyone can benefit from this future. Large companies, as well as our small and medium sized enterprises, farmers as well as low income households, and the early success of our approach is already proving us right.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Studies show that thanks to the Next Generation EU, growth in Europe is one point five percent higher than it would have been with national recovery programmes alone.

SOUNDBITE (French), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, A new growth model needs to guarantee economic, political and technological sovereignty for Europe. It needs to enable our businesses and our single market to fully benefit from new opportunities. And that's why we want to bring technology back to Europe, ensuring that the smallest semiconductors in the world are manufactured here in Europe. And that's exactly what we're going to do with the European Chips Act. We will be presenting during the coming weeks because they're important for the computers of the world and in all kinds of technology without chips.

SOUNDBITE (French), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, There is now digital world and I know my colleague, executive vice president of East Asia Commissioner Bratton, who are also here with us today, will agree with what I say on that. I'm delighted that France is ensuring that our supply chain stays and independence, are a key point of its presidency. We need to move into new areas and forge our own destiny by ensuring we have a long term view. We also have legislation on digital markets and digital services.

SOUNDBITE (French), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, The Digital Market Act and the Digital Services Act are the pillasr of our European digital strategy. We're going to limit the powers of internet giants so that we can ensure that competition remains fair, particularly for small and medium enterprises, because they are those that drive innovation here in Europe. They're the ones that pay taxes and the ones that take on board social responsibilities. Ladies and gentlemen, there was no doubt in Simon Vales mind that a union of democracy is the most powerful and most resilient form of governance possible during the coming months of the French presidency. We will be working extremely hard to bring our Europe closer to the Europe that she dreamed of.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, And deliver sustainable growth united. We will defend our values and strengthen our security and united. We will work for the benefit of all Europeans each and every day, and this is exactly what the two great Europeans like David Sassoli would like us to do. Thank you very much.