On the 25th May, Roberta METSOLA, EP President participates to the 2022 edition of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She talks about EU enlargement.

World Economic Forum 2022 - European Unity in a Disordered World? - Part 1: Speech by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

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SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Well, thanks a lot for having me here. I would never have imagined on the day of my election that this conversation we would be having here has all the multilayered nuances and real existential questions of a post 24th February world. Pre 24th of February is not one world we can ever go back to.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And I think picking up on what Mark said, that rather than talk about where the decisions are taken, but start from what happens in our head, I think if we look at the European Union or at the European project is a very successful coming together of countries that share fundamental principles, beliefs and that fight against autocracy and anyone who does not believe that democracy is the basis of what we are all in in this for. Then I think we can really talk about the European Union as being a transformative power politically with the successful, very successful, enlargements.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I come from a country whose generation campaigned for years to enter the European Union. This is why I entered politics, because I wanted my country to hold up those standards and also to offer that protection collectively if something went wrong. And I think if we start from that departing point, then for all those countries who share those values and principles and of course, enlargements are always difficult, every country has its own path, every country has its own different realities.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, We're talking about, you mentioned the latest enlargement, but also countries that have been for over a decade waiting to be given the hope for the doors to be open. But also now this has also fundamentally shifted with the war on Ukraine and the new applications of Georgia and Moldova. And I think the question we need to ask ourselves is, are we ready to open our doors for countries that are fighting for the principles that we share? And if we are ready to say yes, then it is not only about economies, it is not only about numbers, it is not only about how many seats and how much power goes in that institution.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, It is about whether the European Union wants to be the global democratic power in an immediate neighbourhood where we have a common adversary. So I think that I would answer that question with: now is the time that we are faced with crucial decisions, next week, but also in the months to come if we are ready to hold that unity going forward. And I think we can really show that we are ready to take those decisions that I needed for us.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Well, I think that what we are looking at now with a war not in our neighbourhood, but in our continent, on our continent, in Europe, where there is a country that has for far too long blackmailed and threatened the rest of the European Union. And we, I think for far too long looked away when our colleagues from those countries that border Russia, who told us we have a problem for too long. We have depended on for far too, let's say it was way too easy for us to continue to rely on gas with some countries being 100 percent reliant for way too long. We did not actually seriously consider creating an energy union where we can rely on each other rather than on a country that could switch us off at any time.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And of course, there are different discussions in different member states. It makes a difference between whether you are on the neighbourhood or with the common border with that country or not, or whether you have invested more in renewables, you are further ahead also economically. But at the same time, what we cannot risk is that we, ourselves, cause instability in those neighbouring countries because of our failure to act. And this is a fear and a concern that I have, it is a concern that the European Parliament has and this is a parliament that is it's very difficult to find majorities, even least of all broad majorities on anything but on this.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament from all countries, bar none, have gotten together and said this is Europe's moment. We we did not think that we could do so much during the pandemic. We did not think that we could push to the European level our competences over health. We could not think that we are really going to talk about potentially, now this is sensitive, opening the the treaty up and saying where can we fill the gaps? Because ten years have passed and we look like we are realising that we are not addressing the problems that we really have.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And I think that now, after the Conference on the Future of Europe, with the leaders of our countries that are saying we can do more both from a from a financial aspect, we've done so much during the pandemic. Are we ready to look at our countries on our neighbourhood and say, you are on the path, there are rules that you need to follow? Once you're in, you need to continue following those rules, because we have those countries to tell us it is far harder to get into the European Union and follow the rules than we hold ourselves accountable to.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And that is a big question that we need to ask ourselves as European Union and member states and whether all those countries are ready to say we can see Europe as a project for peace. I am convinced that this is the moment. And if we don't, I think we would have failed.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I'm not going to use football analogies and who could be kicked off the playing field? I think that, uh, I would continue to wish that the United Kingdom is still a member of the European Union. I really would think that we would be stronger today in the current scenario with the United Kingdom still being a member. So I'm not going into who's in and who's out, but I'm going to say that our, when we talk about Rule ofLlaw, we need to take it seriously. And we did not take it seriously.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, We did not even you know, if you asked citizens at the elections what rule of law meant and countries they would not, they would either not not answer or give you different answers of what they thought it meant. We have been extremely strong on the fact that conditionality needs to mean that you cannot disburse funds to countries that not play by the rules, that target minorities, that think that they are above the law, and that they think politicians should be protected even if they break it. And that's not something that we will move away from.

Dátum udalosti	25. 5. 2022
Reference:	I225634V
Format:	16:9 format
Copyright:	© European Union
copyrightYear:	2022

World Economic Forum 2022 - European Unity in a Disordered World? - Part 1: Speech by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

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