Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that “the debate on Europe’s strategic autonomy”, in terms of Europeans’ ability to face external challenges and preserve the functioning of their societies, was “one of our most important ongoing discussions” on Tuesday 13 September in Strasbourg, during a speech at the European Parliament.
Noting how the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had shown that the European Union was “vulnerable” when it comes to external suppliers of health equipment and energy products, Ms Marin urged her partners not to repeat the same mistakes in the technological race. “We cannot rely on authoritarian countries in the development of critical technologies or in production chains. Together with our democratic partners, Europe must strengthen its technological capabilities”, she stressed.
On the European response to Russia’s energy blackmail to undermine European unity, the Prime Minister said that “everything we can” must be done to ensure that citizens and businesses can get through the winter, if necessary through “exceptional measures”.
In the short term, she said, energy supplies should be secured and prices brought down, with the European Commission being asked to come up with proposals that allow for rapid intervention in electricity pricing, including tackling speculation in the financial derivatives markets for energy products.
“In the medium and long term, the only way out of the energy crisis is to invest heavily in renewable and emission-free energy production, common European transmission networks and storage technologies”, said Ms Marin, who believes the EU is currently paying the price for its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. She called for the ‘Fit for 55’ climate package, which is being negotiated at interinstitutional level, to maintain its level of ambition.
Above all, the political leader stressed, in the EU “we need unity now more than ever”. She added: “Blackmailing our societies through energy supply is a way to erode European support for Ukraine and break down our unity. Putin must not succeed in this”.
Helping Ukraine win the war. For the Finnish Social Democrat, as witnessed by the recent counter-offensive that allowed the Ukrainian army to retake territory in the Kharkiv region, “Ukraine will win the war with our support”, a war that Russia started.
She called for continued assistance to Ukraine in “all forms”. And the EU should be prepared to impose “even stricter sanctions” on Russia, including a full suspension of the bilateral visa facilitation agreement for Russian citizens wishing to enter the EU (see EUROPE 13018/10 and 13018/11).
“The stronger the impact we can achieve through sanctions, the more expensive it will be for Russia to continue the war”, the political leader said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to Finland and Sweden applying for NATO membership (see EUROPE 12986/23). This accession, which still needs to be ratified by all Alliance member countries, “will strengthen the security of all northern Europe”, said Ms Marin. When asked by the press about the terms of the agreement with Turkey on the extradition of Turkish opponents, she said she had no information that the process would not be completed.
On the future of the EU, Ms Marin said she was in favour of enlarging the Union to “any European country” that respected its democratic values and undertook the necessary reforms. Thus, “Ukraine’s place is in the European Union”, she said, while warning that the road to EU membership was “neither short nor quick”. “This is about every state’s freedom to decide its future and place in the world. It is precisely this fundamental principle that Russia is now attacking”, she added.
Reluctance to change the Treaties. The Finnish Prime Minister also said that with the current situation it is “not the right time to open up a debate on the [EU] Treaties”, referring to the position of the European Parliament and the proposals of the Conference on the Future of Europe. In her view, the current framework already allows for progress, notably by allowing Member States to decide by qualified majority in the area of foreign affairs and security policy.
Finally, she recalled the importance of having fiscal rules that ensure sound public finances, including by the reduction of excessive public debt. And she stressed that the NextGenerationEU plan, through which the EU is taking on debt to help finance Member States’ economic recovery, should be a “one-off solution” to revive the economy affected by the pandemic.
See Ms Marin’s speech: https://aeur.eu/f/31k (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)