On Wednesday 11 February in Strasbourg, Members of the European Parliament debated urgent measures to boost the EU’s competitiveness, deepen the European single market and reduce the cost of living. In the presence of Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, they debated their views on competitiveness, particularly with regard to regulatory simplification and energy.
Ms von der Leyen launched the debate by reiterating the main points of her letter to European leaders: simplification, free trade, deepening the internal market and investment in the European economy.
Whether or not to maintain the ‘Green Deal’. “The first thing to do is to free ourselves from constraints”, said Manfred Weber (EPP, German) from the outset, while thanking Mrs von der Leyen for the Commission’s efforts in this direction.
For the ECR, PfE and ESN groups, this simplification means abandoning the Green Deal. Nicola Procaccini (ECR, Italian) likened the ‘Deal’ to “self-imposed customs duties”, because its “excesses are a heavy burden on competitiveness, innovation and the cost of living”. “We must reaffirm the principle of technological neutrality. Decarbonisation must be the result of innovation, not forced steps set by policy that simply create new dependencies”, he stressed.
According to Jordan Bardella (PfE, French), the Green Deal should be suspended in order to “restore freedom to businesses, protect our strategic markets through economic patriotism and unashamedly finance our strategic independence”.
For Valérie Hayer (Renew Europe, French), simplification was necessary. “But it’s not the alpha and omega of competitiveness, it’s only part of our competitiveness”, she added. Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Dutch) expressed the same idea: “The ten ‘omnibus’ measures will save us just €15 billion a year, or barely 1%. It’s time we looked after the other 99% and stopped focusing on the 1%”.
Mohammed Chahim (S&D, Dutch) also considered that competitiveness was not just about bureaucracy. “Decarbonisation policies remain the cornerstone of our independence - the cornerstone of a genuine European freedom pact”, he stressed.
Similarly, Martin Schirdewan (The Left, German) criticised Ms von der Leyen for her “omnibus plan”, which he said was “above all an attack on our social standards, data protection and environmental standards”.
Energy sovereignty. MEPs also cited this as an obstacle to Europe’s competitiveness. “Our electricity is two to three times more expensive than in the United States, our gas four to five times more expensive than in the United States and our energy-intensive manufacturing industry has fallen by 15% since 2021”, stressed Patryk Jaki (ECR, Polish). He went on to criticise the President of the Commission for destroying competition in favour of green energy.
René Aust (ESN, German) said that other forms of energy, such as nuclear power, should be considered.
On the other side of the House, MEPs called for more investment in renewable energy infrastructure. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)