In Strasbourg, during the European Parliament’s plenary session, a debate took place on preparations for the European Council meeting on October 17–18, 2024, during which EU leaders will gather in Brussels to discuss current challenges. During the discussion, which included European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, who is responsible for energy transition and climate issues, PiS MEP Beata Szydło took the floor.
The PiS MEP highlighted the EU’s most pressing problems, such as the deteriorating state of the economy, the closure or relocation of production by European companies outside the European Union, job losses, and the rising cost of living. According to Beata Szydło, the deteriorating situation is due, among other things, to misguided decisions made in the European Union in recent years, particularly regarding climate policy and the Green Deal. As she noted, the European Council will address, among other topics, the issue of competitiveness at its upcoming meeting. In the MEP’s view, however, there will be no self-reflection here, nor any attempt to identify the causes and “move away from these misguided policies”; on the contrary, this course will simply continue. “If we continue down this path, the European Union’s economy will soon become completely uncompetitive,” warned the former Polish prime minister.
