During the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, as part of the debate titled “The EU’s Strategy in Light of the Ongoing Crisis in the Middle East and Its Impact on Energy Prices and Fertilizer Availability,” PiS MEP and ECR Group Co-Chair Patryk Jaki addressed both the current geopolitical situation and the direction of the European Union’s energy policy.
In his speech, he began by commenting on the disputes between the largest political groups in the European Parliament. “Nothing amused me more today than the argument between the EPP and the Socialists over who is cooperating with the right. This just shows how senseless these ‘cordon sanitaire’ ideas are,” he stated. The MEP emphasized that these disputes prove there are no real differences between the major political forces. “In reality, you’re no different from one another; you’re all the same. The only real alternative is us—people who look at whether a solution is good or bad,” he noted.
Referring to the speech by the President of the European Commission, Patryk Jaki criticized the proposed courses of action in the energy sector. “Ever since Ursula von der Leyen became president, nothing else has been happening except for increased coordination and the development of renewable energy. What are the results? Energy prices in the European Union have risen by nearly 100 percent, car prices by 30 percent, and our industry is in increasingly poor shape,” he said.
In his view, current policy is weakening Europe’s position in the world. “Our industry’s share of global manufacturing is declining, and Europe’s strength is dwindling. You are proposing even more of what led us to this situation,” he added.
The MEP called for a change in approach to energy policy, pointing to the need to utilize traditional energy sources. “In many cases, renewable energy sources are more expensive than traditional ones, and we have our own resources that we could use more cheaply,” he emphasized.
At the end of his speech, he called for a move away from the EU’s emissions trading system. “We must abandon the ETS and not introduce ETS 2, because that will raise energy prices even further. Stop the ETS and stop the Green Deal—this will make life better for Europeans,” he concluded.
