Today, a debate was held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg with representatives of the Commission and the Council on the Commission’s plan to boost the competitiveness of the EU economy and its key policy actions and legislative initiatives planned for 2025. Speaking on behalf of the ECR Group were PiS MEPs Patryk Jaki and Beata Szydło.
Referring to the remarks made by those who spoke before him, Patryk Jaki said that they had identified the MEGA movement—that is, “Make Europe Great Again”—as the greatest threat to Europe. “And you even paraphrased its name, saying it means ‘to destroy Europe all over again.’ So let’s talk now about who really destroyed Europe. Let’s talk about the facts, because when it comes to demagoguery, you’re the best in the world,” said Jaki.
The ECR leader noted that a decade ago, 10 of the 40 largest publicly traded companies were headquartered in the European Union, while today only two remain, ranked a distant 32nd and 36th. Furthermore, he said, in 2008 the European Union’s economy accounted for over 90 percent of the U.S. economy; today it accounts for just 50 percent. According to the Polish politician, the causes lie in the actions of the ETS and its derivatives, which have consistently undermined European industry and competitiveness. “Today, 6 out of the 10 largest unicorns—that is, startups with a valuation of over $1 billion—are Chinese and come from the United States,” — Jaki noted, adding that even though the U.S. population stands at 330 million citizens and the EU’s at 450 million, “they work much more efficiently.” “Why? When I listened to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech in Paris yesterday, you could hear it—he spoke about artificial intelligence as an opportunity for development and wealth creation. And at the same time, in this Chamber, we heard that it is nothing but a threat,” noted the PiS politician. Furthermore, he pointed out that while the United States is withdrawing from the Green Climate Agreement, the EU is saying that “we need even more of it,” thereby supporting China, which supplies 80 percent of the photovoltaic panels in the European Union. “When the United States returns to traditional energy sources, instead of putting an end to this, you propose yet more taxes, such as ETS-2, and energy costs are consistently destroying our economy,” — said Jaki, pointing out that “they’re even destroying the jewels in the crown, such as the automotive and chemical industries.” He also noted that the heads of Europe’s largest companies are calling for action on this issue. “But you’re as deaf as a post,” he added.
“The European Union has barely been growing for years. We are doing nothing but consuming the wealth that previous generations worked to create for us. So it’s high time to put an end to this. European companies are burdened with ideological taxes. We have to take those burdens off their backs. That is our greatest task,” Jaki emphasized.
Beata Szydło said that during the previous term, the European Commission, under the leadership of President Ursula von der Leyen, had led to a deep crisis in the European economy, a lack of competitiveness, a deep security crisis, and a decline in the standard of living for Europeans. “All of this was caused, among other things, by the Green Deal and the Migration Pact,” —stated the PiS MEP, adding that in this term, the European Commission “under the leadership of the same President von der Leyen has decided to bravely tackle the problems it itself created in the previous term.” As Szydło added, the European Commission’s solution is to continue its climate and migration policies, as well as to pursue the agreement with Mercosur, which is hurting European agriculture. The former Polish prime minister emphasized that, as a result, life for Europeans is getting worse; they are less secure; energy and living costs are skyrocketing; more industrial plants are closing; and people are losing their jobs. According to Beata Szydło, however, this situation can be remedied. “We must abandon the Green Deal, the Mercosur agreement, and the Migration Pact,” she urged.
Members of Parliament and representatives of the Commission and the Council discussed the recently presented EU strategy aimed at “regaining competitiveness and ensuring sustainable prosperity.” This so-called “Compass for Competitiveness” covers three main areas of action: innovation, decarbonization, and security. It also identifies five so-called horizontal factors of competitiveness: simplification, reducing barriers to the single market, financing competitiveness, promoting skills and high-quality jobs, and better coordination of policies at the EU and national levels.
The work program details how the Commission intends to implement the policy guidelines presented by Ursula von der Leyen to the European Parliament in July 2024. These guidelines focused on sustainable prosperity and competitiveness, defense and security, strengthening the EU’s social model, quality of life, protecting democracy and upholding EU values, a global Europe, and securing the EU’s future.
