Dear António, dear colleagues,
Congratulations on the adoption of the 19th package of sanctions. This was good news. On a less positive note – yesterday’s vote on the CSRD and CSDDD sustainability omnibus showed that for a huge section of the European Parliament, this compromise simply did not go far enough. That even with the best attempt at bridging positions, it would not have made things better, simpler, easier. For some other sections, any change would have been too much.
Majorities are always strongest from the centre out, because we believe that this is the way to move Europe forward. But if this is not possible, Parliament must deliver, regardless.
The text, as adopted in our Legal Affairs Committee, will now go to the next mini plenary session in a couple of weeks, with a deadline for amendments. I expect that the mandate from this Parliament will be deeper, giving us the majority we need to deliver, and probably pushing Council to go further.
In the past two weeks since we last met, Parliament applied the urgent procedure to postpone the chemical products legislation, adopted our position on the Common Agricultural Policy and even started trilogues. Negotiations here are normal and I am optimistic we will find an agreement soon.
On the Multiannual Financial Framework, I want to emphasise: Yes, our approaches may be different, but our core aims are the same. This is what we must keep in mind. The real risk of escalation exists, and it requires some good will on both sides to find a landing zone. We have managed before, and I am confident that we can manage again.
On housing. The European Parliament understands people’s concerns here. This is crucial for us. For the first time ever, we set up a Special Committee on Affordable Housing and we’ve also seen that the European Commission’s has taken some steps. We need to keep building on this momentum and we must deliver.
A lot has happened in Parliament since Copenhagen. And yet, we know we need to push even further.
Europe is at its best when we have a clear and united objective. Our single market, our common currency, our Schengen system – I’m not saying they work perfectly but those are the achievements people value the most.
So I want to say how encouraged I am to see so many interesting proposals circulating. This is the kind of bold thinking that Europe needs to embrace and reflect in its work programmes. That signals that we are moving away from the status quo. We might not agree on everything, but what we can agree on is that we cannot remain entrenched, or the world will move on without us. And it will do so quickly.
This is the exact mindset driving our actions in defence. Since we last met, we reached an agreement, secured the funding and got the European Defence Industry Programme done. The Parliament is now ready to move forward with a final vote. After that, everything hinges on its implementation.
This, of course, ties directly to Ukraine – to strengthening their defence industry, leveraging their technologies, especially in anti-drone measures and detection systems, and affirming that irrefutable principle of “peace through strength”. Rallying behind President Zelensky’s with a clear peace plan is essential.
This is where Parliament has – with a large majority – made its stance clear: we must phase out Russian gas and energy. And I hope negotiations can begin soon. As I said earlier, we welcome the adoption of the 19th package of sanctions, but making better use of Russian frozen assets remains critical. I understand the concerns – we need legal certainty – but we also need to act strategically and mount the pressure.
Yesterday, we received the heartbreaking news of a Russian strike hitting a kindergarten in Kharkiv. There is no justification for that horror. None. Zero. Russia’s attacks are growing increasingly brazen – with little respect for innocent life, international law or for a peaceful solution. That’s why our response must be to build-up the pressure.
Because ultimately, that’s what all of this comes down to. Peace. Genuine peace. We need to keep underlining why we do all that we do. Why we stand so firmly with Ukraine and why we’re investing in our security and defence. Because we have seen what happens when soft power is not backed up by the hard power needed to face today’s threats. We cannot let that happen again.
Now is the time to widen the circle of peace – and we can do that by building on the tremendous progress achieved in the Middle East. Again, I want to commend the efforts of the United States, Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye, and all who helped get us to this point. It was not easy or straightforward, but it mattered, and it got done.
The hostage release and ceasefire deal is a moment of historic hope for Israel, for Gaza. For a renewed course that keeps self-determination and the path towards statehood alive. That can provide stability for the wider Middle East, and the rest of the world. But it is also a moment of intense fragility. The peace plan must continue to be fully implemented.
And Europe must keep playing its part. We have not, and will never, stand idly. As the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to Gaza, we must keep delivering at scale and with speed in cooperation with international partners and legitimate Palestinian representatives, while pushing to make sure that this peace plan holds.
Peace is possible. And Europe has a role to play.
Thank you.