I really was looking forward to having this dialogue with you today.
I’m almost 59 years old, but I have never seen a challenge as big as this Covid-19 crisis.
This is a challenge that nobody could have predicted. We have seen decades of habits change within mere weeks. Many of the things we assumed would be eternal or changing very gradually have suddenly changed in a radical way. We probably have to reinvent the way we live, the way we relate to others, the way we consume, the way we produce, the way we see our international relations.
So for our entire generation, this is a defining moment. We will be tested. We will have to show whether we have true grit, whether we have the stamina to face this challenge together.
This is the very moment that we must appeal to our fight impulse and not to our flight impulse.
It remains to be seen whether we as Europeans are able to understand that we can only fight on the basis of the values that define us: if we stick together, if we create pan European answers to a global problem.
If instead the flight impulse dominates, if Member States go at it alone, then certainly some of us will stumble. And when some of us stumble, all of us will fall.
I think this harsh reality should sink in but it hasn’t sunk in everywhere.
Many ask me where I believe we are with the European Green Deal.
Rightly so, now all our attention is on the Covid-19 crisis and how we master this horrible virus and then get out of this conundrum.
But we should not be under the illusion that because of this, the climate crisis has gone away or the biodiversity crisis has gone away. These crises are still there and they will demand us acting to overcome them.
That is why we strongly believe at the European Commission that a green recovery is possible.
Of course, first we must see if we’re able to mobilize the investment capacity that we can mobilize. That’s substantial, but every euro will be needed if we want to come out of this.
And if we are able to do that and have the possibility to invest, then we have to make sure that the investment we make takes us into the new economy. Because if we don’t use our investment capacity to create a sustainable economy, an economy that is resilient for the future, based on the Green Deal, then the old economy might be more or less restored, but we will not have the means to transform that into an economy that can weather the next crises. Then we will lose out twice. This is something that I believe is unacceptable and we should at all cost avoid.
So in that context, it is the firm belief of the European Commission that the European Green Deal is not just a way to confront the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis, but also a way to give Europe a growth strategy that is a winning strategy, not just for Europe itself but also globally.
Now if this is to work, then we have to make sure that we are all on the same page.
And for this to work, I think some ideas are excellent and very important.
Let me highlight one of them. It’s your idea, Chairman and it’s the Green Alliance.
This Alliance covers already now I think 180 Ministers, MEP, NGO’s, trade unions, many in the private sector. All of who don’t just believe in the green recovery but have pledged to help get it done.
And it is possible, in the very short run, to design a plan –a green one- that delivers quickly in terms of jobs and economic growth.
We should help builders put solar panels on our homes.
We should help homeowners to insulate their houses, cities and regions;
We should assist farmers across our regions in harvesting more sustainably.
We see the automotive industry asking us to help them by helping households afford a new car. So why don’t we do this with ecological scrapping schemes, replacing an old and dirty car, with a cleaner or even zero emission one?
Why don’t we prompt our industries to go circular, sourcing critical materials closer to home and preserving their value as long as possible? That would increase Europe’s resilience for the future, something that this crisis has taught us to do.
So we can deliver quick wins, for jobs and for health. We can create the optimism that we need for the people who are going to really fear becoming unemployed. Many people may become unemployed and we need to make sure that this period of unemployment, if it happens, is as short as possible.
In this way, Honourable Members, our Green Deal is not a luxury to get rid of. It’s our lifeline out of the crisis.
For this to work, we need the discipline of the Climate Law. The Commission is really committed to that. The aim for Europe to become climate neutral by 2050 is the target you in the Parliament have set. It is the target the European leaders have set in the European Council. Now, the Commission proposes to put that into law.
It would be Europe’s guiding principle for businesses, investors, NGO’s, civil society: it will show that our pathway to climate neutrality is irreversible and that we are willing to accept the rigour of the law to make it irreversible.
It is the green light to invest in those sustainable jobs that we need to weather the test of time - and the test of these totally new circumstances.
The Climate Law allows us to organize ourselves. It would oblige the EU and its Member States to contribute to climate neutrality, keeping fairness and solidarity in mind.
As we should leave no one behind when we do this, the Climate Law sets the principle that all European policies and laws should move in the same direction. Then the Member States design their own plans and policies to reach the European target.
The Climate Law is a sign to the rest of the world that we believe in this better future and want others to come along.
There is a lot of interest from other parts of the world for our Climate Law. I will be speaking to South Korea, who will be deploying their own version of our Green Deal. More should follow. Even if COP26 takes place later, our Green Deal diplomacy will go on.
Chair, I know that questions arose in the house on some of the procedures that we chose in our Climate Law to set the trajectory that leads to the climate goals we want to reach. I am open to hear your concerns and I really want to discuss a good way forward that could assure the maximum possible support in Parliament.
Because what we need are the right signals. What we need are the right commitments. To me, the instruments we use for that are secondary.
We have a crucial time ahead of us.
We will continue our work on the increase of the 2030 climate targets.
We will do it by September, as planned.
We will do it after a thorough impact assessment, as promised.
And we will more than ever deliver a Just Transition that leaves nobody behind.
I know that a vast majority of your Parliament will be on our side for this.
Honourable Members
We have a strong duty to convince all citizens of this vision that the European Green Deal is not a luxury but a lifeline out of the crisis.
We have to show that the European Green Deal can offer, sector per sector, quick wins for jobs.
That it can offer concrete plans to make our industries, our economy, resilient and climate-neutral.
This strategy is essential for Europe’s future.
Thank you very much.
I am very much looking forward to your questions.