- 2026-03-04 “Answer given by Mr Kubilius on behalf of the European Commission 20.5.2026 Written question Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) [1] provides a legal basis for the EU to act swiftly in emergency situations. Under this provision, the Council may adopt necessary measures based on a Commission proposal, ensuring continuity in critical policy areas. On 30 November 2025, the Commission received the European defence industry investment plans from Member States and assessed them in accordance with the criteria set out in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) Regulation [2] . The subsequent steps in the regulation’s implementation are underway and progressing as planned. The Commission considers that Article 122 TFEU is the only and appropriate legal basis for the SAFE Regulation. However, should the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ultimately annul the SAFE Regulation, this would not automatically suspend its implementation. The European Parliament has requested that the CJEU maintain the regulation’s effects until it is replaced by a new act adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure. [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:12008E122:EN:HTML. [2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/1106/oj/eng.”
EU competences on defence · Defence spending
- 2025-11-06 “E-004387/2025 Answer given by Mr Hansen on behalf of the European Commission The reviewed EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) is a balanced agreement. It allows the EU to continue supporting Ukraine in terms of trade opportunities while at the same time also addressing the sensitivities of EU farmers and stakeholders. The concessions given to Ukraine in this review are limited and, in many cases, far below the peaks of imports seen during the application of the autonomous trade measures in force between June 2022 and June 2025. Moreover, the Commission obtained further partial or full liberalisation of EU exports to Ukraine in several sectors of interest for European farmers, including products such as dairy or kiełbasas, so crucial for Poland. The reviewed DCFTA introduces a strong safeguard which can be activated in case imports as a result of the additional concessions would cause serious difficulties, either in the EU as a whole or on the market of one or several Member States. In addition, to address the concerns of EU producers and in line with Ukraine's EU accession process, Ukraine’s additional market access is contingent on its gradual alignment by the end of 2028 of its domestic legislation to important EU production standards in areas such as official controls, animal welfare, veterinary medicines, feed additives, and plant protection products.”
Agricultural trade: Ukraine imports · Import of agri-food products in the EU
- 2025-10-08 “E-003943/2025 Answer given by Mr Hoekstra on behalf of the European Commission The EU’s climate policies strongly contribute to the objectives of enhancing energy security and independence, and are therefore well suited to the current geopolitical context. The REPowerEU Plan 1 is a notable example of how accelerating the clean energy transition supports security, competitiveness and climate objectives. The Draghi report 2 highlights that decarbonisation policies can be a powerful driver of growth when well-integrated with industrial, competition, economic, and trade policies. The Clean Industrial Deal 3 presents a comprehensive set of actions aimed at strengthening the business case for decarbonised production in Europe. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil (COP30), the EU played a central role in advancing global climate efforts by pushing for higher ambition on mitigation and adaptation and for progress on climate finance. The proposed amendment to the European Climate Law 4 sets forth a pragmatic and flexible 2040 target, on the path towards climate neutrality. The proposal is based on most recent scientific evidence, including the latest reports of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and an in-depth impact assessment 5 , and takes into account the recommendations of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change. In designing the post-2030 climate and energy policy framework, the Commission will consider enhanced flexibility to support achievement of targets in a cost-effective way, considering national circumstances and specificities. The proposal is now being considered by the European Parliament and the Council 6 . 1 COM(2022) 230 final: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52022DC0230. 2 https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/draghi-report_en. 3 COM(2025) 85 final: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex:52025DC0085. 4 COM(2025) 524 final: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52025PC0524. 5 SWD(2024) 63 final: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A52024DC0063. 6 The Council reached a General Approach on 5 November 2025; the European Parliament adopted its position on 13 November 2025.”
Climate efforts · EU-US relations
- “I will speak Polish well, I. Think the representative of the Commission for their presentation. But when I hear talk of documents stopping extraction and saying that these industries aren't profitable, it's difficult to understand or believe that the Commission has really looked at the fact. I mean, at the last climate summit, it was very clearly shown that we stand alone. The whole world is extracting minerals. We want to extract elsewhere, suggesting or pretending to protect the environment at home.
It's a good idea to talk about strategic raw materials. I think it would be, however, good to respect some of the earlier decisions we took, including decarbonization, which I think was actually an absurd decision. In Poland, a year's extraction of coal cost the same as four days in China. But when the wind fell in Germany and didn't blow anymore, they fired up their lignite power stations. That's quite unacceptable environmentally in this day and age.
We had the Court of Justice trying to close down the turf mine in our country because it was told to do so by lobbies, lobbyists. In 2021, an agreement was negotiated on the energy transition with the European Commission, but that still hasn't been implemented. Now, extraction isn't directly linked with all these issues, but basically mining is creating bankruptcies elsewhere around the mines.
So the Commission needs to wake up. We know that we're in a crisis, but the Commission is failing to look the truth of the situation in the eyes and is not reconsidering its stance. The Commission is ideologically rigid, and that means that I'm going to regularly remind the Commission how to protect what guarantees our stable and reliable energy sources.”
Fossil fuels
- “Thank you. And I do apologize for arriving late. We were still voting in envy, but I did hear some of what has been said. We, of course, have a historic opportunity here. We must make the right decisions. We must see how we can arrange Horizon Europe and how we select the criteria that are the correct ones. We mustn't just stick to political speeches. Unfortunately, we have a war which is continuing. We have the Draghi report, which has told us quite a bit of information. We should think of China. China is expanding. We have seen threats over the last months. We hope that what has been threatened does not come to pass. We should also consider access to rare earths, which is very important and we must spend money on innovation. This is crucial and decisive. But how do we do this correctly? We need to spend our money. We have 100 billion or 200. And we need to be clear about the fact that there are challenges when it comes to security, and that will be our focus over the years to come. Another very important point, though, is another challenge the commission hasn't referred to at all. And I think we can all agree on this. This is the innovation gap. This has been acknowledged by the EC as well. There is a level of dissonance between countries, the old 15 member states and then Central and Eastern Europe. That is not good news. There's such a huge potential and all this money is seriously needed.”
EU research funding
- “Thank you very much. Just a piece of advice for colleagues. Could you read the report of the Court of Auditors where you can see that the EU depends on imports of rare minerals? 90% for renewable energies, which can't operate by itself because it has to be connected to something which is stable. European experts say that the ETS system should be binned, and we have to look into it because it's a sort of green pyramid which will crack. Let's not listen to the commission. Miss von der Leyen said that the ETS should lead to decarbonization, which would lead to a clean industry. But it will. The. They're revising the target by 2,019% by 2030. Let's apply it. Let the Germans apply it. Otherwise it won't really work out.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “Thank you very much. I'm speaking on behalf of Mister Yazze Kosdoba, my colleague. So a handful of comments to this initiative by the European Commission. I shall not beat around the bush. We see very clearly that the EU is becoming a hostage to the algorithms written by the climate legislation and its outcomes.
We had the COVID pandemics and then we had a war in Ukraine. So we are curious about the European Commission's response to what is happening in the world that surrounds us. The European Commission is proposing absurd solutions, and I'm quite surprised to see that so many voters are not really paying heed to these solutions which are supported by so many political groups.
These objectives are impossible to implement, and so they will not be implemented. That's pure and simple. And this will only be a wrong decision for the European Commission and for the parliament and a waste of resources by everybody who is going to work on this document.
Let us also note that the European Commission itself has got difficulties with its own electric fleet, corporate fleet. They cannot make it to their destination. They have difficulties charging their vehicles.
And at the same time, we are also saying that these cars should be made in EU. Yes. Made in EU perhaps, but based on Chinese components and parts. I do encourage you to look at the report of the European Court of Auditors, which states that we are 90% dependent on so many resources such as rare earth minerals. We are dependent on China, and we are open and vulnerable to any sort of blackmail.
The Chinese said it clearly last year. They said if you even try to touch upon our ambitions to expand within the European Union, we will not give you any of those resources. So we are deep in crisis. What are we going to tell to our SMEs, to those companies that are really working hard on trying to survive, how are we going to tell them that they need to replace 70% of their fleet, and buy electric cars?
The European Commission, the European Union doesn't have sufficient resources to compensate all those losses directly. I understand that the left believes that we can go on borrowing and there are no limits, but indeed there are limits and we are coming close to these limits, which might lead to a thorough structural crisis in EU.”
Road transport environmental policy · Corporate fleet electrification: binding zero-emission quotas vs. voluntary approach · Sourcing of critical raw materials
- “Madam Commissioner. Unfortunately. I'm not even going to ask you a question, because it's difficult to respond to this populist manifesto that you've presented. You've not talked about specific dates, and your solutions kind of go contrary to all logic. In fact, I'm quite surprised because you're a lawyer, if I'm not mistaken, and you've basically done a cut paste of declarations from different departments. And this is not enough. If you're talking about a clean industrial deal, I'd like to let you know that industry is leaving Europe and they're going to continue to do so. You're talking about the clean industrial deal, and they're looking at this package in desperation, because you're talking about reductions in emissions by 2040 that are simply unrealistic. The European Environmental Agency has talked about 55% reductions by 2030. And why do you think we're not going to reach these goals? I think we have to think about that. We have to reform our targets in light of that. You're talking about decarbonisation, but that's just basically the death of our industrial sector. It's going to lead to higher industrial and energy costs as well. You've talked about creating a single market when we're talking about energy grids. And this is going to lead to even higher costs. Are you listening to us? We're talking about liberalising the market. And every time we liberalise a market prices only rise. Look at the US, China and with the strategies to clean our air, we've not been able to change anything. So let's be quite frank. This is not going to work. We can't talk about market speculation on the Carbonization or the green energy market. All that we're doing here is including an increasing ETS, that's all. And that's why we have this question about doing away with carbon emissions. I think you should know very well that there is a lobby that is exerting pressure to ensure that ETS credits be €500, because this lobby is basically trying to fund this. And so I'm quite I think the landscape is quite, uh, desperate.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “President, Commissioner. Ladies and gentlemen. Are you surprised now? Are you disappointed? Really? For several times now, the the world has been sending us clear signals. We have gone crazy as the EU that by building an ideology, we're trying to make money, that we are we're being hypocritical. Yes, Commissioner, we are hypocritical. It's hypocrisy because the objectives are unattainable 90% in cutting emissions by 2040. While we failed to reach the 55 by 2030, building ETS one, ETS two, and so on and so forth. Yes, and we are supposed to pay for it so that we cannot attain the objectives and at the same time we are being hypocritical. You are hypocritical in the eyes of the world because you say that we cannot achieve the objectives. Then we need to use use the sources of emissions to grow emissions, for example, the deal with Mercosur or the deal with Ukraine. That's how we are being seen by the world. We need to wake up. We need to build a better world for our kids. Indeed.
**Nicolae ȘTEFĂNUȚĂ @Co-Chair: Martin has the floor vice president.”
Climate efforts
- “Thank you chair. Thank you Minister. I'd like to thank you for the meeting and I have a few questions. I'm over here. I'm sitting over here. In your member state. You have been working there, and you are representing a coalition. And you have stood before your parliament. And you weren't just making general statements. You were able to provide reasons for all of this and provide the entire process. So that's why those are very general comments. But that's why I'm surprised to hear some very general comments. You, you, I am sure, have read Draghi's report, and I'm sure that you have seen that we are no longer competitive when we're talking about green industry. Well, I'm sure you've got information about that. I'm sure you have information that. Industry is moving out of the EU. But another important thing that's going to be determined by environmental policy is going to be the reduction of emissions by 2040. And it really was not calculated. There was no impact assessment. There was no check to see if that 50% target has been met. I did not see any sort of document to that effect. So that's why I have a key question. Are you going to. Keep looking into what sources of funding we need to achieve that target. And if we want to meet that 2030 target, and don't tell us that national plans are going to be enough for this. Thank you. Thank you. Chairman. Ministers colleagues. The European aim to reduce emissions by 90% by 2040 is undoubtedly a very ambitious challenge.”
Climate efforts
- “Since 2008, we can see what has happened to GDP. In 2008, we had the same GDP as the US, but now we're 30% less. So please look at this. That's the result of European environmental policy. And that's one that's destroyed European industry. It's been destroyed through these high energy costs. And that has destroyed European competitiveness. And it is a paradox because on the one hand there is the requirement It here for coal fired power stations to be shut down. But then on the other hand. There is support for lithium and other elements. And the water resources are also being destroyed. It's not logical. We have these critical strategic raw materials, but they are outside the EU. But we're acting as though we didn't know how they were going to be paid for. There are these challenges with these strategic raw materials and they are destroying nature. But now we're going to be destroying nature in the EU as well by adopting legislation that mentions those raw materials. And I think that the funding needs to be provided in Poland. And the benefits and profits need to be transferred. But in Poland, we're stuck with the harmful consequences. And this is my last comment. How will we explain to our citizens that we are going to shut down these coal works, but we are going to have to open these lithium works? How do we explain that?”
Sourcing of critical raw materials
- “(10:04:08 – 10:05:30): Picking up on some of these points, if we look at the way this market works, yes, there are speculators. There is an ETS pricing mechanism. Nobody likes it. There are people living inside the Brussels bubble here who you might expect would like it, and even they don't like it.
We need a far-reaching reform of it to go back to the pre-2014 situation. We need to avoid a situation where financial institutions manipulate the entire chain. There's no justification for that. Look at the Draghi recommendations. The ETS is not in there. The Green Deal is not in there either. It's about the decline of the European economy as a whole.
The ETS is no longer serving the purpose for which it was designed, if it ever did serve that purpose. It's purely a business. That's what our companies are saying, the ones who participate in it. People in the market are saying this.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “48:08 – 10:49:44): But precisely what we saw during the pandemic. We've had economic crises. We have had this ongoing in our member states. Germany also has a responsibility when it comes down to the ETS system, and now they want to use this and try to apply it throughout the EU with climate policy that was proposed by Angela Merkel. There was a structural economic crisis in Germany, and I remember that President von der Leyen said that we have to review ETS for the purposes of climate neutrality, change of strategy for a clean industry through the NZIA. So that means that we need to look at those companies that produce energy via coal that they would have to close. This will not be accepted in Europe.
And so I think the Commission now is going to have to take very seriously the various situations that exist in different member states and where ETS has not served the objectives of those countries, looking at that financial pyramid that was constructed for the purposes of the environment, apparently.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “However, if this transition is to be effective, we can't just stick to our numerical target. We need to listen to what's happening on the ground, and we need to carry out regular assessments to see that we can have a transition that's deemed not only green, but also one that's fair and shared. And we have seen what happened in Taranto and Seveso, and that is something that I've been working on with Sparrow and Loparo and the National Council in Lecco and in Puglia. In my region, we've seen what happens when you have industrial development and you don't pay attention to health or the environment. You can see that there's a spread of diseases, and there was a condemnation from the European Court. And you need to think about the right to work and the right to breathe clean air at the same time. And what we can learn from that is the following. The climate law that's being discussed today is one with climate targets, and we need to have policies that can protect health, protect jobs and also protect society. Without this balance, then the green transition is something that needs to be seen as a shared interest and not a burden. And listening to you ministers listening to your mission. I've been listening to what you said, and you have learnt from the experience that we've had in some regions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Chairman. Ministers. I've been listening very carefully to the debate, and there have been comments to the effect that we're declining in competitiveness, but we can draw some conclusions here.”
Industrial emissions directive (IED)
- “I will speak Polish. Commissioner. We went to Baku together. And you know that we are alone. It's not by accident then that on Friday, when the summit had ended, the agreement had not been signed yet, and even the richest say that they don't have enough money because there is no money in the system to in order to implement what the EU wants to implement. Commissioner, you know that everybody in Baku was discussing the Drudge Report, the Drudge Report, which says that Europe had lost its competitive power. Of course, Draghi was paid a lot for writing this report, but the whole world understood that it's all about the Green Deal. You don't want to commit to the 90% by 2040 because there is an election coming up in Poland, and you have this agreement with the Polish government. You are talking about some data which supposedly shows that we are on the right track to have the 55%. Well, if you have this data, please show it to us. And Mr. Chairman, maybe we should have a special session with the European Environment Agency, which showed one and a half years ago that this is not implementable at all. And finally, we cannot overburden our citizens. We should, uh, leave the ETS two in order to gain regain their confidence. The fact is that the ECR has been trying to discuss this for two months now, but the majority in the Parliament sends says no and shows the points to Mr. Lisa and Germany. So all the Europeans must follow the German economy, which is on the way to disaster.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “35:03 – 09:37:21): Thank you very much i'd like to thank the rapporteur who carried out excellent work on this file and i'd also like to state that this is a good basis for our debate a debate that should focus on what the european citizens want and what the member states are seeking to achieve even if there are some people who do not fully agree there is a big question surrounding the eu approach ets two is problematic because it is not fit for purpose and we have known since the very outset what is happening in the world and the overarching climate objectives that the eu had set they were the only that were the eu was the only continent that was this ambitious seeing the draghi report we have to focus on competitiveness and this approach has been problematic for competitiveness for eu citizens there are obligations that are being placed on our citizens and we must act in a clear way to assist it is too much enough with this burden of taxes ets two is related to the directive on buildings that would have investment capital for the renovation of our buildings for our citizens now these renovations cannot be carried out for technical and technological reasons but also for financial reasons renovating a building for the purposes of climate neutrality that was the goal now if citizens want to be able to have buildings that are”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “46:15 – 10:46:20): Thank you. I will speak Polish. Thank you very much to the Commission for this attempt to explain in detail in terms of what can be done to monitor what is happening with the ETS revenue, I think here there is quite a bit of climate populism that is emerging here, and when it comes to the ETS and financing as well. When we know, when we look at the member states' budgets in the 2014 directive, we tried to keep the financial institutions in there, and then there was the problem with speculation. During the pandemic, and we were all shut into our own homes, ETS increased fourfold. The majority of businesses on the market are not controlled in a detailed way; there's no checks on them, and citizens are stating that they are very much fed up with this way that things are working because what we are witnessing is a 37 percent reduction with emissions under this system.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “Thank you. I will speak Polish. Thank you very much. To those who have presented from the commission side. However, I won't hide my disappointment. I was hoping to have more information about the changes of the Cbam mechanism. I'd actually like to hear more about this period from 2023 onwards. And since then we've had the war in Ukraine. Since then, we've signed the Mercosur agreement. Ukraine. Doesn't have to comply with various trade restrictions any more. There are various derogations for steel. Following on from the signing of the agreement with India, and there is also the new agreement which is in the pipeline, as Mrs. von der Leyen travels. So the question is when will we have conclusions for the transition period? What were the problems in the transition period? What exactly happened? What is your diagnosis before we move on and make further changes? A second question. We know that because of the Green Deal, China has implemented its own Program. It's quite disheartening to see that Europe is being flooded with Chinese products, and we are not competitive with China in the knowledge that they are not paying anything out, not losing out, and they're not this Carbonization fund decarbonisation fund. 25% of the money. Comes from ETS before the revision of the ETS. But if we look at the new IMF, the new financial prospects, 25% of the ETF is expected to go to to be added as an UN payment and UN resource. Excuse me. So that actually adds up to 50%. So I'm not sure that all of this adds up.”
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
- “(16:03:00 – 16:05:51): Hiya. I speak speak Polish. Thank you very much. Well, I appreciate what you've said, but I think we can see that this speech we've heard is a similar 1 to what we heard during the pandemic and then the start of the war in Ukraine. So the same strategy seems to be coming back again in the coming weeks and months as an overnight decision, but that's not going to change things.
We're talking about our dependency on external sources of fuel, and yet we've killed off sectors that produce, for example, nuclear energy in Germany. Since 2023, in the taxonomy, there is a possibility to provide credits for nuclear power stations. And to the tune of 90%, we are dependent on sources of rare earths, which is part and parcel of all of what we're looking at here.
And the the green deal and all our measures for that aspect are dependent on being able to change things. So this is gonna have a major effect on the independence of the member states. And, moreover, I've also heard that miss Fonda Lyon saying the same thing that you said. To reduce energy bills, you can cut tax and have double taxation on coal and gas as if we didn't realize our electricity comes from coal and gas.
So I don't know how you can push that as a calculation. At the same time, I do have a specific question on hydrogen. In terms of producing energy and transition sources, it seems that we need at least 1 and a half times energy to transmit the energy.”
EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
- “48:08 – 10:49:44): But precisely what we saw during the pandemic. We've had economic crises. We have had this ongoing in our member states. Germany also has a responsibility when it comes down to the ETS system, and now they want to use this and try to apply it throughout the EU with climate policy that was proposed by Angela Merkel. There was a structural economic crisis in Germany, and I remember that President von der Leyen said that we have to review ETS for the purposes of climate neutrality, change of strategy for a clean industry through the NZIA. So that means that we need to look at those companies that produce energy via coal that they would have to close. This will not be accepted in Europe.
And so I think the Commission now is going to have to take very seriously the various situations that exist in different member states and where ETS has not served the objectives of those countries, looking at that financial pyramid that was constructed for the purposes of the environment, apparently.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “Commissioner. You know very well that your action plan means higher energy prices. We should drop the algorithms of the Greens. You should talk to engineers, chemists and experts. We should go back to the ETS before. From before 2014. Now it is a bubble, a Ponzi scheme. And ETS should be ETS. Two should be thrown away. And the Europeans cannot foot the bill for this liberalism. Ecr will prepare a draft resolution on dropping ETS two.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “Thank you. I will. Speak Polish. A few weeks ago, in the context of the Energy Committee, we had an in-camera meeting on this aspect of the European car industry. And our discussion clearly showed that industry is not ready to accept the new proposals. Therefore, I think that the committee should speak less and listen more, especially when it comes to price sanctions and also the tremendous, incredibly rigid and strict environment that makes that forces us to be overly dependent on China, especially for rare earth metals. And I think that the commission is totally impervious to what happens with regards to exports of rare earth metals. If the European Commission or we within the EU don't understand the stakes and we end up killing our last industry. What will our future look like? Others in this world will be continuing to build cars more effectively than we can. So what does this mean? Will other countries have to outlaw the production of fuel engine cars? Their much more flexible than we are?”
Road transport environmental policy
- “(16:45:33 – 16:48:48): Thank you i speak polish well thank you very much chair for giving me the floor i would suggest that we look at this carefully here we're talking about a program which is thirty years old and the court of auditors has said that there are improvements that can be made but for thirty years we've been told that there's no way of no way of actually checking this program we can't check if it's sustainable or or or follow through obviously perhaps it shouldn't quite be be quite so complicated when we're talking about the environment it's impossible to check where funds are being transferred to now secondly the court of auditors has also set things out quite delicately perhaps they could have been a bit stronger and the commission said that they'll implement these recommendations but for years and years they haven't been implemented but what do citizens actually want that's what we should be looking at and journalists have been high highlighting points for months and now we've been hearing about money laundering about illegal activity as well we've been hearing that money is not being used for what it's supposed to be used for know monies that have been allocated for certain purposes is not being used for those purposes obviously in the nff this program may disappear if it's so difficult to control this program then we can say this costs x amount and and people can say that it's sustainable but but the the you know we need to look at the reality that this is not an easy situation we need to not fall into an ideological traps we need to make sure that we have we have major challenges here and this is obviously we need to support biodiversity as we continue this”
Accounting and auditing of EU budget
- “35:03 – 09:37:21): Thank you very much i'd like to thank the rapporteur who carried out excellent work on this file and i'd also like to state that this is a good basis for our debate a debate that should focus on what the european citizens want and what the member states are seeking to achieve even if there are some people who do not fully agree there is a big question surrounding the eu approach ets two is problematic because it is not fit for purpose and we have known since the very outset what is happening in the world and the overarching climate objectives that the eu had set they were the only that were the eu was the only continent that was this ambitious seeing the draghi report we have to focus on competitiveness and this approach has been problematic for competitiveness for eu citizens there are obligations that are being placed on our citizens and we must act in a clear way to assist it is too much enough with this burden of taxes ets two is related to the directive on buildings that would have investment capital for the renovation of our buildings for our citizens now these renovations cannot be carried out for technical and technological reasons but also for financial reasons renovating a building for the purposes of climate neutrality that was the goal now if citizens want to be able to have buildings that are”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “Madam president, Mr. Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, a few facts from my side. 40% of grids in the EU are more than 40 years old. Experts calculate that in order to modernize the grids and to build a new one, we need more than €1 trillion over a dozen of years or so. And what do we see in the Multiannual Financial framework? We see a slight increase, but only to €30 billion. Not to mention that we see renewables mentioned nowhere. The heads of the major energy grids in Europe say there is a crisis related to connecting renewable energy sources. So this is the top of of what we could have achieved. So we need to plan this. And we should not cheat people that this is going to bring energy prices down. Member States need to have their sovereignty in decision making. We will not agree to have an alleged consent in that respect. No, it needs to be controlled for the sake of energy security of each EU member State and for the sake of all the Europeans. Thank you.”
EU energy infrastructure integration
- “Dear Minister, I am very glad you are with us. And I have the feeling. And I think maybe a suggestion. I think we should leave the bubble in which we are the world about which you are talking. Some colleagues here are talking also. This world does not exist anymore. The climate summit shows us that as the EU, we are alone. The global economies say no. Donald Trump is leaving the Paris Agreement, so there will be no money to build certain kinds of ambitions. There is no money and there will not be any money. Competitiveness, as we see from Draghi's report in the EU, is not really visible and I don't have much hope that we can catch up with the US or China. So the first remark. So I think we should immediately revise all the documents starting from climate laws, because this source, this major document which on which fit for 55 was based. And here we've got our targets for 2040. I would like to see your opinion. How do you see it? Because we have the report from December last year from the Environment Agency, which says that we will not be able to reach 55% up to 2050 decarbonisation of economy. A few words on the strategy the clean industry strategy. Clean industry deal. Our industry is dying. And they would like to know when is the final day of their life. The Repower EU.”
Climate efforts
- “48:08 – 10:49:44): But precisely what we saw during the pandemic. We've had economic crises. We have had this ongoing in our member states. Germany also has a responsibility when it comes down to the ETS system, and now they want to use this and try to apply it throughout the EU with climate policy that was proposed by Angela Merkel. There was a structural economic crisis in Germany, and I remember that President von der Leyen said that we have to review ETS for the purposes of climate neutrality, change of strategy for a clean industry through the NZIA. So that means that we need to look at those companies that produce energy via coal that they would have to close. This will not be accepted in Europe.
And so I think the Commission now is going to have to take very seriously the various situations that exist in different member states and where ETS has not served the objectives of those countries, looking at that financial pyramid that was constructed for the purposes of the environment, apparently.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “High prices for energy, a lack of competitiveness. These are the diseases that the solutions and there are three. Firstly, we need to look at three documents. The directive from 2014 which changed the OTS, the ETS, um functioning and created a real financial pyramid. Then we need to change our climate law. Five years ago this climate law was created and it isn't fit for purpose. It isn't suitable for our current reality. There's been a war since. Um. We are. Our focus is elsewhere. Thirdly, without further ado, we need to revise our budget. We need to completely rethink the way that we are limiting investments, because the Court of Auditors itself has called this into question. And so we need to take into account all of the consequences of the war.”
EU approach to electricity market and prices
- “Thank you very much. Just a piece of advice for colleagues. Could you read the report of the Court of Auditors where you can see that the EU depends on imports of rare minerals? 90% for renewable energies, which can't operate by itself because it has to be connected to something which is stable. European experts say that the ETS system should be binned, and we have to look into it because it's a sort of green pyramid which will crack. Let's not listen to the commission. Miss von der Leyen said that the ETS should lead to decarbonization, which would lead to a clean industry. But it will. The. They're revising the target by 2,019% by 2030. Let's apply it. Let the Germans apply it. Otherwise it won't really work out.”
Sourcing of critical raw materials
- “(16:07:39 – 16:08:09): Yes. Thank you for for that answer. But maybe I could just point out, commissioner, that you are laboring under the influence of an ideology that green energies are cheap because we are taxing fossil fuels at a higher level, and these renewable energies are reliant on subsidies to a great extent. But a specific question, What's the rhythm do you intend to lower energy prices for Europeans?”
EU approach to electricity market and prices
- “35:03 – 09:37:21): Thank you very much i'd like to thank the rapporteur who carried out excellent work on this file and i'd also like to state that this is a good basis for our debate a debate that should focus on what the european citizens want and what the member states are seeking to achieve even if there are some people who do not fully agree there is a big question surrounding the eu approach ets two is problematic because it is not fit for purpose and we have known since the very outset what is happening in the world and the overarching climate objectives that the eu had set they were the only that were the eu was the only continent that was this ambitious seeing the draghi report we have to focus on competitiveness and this approach has been problematic for competitiveness for eu citizens there are obligations that are being placed on our citizens and we must act in a clear way to assist it is too much enough with this burden of taxes ets two is related to the directive on buildings that would have investment capital for the renovation of our buildings for our citizens now these renovations cannot be carried out for technical and technological reasons but also for financial reasons renovating a building for the purposes of climate neutrality that was the goal now if citizens want to be able to have buildings that are”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “Well, we're having. What we're doing here is essentially suicide. Economic suicide. And you expect applause. You're massaging the figures, the percentages, without showing us where these figures actually come from. We're all aware of the drug. You report where it says that we need €800 million annually. If we don't want to fall behind the US or China, and then people are crying out telling us that we're not meeting our emissions targets, but we're already lagging behind China. They're dominating EV vehicles and photovoltaics. And Europeans are aware of this. They're despairing and they don't feel like they're being heard by the European Commission. Let me remind you that the Netherlands. Have started to regulate. Power. They're telling people when they should be ironing their washing. When they should be cooking. That's a result of the Green Deal. And it's in the interest of. All corporations. Is it the ones who were using the ETS? We need to have a serious discussion about these targets for 2035 on the basis of national plans. Let's not delude ourselves. We were elected to the European Parliament to support the European economy, but we're doing the opposite. We're heading for the abyss.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Madam chair, the presentation of the European Commission is about prolonging the agony of the automotive industry. No dates, no numbers, no documents that would have to be amended. Today, tomorrow, all next week at the latest. You've been talking about money. Well, this money is available in the budget. You are not talking about any new money. You've been talking about the same thing for many years and nothing has changed. You've been talking about the support and strengthening supply chains. Which ones? I'm asking rare earth metals. Well, in most cases, we are simply dependent. We are dependent on what is outside of the European Union. And finally, you've been talking about the necessity to support, to help. And what you forget is ets2 this incoming tax a punishment for these citizens who would use combustion engine cars? We have to treat Europeans seriously and we have to fulfill our tasks and make them fulfilled. Thank you.”
Road transport environmental policy
- “I will speak Polish. Let me begin today by encouraging you, uh, this evening or tomorrow to read something. 1984 George Orwell. You should try reading this. What is Newspeak? The ministry of truth. The ministry of love. It's an accident. Description. Description of totalitarian system. And I have a question for the European Commission. How should we combat disinformation in the EU and the world? Who and how and how fast should we respond to what? You. Judge something when you judge something to be not in accordance with the facts. So what words, descriptions, facts will be condemned and banned? Who will be responsible for this? You have to be aware that the European Commission and France Timmermans is no longer in the Commission. And now is earning money with fossil fuels. Uh, that, uh, this money that the commission gives to NGOs which have no reasonable arguments to bring forward. The European Commission has often funded NGOs which carry out lobbying, lobbying activities. My group. The ECR and, uh, went to the Conference of Presidents to have an investigative Committee, a committee of inquiry set up in the European Parliament to look into this, but the majority has no interest in uncovering the truth.”
Disinformation & online freedoms
- “I will speak Polish. Thank you very much. Thank you for the work that has been done by the rapporteur. I do notice we don't notice a lot of statements in this text that correspond to our ambitions in terms of energy security and industrial competitiveness. We would also like to stress that this opinion introduces precise and tangible indices, which is very important to us, and that is the additional through throughput of the network. Network capacity. But we do not really agree to treating milestones as achieved without having specific information about the results. We also skeptical about other elements of this text. First of all, the risk of centralization regions might be limited to the implementation role in spite of all the other attempts. This might be based. This model is still a top down one which affects the subsidiarity principle and. Amendments. Amendment. Amendment 20 confirms the necessity of confirming the physical implementation. We also need to stress the need to audit the actual cost borne and. This is a solid foundation, but it needs to be further strengthened so that regions have capacity of spending resources and keeping to the procedures. Thank you very much.”
EU energy infrastructure integration
- “Thank you. In the letter report, it says that. For strategic autonomy, we need to invest in strategic and industry. 800 billion is missing in order to be competitive, according to that report. And to be able to compete with China. Tomorrow we will be discussing how much money will be missing in the EU budget because it's being announced to day. And I'd like to ask you about your courage as the Danish presidency. Without data analysis, how can you say that by 2040, we'll be able to reduce emissions by 90%, even though we weren't able to reduce them by 50% by 2030. How can we invest in green rules? When? You are simply lying the pockets of the Chinese. With electric vehicles and so on. And then rare earth rare earths as well. An example. Affordable housing. Affordable rentals. How can we ensure that is there if we have eco design, building norms and many other things. Things become much more expensive as a result. And then red tape as well. You say that you're against red tape, but for rules, no, these two things need to go together. Simply doesn't work. So that's very important to highlight. Thank you.”
Chinese clean tech competition: trade barriers and investment caps vs. open market
- “Madam president, Mr. Commissioner, this is a step in the right direction. For the very first time, the Commission has heeded member States who implement sebum and has heeded the industry voice. But this is not sufficient yet because exclusion of small enterprises. Uh, this is uh, um, Preventing exclusion of small enterprises is not the not everything that would safeguard and rescue the the European industry. That's why we must, uh, carry out real changes in ETS directive, which is responsible for the skyrocketing production costs, and we must bolster European industry. Also, we must return to free of charge emissions packages. And European European industries are losing their competitive advantage on the global market. So we are doing things that are good, but we must take new measures.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “President. Commissioner. Yes. Hate is a deathly, deadly serious issue, but it's difficult to talk about it in the Parliament. When the Parliament has this firewall around groups and can't talk to its opponents. It's difficult to talk about this subject when hate is also coming from this pulpit here where Wokism is promoted, where some members of particular political groups are creating memes that dehumanize and hold in contempt, and basically stop us from having a serious debate about this. It's difficult for me as a poll, where in my country, our government says that there is a horde of whether they're running a horde of haters attacking their opponents, but we must do something. Of course we have to do something. The platforms have to be held accountable. Yes, we need education and not just education of children, but also of parents, so that they can keep an eye on what their children are doing. Psychological support is necessary. Rapid reaction and capable provisions are required, but we don't want limitations of our freedom. We don't want more red tape, especially when that's not actually going to change anything.”
Digital platforms liability for harmful and illegal content
- “37:23 – 09:38:12): Energy efficient they cannot be placed under an enormous tax burden to stabilize the market here in ets two what we see is that we have to really listen to our citizens they cannot purchase e vehicles for example it's impossible and then if they're going to have to pay additional taxes so the fund that we're discussing for the fair social transition will not be able to work with this e t s two in place thank you therefore we reject this ets to it should be go directly to the test dasben thank you”
EU approach to electricity market and prices
- “46:15 – 10:46:20): Thank you. I will speak Polish. Thank you very much to the Commission for this attempt to explain in detail in terms of what can be done to monitor what is happening with the ETS revenue, I think here there is quite a bit of climate populism that is emerging here, and when it comes to the ETS and financing as well. When we know, when we look at the member states' budgets in the 2014 directive, we tried to keep the financial institutions in there, and then there was the problem with speculation. During the pandemic, and we were all shut into our own homes, ETS increased fourfold. The majority of businesses on the market are not controlled in a detailed way; there's no checks on them, and citizens are stating that they are very much fed up with this way that things are working because what we are witnessing is a 37 percent reduction with emissions under this system.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “Commissioner says that the situation is good or even very good. He has a plan and there is a bright future ahead of us. And what does the industry say? The N.V. committee met them during a closed meeting, and they discussed their possibility to implement the regulation on electric mobility. They said very simply that they need to be resuscitated or they will die. They need two drips. First of all, to get out of the ban of the registration and production of combustion cars after 2035. We need freedom. We need competitiveness. The Europeans don't like bans and orders. We don't want a totalitarian. Europe and also. It ETS two. It is another thing that is threatening Europe. And we really need freedom, competitiveness and resilience. And that's the only way. And to finish with Commissioner, dear friends from the left and the Greens, please let your chemists and physicians free from your wardrobes and talk to them.”
Road transport environmental policy
- “37:23 – 09:38:12): Energy efficient they cannot be placed under an enormous tax burden to stabilize the market here in ets two what we see is that we have to really listen to our citizens they cannot purchase e vehicles for example it's impossible and then if they're going to have to pay additional taxes so the fund that we're discussing for the fair social transition will not be able to work with this e t s two in place thank you therefore we reject this ets to it should be go directly to the test dasben thank you”
Energy (green transition)
- “Another issue. This is a document that we should change as well because I think among the leaders of different groups, including EPP, there are decisions being taken that when it comes to renewables, I think we were too ambitious. And uh, member states have been imposed the way to build their energy mix. And another thing. We know there will be a discussion on ETS two. I would like to tell you that this is the thing that is the easiest to get rid of. There is no social acceptance for ETS two. We should just get rid of. Not discuss its prolongation. We are saying frankly that we want to steal from our citizens because we have no money to money to build a proper strategy and ambitions for green activities. And one more thing, because we will be meeting when it comes to Soil Monitoring Act and the Waste Directive Framework Directive. But there is one more text you will be working on that is a bit difficult. A forest monitoring. The EU has again the ambition to encroach on the whole knowledge on the forest management. It wants to double monitoring and integrating systems, even though Poland is the leader here. So I would like to know what the Polish opinion, because I think you will be setting the tone here. And also just for information, how do you want to proceed? Can we have the micro, please?”
Energy (green transition)
- “Commissioner, I have a question for you. Who has written this speech for you? Who is the author of your speech today? Because this is all propaganda, this Newspeak EU version of the new speaker will have a plan for the next ten years or so. That's a quotation because I. What I'm missing here are some concrete measures because I was very keen to know how the European Commission is willing to help the farmers and we need the funds right now, not next week, to make sure that we help the farmers with the price of the fertilisers. This is something that we have been advocating ever since the start of the was the ETS needs to be abolished for all the fertiliser manufacturing companies in Europe. And this directive has to be changed right now and not next month, or maybe next week or not somehow, as you said, because we are now importing from the Mercosur countries and they are importing cheap Russian fertilizers. So let's get this job done.”
Use of fertilisers
- “People die in burning forests, animals die and biodiversity disappears. This translates into huge losses for people and for the economy. But it also means that this climate objective that we want to discuss is threatened. And this objective is CO2 absorption. If you want to increase this objective, this target, into 90%. Let me tell you, we will not reach this objective until 2030. Our forests need people, need forest economy, need monitoring money, good firefighting systems and hydrological systems. This is what our forests need. We need a deeper analysis. You. You have to do that to spend the money. And the European Court of Auditors has mentioned to the European Commission that there is no evidence that this money is spent in the right way. What we need is detailed analysis of specific Member States and all that, in order to show who is responsible for burning forests. Thank you.”
Management of EU forests
- “31:13 – 11:34:56): I will speak Polish. Thank you very much. Now here I'm speaking on behalf of a colleague who could not be present. I would like to say to the colleagues, I would like to appeal to you: you should be very much aware that this is a historical opportunity, perhaps it's the last opportunity, in order with our votes to make a decision about the CAP.
I think we should really limit these ideas of the commission when you're talking about impact on the member states. We can see how from negotiations that the member states are agreeing to very poor compromises. This is really our last chance, and I think recent years have demonstrated that the European Commission is moving in a direction that we won't have any guaranteed farming and agriculture, and we're talking about the food security of Europe being jeopardized.
We have the war in Ukraine, and then we have what is now happening in the Middle East, and so that means that we're really frightened. That's the first point.”
Agricultural funding
- “Thank you very much, chair. Ladies and gentlemen, I will briefly define the regulation. Excessive bureaucracy, lack of funds, strange new definitions Since no protection of sensitive data and interference with the remit of the Member States. So we need to throw away this proposal and stop work on this idea, because there are a large number of a large number of documents that manage these issues. Reserve deforestation regulations. We even delayed the implementation of those documents or certification of CO2 absorption. Why is it for? It is for establishing a system so that the money flows as a kind of ETS for Uh, the forest. So it's about cash flow between the member states. So this is the main objective. So we need to be very cautious. And we cannot allow for extending these systems. Apart from the documents on the forests, we have a number of systems. We have a system. To monitor, uh, the forest, uh, we also report to the relevant commission of the United Nations. In our country, we have an excellent monitoring system for the last 20 years, and we protect biodiversity and manage forests. So let's throw this idea to the waste bin.”
Management of EU forests
- “46:15 – 10:46:20): Thank you. I will speak Polish. Thank you very much to the Commission for this attempt to explain in detail in terms of what can be done to monitor what is happening with the ETS revenue, I think here there is quite a bit of climate populism that is emerging here, and when it comes to the ETS and financing as well. When we know, when we look at the member states' budgets in the 2014 directive, we tried to keep the financial institutions in there, and then there was the problem with speculation. During the pandemic, and we were all shut into our own homes, ETS increased fourfold. The majority of businesses on the market are not controlled in a detailed way; there's no checks on them, and citizens are stating that they are very much fed up with this way that things are working because what we are witnessing is a 37 percent reduction with emissions under this system.”
Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- “The commission, uh, was deaf to what we said. We now have, uh, the war in Ukraine. And, uh, we also, uh. Have all this legislation which, uh. Was, uh, adopted prior to the pandemic. So the measures are no longer topical. They're no longer up to date. So I think we really do need to be respectful of our citizens with regard to what we do. So the question is, should are we going to achieve this 55% goal by 2030? I mean, we the commission doesn't seem to be listening to what's being said. The commission saying the only evidence we have is what's in the plans of member states, but I've actually seen many plans of member states. I've read many of them, including the one from my country, and a lot of them are no longer topical. They're no longer up to date. There are economic problems here. Businesses and the private sector are no longer investing. We really need to ensure that money is being spent properly. I mean, we can't simply spend money without citizens giving their approval. So really, things are not going right.”
Climate efforts