According to the announcements, the new European Commission is supposed to focus on revitalising the stagnant economy of the European Union (EU) and increasing its competitiveness. However, MEPs from Law and Justice believe that this is impossible under the current climate policy, which increases the cost of European industry. Therefore, they propose redefining it. As the second key task for the European Commission, they identify the fight against illegal immigration.
At the end of November, the European Parliament approved the composition of the new European Commission, which began its term on 1 December. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her speech at the plenary session of the European Parliament, presented the priorities for the new term. These include strengthening EU security by reducing Europe’s innovation gap compared to the USA and China, increasing independence, and decarbonising the economy.
“I believe that the tasks of the European Commission should be completely different. Today, there are two main problems in Europe. One of them is the fight against illegal immigration, but I belive we should do it with hard methods, not soft ones. We have to end political correctness and start acting categorically and toughly against the gangs that send migrants here and allow them to enter Europe. We need to make sure that these people, who have entered illegally, return to their countries of origin,” says Law and Justice MEP Maciej Wąsik.
“The representatives of the Commission announce the need to accelerate the implementation of the migration pact, but I absolutely disagree with it. The Commissioner for migration policy is an Austrian, Magnus Brunner, who has never dealt with migration, as he told himself during the audition. He also didn’t declare clearly that as a Commissioner, he would take steps to create a mechanism dedicated to financing barriers at the external borders of the European Union,” says Jadwiga Wiśniewska, member of the European Parliament from Law and Justice.
“The second threat is the decreasing competitiveness of the industry of the European Union, we have no doubts about that – everyone, both from the left and the right, speaks with one voice,” emphasises Maciej Wąsik.
The “Competitiveness Compass” announced by the European Commission – the first initiative of the new composition – is based on a recent report by Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank. The report confirms that the era in which the EU depended on cheap Russian energy, boundless Chinese markets, and the security of the US has ended. Europe’s share in the world economy is shrinking. While in 2010 the economies of the EU and USA were of approximately the same size, a decade later, in 2020, the community was significantly below the American level. Draghi’s report points to the urgent need for radical changes in EU economic policy and accelerating investments in innovations and green technologies. The expenditure needed for this purpose is estimated at up to 800 billion euros per year.
“We must do everything to fight for improved competitiveness and productivity in the European Union, as it is a matter of the future and prosperity in the Union,” says Jadwiga Wiśniewska. “Already today, we are losing global markets because we have the highest energy and gas prices, which will be even higher, reducing our competitiveness even further.”
Draghi’s report suggests that the energy crisis has led to significantly higher energy costs in Europe, undermining European competitiveness. Currently, electricity prices in Europe are two to three times higher than in the United States, and gas prices are four to five times higher. The report emphasises that decarbonisation should become the driving force of EU economic growth, but only with the simultaneous solution to the problem of energy price disparity and challenges related to the decarbonisation of the industry.
“The answer to the lack of competitiveness cannot be to promote a so-called green economy because it is, indeed, environmentally friendly but extremely expensive. If Europe does not want to become a museum, it must ensure that its industry is more competitive and its products cheap. Today, the biggest beneficiaries of all green deals, all crazy ecological solutions, are clearly China and I get the impression that they are the ones supporting all pro-environmental movements that demand specific solutions from left-wing politicians, allegedly to save our planet. In this way, China is gaining a huge competitive advantage over Europe,” assesses Maciej Wąsik.
“The restrictive climate policy leads to emission leakage and the relocation of industry outside the European Union because the costs resulting from climate policy are too high and impose too much burden. Therefore, European products lose against products made without the burdens resulting from climate policy. Therefore, we need to redefine the climate policy,” says Jadwiga Wiśniewska.
As pointed out by Ursula von der Leyen during her speech, Europe will adhere to the goals of the Green Deal and will not give up actions for climate protection, but the energy transformation should be carried out more efficiently than before. In the opinion of Jadwiga Wiśniewska, appointing Teresa Ribera Rodriguez as Vice-President of the European Commission for clean, fair and competitive transformation indicates rather a readiness to ‘tighten the screw’ in climate policy than its redefinition.
“In the European Emission Trading System, established in 2005, the price for a tonne of carbon dioxide was then 7 euro, now it is around 100 euro. This leads to those costs resulting from the implementation of an imprudent, unconsidered climate policy that puts such a burden on the industry. Today, the steel industry in the European Union says it is operating at 60% of its capacity, so they are on the verge of production profitability, and after all, steel is needed in every field related to the industry. A cautious, sensible climate policy could give the industry a break and cause people to pay lower bills and energy poverty, which today effects millions of Europeans, would start to disappear,” assesses the MEP from Law and Justice.
In her opinion, a move that could negatively impact the European market is the strive to enter a trade agreement with Mercosur countries, i.e. Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. On 6 December, the European Commission announced the conclusion of negotiations on the details of the agreement.
