Category: European Union

Ursula von der Leyen – 2022 Speech at the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting

The speech made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on 24 October 2022.

Dear Prime Minister De Croo,

Dear Bill Gates,

Distinguished guests,

It is so good to see you again Bill, because the last time we met was just a month ago in New York at the Global Goalkeepers event. I was very moved by your foundation’s recognition of Europe’s leadership on global health and the fight against the COVID-19. The award is truly a collective one. It belongs to all Europeans who showed such dedication during the pandemic – from the frontline workers in our hospitals and essential services, to the scientists who developed the life-saving vaccines.

Today, we are joined by many of you here, from around the world, who are committed to global health and equity. So I would like to use this occasion to reflect on the experience of the pandemic, not from a medical point of view but from the point of view of a policymaker. And I would like to give a sober assessment of what I think went well and where we need to do better in future. I have six lessons that we took.

The first lesson, not surprisingly, is the utmost importance of solidarity and cooperation. Let me start with the European experience. When the COVID-19 virus made landfall in Europe, things got really tough at the beginning. Some Member States chose to close their borders for life-saving material and equipment. There was painful competition for protective equipment, ventilators and other medical supplies between the different Member States. Vaccine nationalism became the norm around the world. I can tell you – we Europeans had our tough and painful public discussions. But at a certain point, the European Union decided to take a different path – the path of solidarity and openness. We convinced Member States not to close their borders but to share equipment and personnel. We decided to buy vaccines together and not to compete with each other. We started the vaccination campaign on the exact same day in all our 27 Member States – yes, we started with low numbers, and that was heavily criticised, but we had a fair distribution. Regardless whether you are a larger Member State or a small one, a wealthy one or a not so wealthy one. We decided not to close our borders for vaccine exports but to introduce a transparency mechanism. And at this point, many, many thanks to you Prime Minister, dear Alexander De Croo. You have been insisting on staying open for exports because you knew how important that is for the trust of the pharmaceutical industry, depending on where they are located. Today, over 80% of the European Union’s adult population is fully vaccinated. While at the same time, we have exported two-thirds of the vaccines produced in Europe to the rest of the world. Solidarity and openness were the absolute pre-conditions to this success.

My second lesson: Science does not exist in a vacuum. I believe it was no coincidence that the safest and most effective vaccines were developed and rolled out rapidly in open societies. Science depends on cooperation, it depends on education, on the protection of intellectual property rights, of course on proper data sharing. But it also depends on individual mobility for example, freedom to move, and of course on the regulatory environment and on translating results into products, services and policies. All these factors empower scientists to do their best work, and enable society to reap the benefits. My colleagues and I benefited enormously from the collective wisdom of scientific advice – from you, Professor Peter Piot, you were my personal COVID-19 advisor, the way you gave me guidance and advise on a daily basis was outstanding; from my group of COVID-19 science advisors, handpicked by you, Peter; and also from the platform of 27 Member State government advisors we created. So it is transparency and accountability, our freedom of speech and the freedom of science that enable good policymaking and innovation. These are the values that democratic societies depend on and nurture. So it was democracies that developed the life-saving effective vaccines and that were best able to support their citizens when they needed our help the most.

My third lesson is about the miracle of vaccines themselves. As a medical doctor by training, the importance of research and development is not news to me. But the pandemic made it very real for all of us. As you know, the outstanding mRNA vaccines did not come out of the blue. Their discovery, like all innovation, relies on long-term investment in scientists and their research. In fact, the European Commission had been investing in mRNA vaccine research since the early 2010s. However, in Europe we did not have a BARDA, like in the United States, which prepares for the case of an emergency. I must say, this was an obvious disadvantage. So we learnt it the rough way. And during the pandemic, we created HERA to anticipate threats and potential health crises. HERA works closely with our Horizon Europe research programme to close the circle from blue sky discovery all the way to scaling up life-saving measures.

Global cooperation in research and development is crucial for discovery. That is why, for example, HERA and CEPI – the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations – have recently signed a letter of intent. They will cooperate on developing next generation vaccines, including for COVID-19, as part of our Vaccines 2.0 Strategy. Horizon Europe is providing on a yearly basis contributions of EUR 35 million. And I am very pleased that our clinical trials partnership for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria between European and developing countries has recently agreed to co-run calls for proposals with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Which takes me to lesson four: manufacturing capacity. Having safe and effective vaccines is not enough – we all know that. We badly needed manufacturing capacity, as well as open supply chains. I vividly remember that, at the height of the pandemic, we saw shortages of all kinds across the whole vaccine value chain, from bioreactor bags to vials, from lipids to even syringes. So we set up a Task Force to work with industry, with global partners, to remove these bottlenecks. This helped ramp up the monthly production capacity in the European Union, from 20 million vaccine doses per month at the beginning of 2021 to around 300 million vaccine doses per month by the second half of the year. Having learnt this lesson, we have now set up the EU-FAB, which is an ever-warm network of production capacities to quickly ramp up vaccines production in the future.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

So far Europe has sent more than 2.5 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to 168 countries worldwide. This is our fifth lesson: cooperation and solidarity must be global. At the start of the pandemic, there was no appropriate global framework to allow for fair sharing of vaccines and other medical countermeasures. So we helped set up the ACT-Accelerator and COVAX, which we financed with EUR 3 billion, and we donated half a billion vaccine doses to lower-income countries. But clearly, this was not a sufficient approach, more had to be done and more can be done. This is why we took a different approach now. We are supporting developing countries directly: through financing, through regulatory capacity-building, and technology transfer, to build up their own vaccine manufacturing capacity. We are working with Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa and Ghana to produce mRNA vaccines that are made in Africa, for Africans. And we are taking a similar approach now with Latin America. They have been asking us to do the same. And of course, we responded positively. Because this is the way to go. Regional resilience is the solution that builds global health resilience.

The sixth and final lesson concerns, indeed, the global health system. Over the years, global health has been consistently underfunded and neglected. Not by the likes of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is doing exemplary work, but by the governments. The key is to be prepared, and this means keeping up the investment and keeping the focus in global health, at all times. Even now, in these difficult times, with a completely different focus. I am glad that we finally agreed to create a Pandemic Preparedness and Response Fund. The European Commission, together with the United States, have each committed USD 450 million. And this is just the start. With this reinforced funding, we will step up globally the surveillance of cross-border health threats, the strengthening of health systems, and most importantly the support in training and education.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I know we still have a long way to go, but thanks to all of you and your dedication to global health and equity, I believe we are on the right track. Next month, the European Commission will bring forward the EU Global Health Strategy – it is our proposal to the world on how to work better together in partnership, to advance the common goal of global health. And of course, it will draw on the lessons I have just outlined to you. I look forward to continuing our close work together. And I wish you a rewarding and thoughtful conference.

October 30, 2022
Ursula von der Leyen – 2022 Speech at the European Parliament Plenary on the preparation of the European Council meeting

The speech made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on 19 October 2022.

Dear Minister Bek,

Honourable Members,

Yesterday, we saw again Russia’s targeted attacks against civilian infrastructure. This is marking a new chapter in an already very cruel war. The international order is very clear. These are war crimes. Targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure with the clear aim to cut off men, women, children from water, electricity and heating with the winter coming – these are acts of pure terror. And we have to call it as such.

This is the moment to stay the course. We will back Ukraine for as long as it takes. And we will protect Europeans from the other war that Putin is waging – this is his war on our energy. I know that Europeans are concerned; concerned about inflation; concerned about their energy bills; concerned about the winter. The best response to Putin’s gas blackmail is European solidarity and European unity.

In this spirit, the Commission agreed yesterday on a strong legislative framework to address the energy crisis. Let me outline the main points to you.

The first one is as logical as important: Instead of outbidding each other, Europeans should buy gas together. This is very simple. For this, we will purchase together gas at EU level. Aggregation of demand will be mandatory for at least 15% of the volumes needed to fill gas storages. And the companies involved may form a ‘gas purchasing consortium’. We do this because we have learnt the lesson. We literally saw in August of this year, at the height of the filling season, how Member States were outbidding each other and thus really driving up the prices. We definitely can be smarter on that one. Pooling our demand is a must.

My next point is about sharing gas in Europe. We know that some Member States are more directly exposed than others to Russian gas. The situation is especially challenging for landlocked countries in Central Europe. But in the end, if you look at our Single Market with highly integrated supply chains, a disruption in one Member State has a massive impact on all Member States. So, sharing gas is absolutely critical. Member States have already, since five years, an obligation under EU law to conclude solidarity agreements with their neighbours in their home region. However, if you look at what has been concluded so far, of 40 possible agreements only 6 have been concluded. This is simply not enough in times of a crisis like this one. This is why we will put in place default rules for Member States. These rules will be binding, as long as Member States do not conclude individual solidarity agreements. Energy solidarity is a fundamental principle of our Treaties, so let us bring that to life, it is very simple.

Honourable Members,

These three measures – pooling, saving, sharing – will have a positive impact on the prices. But of course, more needs to be done to address the price spikes and to address the Russian manipulation of the energy market. Just to give you two figures: Compared to September 2021, if we look now at September 2022, Russia has cut 80% of its pipeline gas supplies. But Europe has been able to compensate all that. We have diversified towards our trusted partners, like for example Norway and the United States. We have increased the savings. And it is good, we achieved in September a reduction of 15%. We have filled our storages up to 92%. We did not give in to this blackmail. We made it. And I think we can be proud of that. We resisted. That is important. But we also see that resisting the Russian energy coercion comes at a price. European families have seen their gas bills skyrocketing. And our companies are struggling to keep up competitiveness. It is not only about the competitiveness in the Single Market – that is also important. But it is also about the global competiveness that our companies are fighting for.

You might recall that in March, we proposed to the Council the option to cap gas prices. At that time, this did not gain any traction. But today, we are coming back to this. So what is the model? The current benchmark determining gas prices is TTF. TTF is only focused on pipeline gas. What we see now is that the market has really changed, from a pipeline gas market to a LNG market. So we need a new, a specific price benchmark for LNG. The Commission will now develop this complementary benchmark together with the European regulator. But this takes time. So in the meantime, as a stop-gap measure, we will limit prices at TTF. We call this the market correction mechanism. Yesterday, we proposed guiding principles as a first step. On this basis, we will prepare the operational mechanism in a second step. This is concerning the price cap at wholesale level.

But gas also drives up the electricity prices. And here, the Iberian model comes into play. It really merits to be considered at EU level. There are still questions to be answered, but I want to leave no stone unturned. So let us face that, let us look at that and let us work on that.

Honourable Members,

We live in times of high economic uncertainty. And, as I said, I am concerned about the competitiveness of our economy – not only concerning the Single Market, but also concerning the global competitiveness of our economy. So, all our actions have to take this into account, all our actions have to take the competitiveness of our SMEs and our industry into account. This includes that we will introduce a standard competitiveness-check in our regulation. I think it is time to do that. In addition, we have to speed up investments all over Europe. If I speak about investment, it is infrastructure, it is energy efficiency and it is renewables.

This brings me to REPowerEU. When we proposed REPowerEU in March, keep in mind that the situation was as such: There was a huge dependency on Russian gas. At that time, we anticipated that it would take several years to replace the Russian gas. Fact is today, it took us only eight months to replace two-thirds. In other words: We have massively accelerated the diversification to other suppliers of gas from abroad. But this comes at a high price. So the actual solution to maintain our competitiveness is to invest into home-grown sources of energy, especially renewables. That has to happen in all of Europe. However, only Member States with sufficient fiscal space can undertake these critical investments. This will inevitably unlevel the playing field of our Single Market.

Therefore, we do not only need REPowerEU now, so we have to accelerate it, but we have to boost it, we have to increase its firepower. We will come with a proposal on that because it will give every Member State the same opportunity to prepare for the future. This is not only about energy, this is about our global competitiveness and it is about our sovereignty.

Long live Europe.

Many thanks.

October 19, 2022
Ursula von der Leyen – 2022 Speech at the Tallinn Digital Summit

The speech made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on 10 October 2022.

My dear Kaja, dear Prime Minister Kallas,

Prime Minister Ngirente,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very glad to join you here today in Tallinn at the Digital Summit. Here in Estonia, the keyword of this conference – ‘connectivity’ – has a very special sound. You have next door a country that is trying to use our interconnections as a weapon against us. Because Russia is not only waging war on Ukraine. Russia is waging war on our energy, on our democracies and on our values. Estonia – like many of the Baltic States – has been warning Europe for years about the dangers of our dependency on Russian fossil fuels. You were right, and Europe should have followed your example earlier. Ever since you broke free from Soviet rule, you have been working very hard to get rid of Russian fossil fuels and to disconnect from the Russian grid. You have invested heavily in renewable energy, in LNG terminals, in new interconnectors with the rest of Europe. And on top, you have become global leaders in cybersecurity and in the digital field.

Today, you are standing strong before a hostile neighbour. So from a small country like yours, comes a great example for our entire European Union. This must be a lesson for all of us, especially as the war in Ukraine has now entered a new phase. Faced with the brave Ukrainian resistance, the Kremlin has once again escalated its aggression to a new level. Putin has launched Russia’s first mobilisation since World War II. He has used sham referenda in an illegal attempt to change international borders by force. All of this, while redoubling his efforts to destabilise global energy security. But this will only strengthen our resolve to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. But this new phase of the war also calls for renewed action on our energy independence, on our infrastructure, and on building new partnerships with the rest of the world. In short, it calls for a new investment into trusted connectivity.

Today, I would like to focus on three issues in particular. The first one is: We need to protect our critical infrastructure. The second topic is: We need to keep replacing unsustainable dependency with more balanced cooperation. And the third topic is: We need to continue to build trust in global connectivity.

Let me begin with the physical infrastructure that underpins connectivity. The acts of sabotage against the Nord Stream pipelines have shown how vulnerable our critical infrastructure is. Pipelines and underwater cables connect European citizens and the companies across the world. They are the lifelines of financial markets and global trade. And they are essential for services such as modern healthcare, for example, or energy. Submarine fibre-optic cables carry 99% of global internet traffic. And now, for the very first time in modern European history, this infrastructure has become a target. So the task ahead of us is clear: We need to better protect our lifelines of the world economy.

We have carved out five different strands of actions. Let me briefly reflect on them with you here. First of all, of course, we must be better prepared. The good news is that we have brand-new European legislation, which will strengthen the resilience of critical EU entities. With this new legislation that was done under the French Presidency, what we have to do now is implement it, put it on the ground, that it is really working and developing a track record. Second, we need to stress test our infrastructure. We need to identify the weak points and prepare our reaction to sudden disruptions. We all know how important stress tests are to make sure that everyone knows what to do in case of emergency. We will work with the Member States to do these stress tests in the field of energy and other high-risk sectors, such as offshore digital and electricity infrastructure, for example. The third point is: We will increase our capacity on the European level to respond through our Civil Protection Mechanism, if needed. With this, we can support Member States in case of disruption of critical infrastructure with very practical things – like fuel supplies, generators, shelter capacity. All these things have to be in place. And then, we will make best use of our satellite surveillance capacity to detect potential threats. We have this capacity, we should use it much more to really know what is going on in the different areas of our critical infrastructure. And last but not least, we will strengthen cooperation, of course, with NATO on this subject and partners, like for example our American friends. Critical infrastructure is the new frontier of warfare. And Europe will be prepared.

In the same spirit, we have to step up our support to our Ukrainian friends. Time and again – you have watched and you have been witnessing this in the last months – Russia has been trying to take down Ukraine’s IT systems. Therefore, the European Union has mobilised financial support for emergency cybersecurity to Ukraine. We have helped move government servers to safe locations. And this direct assistance is multiplied by Member States. Many thanks also to our host, Estonia, you have done a great job on that one. I know you have done a great job on that one because you understand very well, by bitter experience, that in the struggle between democracy and autocracy, the digital sphere is not a sideshow, but it is the front line. This is the critical infrastructure and the question of how we can better prepare to protect the physical infrastructure.

Let me move on to the second point which is that we have to replace unsustainable dependencies, which we do have, with balanced cooperation that we want with trusted partners. For that, we have to double down on our positive engagement with the rest of the world and continue to act in a spirit of openness, of cooperation, and of trust – that is the motto of this Summit. Just last year, just to give you some examples, we inaugurated the EllaLink transatlantic cable, connecting Europe with Latin America – revolutionary. And we are now deploying a new fibre-optic cable under the Black Sea. It will diversify internet access across Central Asia and reduce dependency on terrestrial cables that go through Russia. This project is one of the typical projects of Global Gateway – we have heard already a lot about it. Global Gateway, as you know, is our big investment project of EUR 300 billion for investments abroad in trusted connectivity. And I am very glad to see here the Prime Minister of Rwanda. We have, for example, a typical Global Gateway project that is building up vaccination manufacturing capacity. With the experience of the pandemic, we have decided to say: ‘Listen, there needs to be manufacturing capacity of mRNA vaccines in Africa, not only for COVID-19 but potentially to later fight malaria, tuberculosis and other deadly diseases.’ And here we have done what is typical for Global Gateway: come with public money but also come with our legal framework, for example for pharmaceuticals, that has to be in place; attract private capital; have a partner on the ground that is working with us to make sure that the project develops. That is one of the typical projects we have and we need more infrastructure like this in our neighbourhood managed and funded through Global Gateway. We also need this kind of infrastructure to connect Ukraine, to connect Moldova, Georgia and the Western Balkans more tightly to our Union. And we can do it. We have the experience. We have shown this. Let me give you a typical example: It was about two weeks after Russia’s invasion that we successfully connected the European electrical grid with the Ukrainian electrical grid. They decoupled from Russia. That was a move, I was told before the war, that was planned for 2024 – so two years ahead of us. We were able to manage that and to do that in two weeks. These are exactly the projects that have to be done through Global Gateway. Here, we needed to really join forces, of course to invest massively, but we did within two weeks what was planned for two years. So now Ukraine is an important new exporter of electricity to the European Union that creates a revenue stream for Ukraine. And our Union can rely on electricity from Ukraine to help tackle the energy crisis. And in case of need, we can provide them with electricity.

This is just one example in the broad attempt to get rid of Russian energy supplies. We have been working hard over the last seven months, since Russia invaded Ukraine – and we have been working with success to get rid of our dependency on Russian fossil fuels. We have completely cut off the supply of Russian coal. And if I can give you two figures concerning Russian gas: Last year, of all the gas imported to the European Union, 40% was Russian gas. In seven months, we have been able to decrease that dependency down to only 7.5% of Russian gas in the overall supply of European gas from abroad. Again, crucial was here to have the right infrastructure in place. And the good news is that Europe is making more progress by the day. The speed is accelerating because the pressure is high, and that is good. Just some days ago, we inaugurated a new gas interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece. It brings gas from Azerbaijan, and from Mediterranean LNG terminals, not only via Greece to Bulgaria but also to Romania, Serbia and North Macedonia. These examples, these interconnections are game changers for Europe’s energy supply and energy security. This means access to trusted and reliable sources of energy everywhere in our Union. And it means freedom from Russian dependency and freedom from Russian blackmail.

Dear Kaja, you were so right when you were reminding us of the real price tag that is attached to dependency on Russia. You have been describing it in your introductory remarks. We need to keep this firmly in mind as we transition to renewable sources of energy. Because, yes, it comes with an investment but it is worth it. Because if you look at the dependency, and the price tag that is coming with the dependency, it is much more needed to get rid of this dependency, invest in renewables and find your independence. Every kilowatt-hour of electricity or energy that we receive from solar or wind is not only good for our climate – it is also good for our climate and it is necessary – but it is good for our independence and our security of supply. If we invest more and more into renewables in the future, we have to be, also from the very start, vigilant and we have to be strategic. Because renewables – we want to produce them – often depend on scarce raw materials. And that is another topic that I want to raise here. You all know the magnets for wind turbines, the cells for solar panels, they all need rare minerals or rare raw materials, and you know the examples. By 2030, Europe’s demand for those rare earth metals will increase fivefold – five times what we use today, and today it is already a scarce resource. The first and foremost good news behind this fivefold increase is that it shows that our European Green Deal is moving fast. That is good news. The not so good news is that one country dominates the market: That is China. So we have to avoid falling into the same dependency on China – as we were with oil and gas from Russia. And we have to start now. That is why we are working on a European Critical Raw Materials Act. It will help to diversify our supply chains towards trusted partners – the motto of this Summit: ‘trusted connectivity’. And this will be another crucial domain for Global Gateway. Global Gateway will mobilise the public and private investment that is needed on the ground. Investments in projects abroad that connect us.

But we also have to do our own homework. And let me switch to topics we sometimes do not look at enough. Let me take the topic of semiconductors, for example, which is a good example of our overarching theme of new forms of cooperation. As you all now, semiconductors are in every digital device, from cars to phones to medical equipment. Without chips – no modern economy. This is clear. Let me give an example, how crucial these semiconductors are in the daily life. We have sanctions: The export of semiconductors to Russia. We have banned all export of semiconductors. The impact of these sanctions is now very real and tangible on the ground in Russia. The Russian military for example cannibalises by now refrigerators and washing machines to take out the semiconductors, trying to get the semiconductors for their military hardware.

Semiconductors are crucial. But not only for others, they are also crucial for us. Therefore, our aim is to increase our global market share to 20% by 2030. And we have all we need to achieve this. What are we doing? We have world-class research and testing facilities. This is attractive for investors – but not enough to create the necessary ecosystem. Thus, with our European Chips Act we have mobilised billions of investment for development, for mass production of next-generation chips. We have just approved, for example, the first state aid decision, giving the go-ahead to a EUR-730-million investment by a Franco-Italian company to build a new facility in Sicily. It will produce, for the very first time in Europe, large-scale silicon carbide wafers – the base of all semiconductors. And in the coming months, a trusted American company is set to break ground with its new chips plant in Germany – a EUR 17 billion investment. That is what trusted connectivity looks like in reality.

That brings me to my third and final point: It is about trusted connectivity. Who defines the rules of the game? High-tech is great – but what is the purpose you use it for? Who is setting the standards? Who is setting the standards that will govern and protect our societies? Is it the market? Is it the government like in China? Or is it the human-centric approach that is our European approach? Think of the individual and his or her rights. Take the GDPR, as you know, born in Europe, it might not be perfect – but for the very first time the rules of the game have been defined. And now they are setting data protection and they are setting standards, from here not only in Europe, but also in Silicon Valley for example. They are the benchmark for data protection in Silicon Valley. Or take our Digital Markets and Digital Services Act. Here again, Europe is on the vanguard, bringing the rules of the analogue world into the digital world. For the very first time, there are clear rules on how to deal with topics like hate speech, disinformation, terrorist content online. We are doing the same for product cybersecurity, with a regulation proposed next month.

Now, setting standards for Europe is good. But it is our engagement with our trusted partners that makes European standards finally global standards. This is one of the reasons for example why our work with the United States, and recently also with India, through our Trade and Technology Councils, is so important – set the standards with your friends. In addition, we have teamed up with the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure – you were describing it, Kaja. With our combined package of USD 600 billion, we are leveraging not just our investments, that is important, but also our standard-setting power. Thus, step by step, we are re-anchoring the values- and rules-based order on firmer ground in a modern economy. Working with friends, working with partners through trusted connectivity. The Roman statesman, Cicero, famously said: ‘The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.’ I am glad to be amongst friends. For we cannot always control what history has in store for us. But we can shape our fortunes, we can influence it – by standing tall for our values, and by standing united with our trusted partners and our friends.

Thank you very much.

October 10, 2022
Ursula von der Leyen – 2022 Statement on Russian Attack on Ukrainian Civilians

The statement made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on 10 October 2022.

I am shocked and appalled by the vicious attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Russia once again has shown to the world what it stands for – it is terror and brutality. Those who are responsible have to be held accountable.

We are mourning the victims and I send my heartfelt condolences to our Ukrainians friends. I know that Ukrainians will not be intimidated.

And Ukrainians know that we will stand by their side, as long as it takes.

October 10, 2022
Liz Truss – 2022 Comments on European Leaders’ Meeting

The comments made by Liz Truss, the Prime Minister, on 6 October 2022.

Leaders leave this summit with greater collective resolve to stand up to Russian aggression. What we have seen in Prague is a forceful show of solidarity with Ukraine, and for the principles of freedom and democracy.

The UK will continue to work with our allies to deliver on the British people’s priorities, including ending our reliance on authoritarian regimes for energy and reducing costs for families, tackling people smuggling gangs, and standing up to tyrants.

October 7, 2022
Liz Truss – 2022 Keynote Article on the Future of Europe

The article written by Liz Truss, the Prime Minister, published in The Times on 6 October 2022 and released as a press release by 10 Downing Street.

Security, energy and migration are three of the most urgent priorities for the British people, so they are top of my agenda too. That’s why I am travelling to Prague for today’s European leaders’ meeting.

These vital issues affect the whole of our continent, so it is right that we find common cause with our European friends and allies. It’s also why we want to see a strong voice for non-EU countries like Ukraine, Norway and Switzerland.

Today’s meeting is not an EU construct or an EU alternative. I am very clear about that. It brings together governments from across Europe, around a third of whom are outside the EU. A post-Brexit Britain, as an independent country outside the EU, should be involved in discussions that affect the entire continent and all of us here at home. We are taking part as an independent sovereign nation, and we will act as one.

Brexit was never about the UK stepping away from our proud and historic role as a leading nation in the region and beyond. We always believed we would find new ways of working that reflected our shared values and interests.

Our actions in Ukraine have shown this to be true. No European country has done more than the UK to arm the Ukrainians in their fight for freedom and to lead the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia. Yet our actions are all the stronger because of the way that we collaborated with our European friends.

We have worked with the EU through the G7 and helped Sweden and Finland with their accession to Nato, which remains the bedrock of our collective defence. We have co-operated militarily with European allies through the Joint Expeditionary Force. We are training Ukrainian soldiers together. And we are strengthening partnerships with other European friends, including Norway on energy security and Switzerland on science and research.

So I welcome the opportunity to work with leaders from across the continent in this new forum. But this must not cut across the G7 and Nato, and it must not be a talking shop. I want to see concrete action and delivery on three key priorities.

First, we must ensure that Putin is defeated. His attempts at mobilisation and annexation are a show of weakness. Ukraine’s counter offensive is succeeding, and Russia’s will is fracturing. This is the moment to redouble our resolve. The UK is sending £2.3 billion of military support to Ukraine this year — and we will match or exceed that next year.

I will urge my European friends to continue to work with us in providing more weapons, imposing more sanctions, and backing Ukraine in pushing Russian forces out.

Second, we must end our addiction to Russian hydrocarbons. Yesterday at the Conservative Party conference, I set out our plan for growth and the vital importance of becoming less reliant on authoritarians for our energy. It is right that we talk with our European allies about how we do that collectively. Putin is hoping he can divide us in a scramble for energy supplies. We must show him that he is wrong.

The UK sends and receives both gas and electricity through the undersea cables and pipelines that link us with neighbours like France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Today we must all commit to keeping those connections open this winter so we keep the lights on across the continent.

The UK will also play a leading role in protecting critical energy infrastructure. This week the Royal Navy deployed HMS Enterprise and HMS Somerset to work with Norway and our allies in the North and Norwegian Seas.

Together, we will deter any threat to underwater pipelines.

We must also act now to make sure we are never in this position again. We must usher in a new era of European energy independence, dramatically accelerating our own energy production. Today I will be discussing deeper bilateral nuclear co-operation with President Macron, including progress on Sizewell C. We are ready to work with our European friends to develop next-generation interconnectors in the North Sea. And I hope to make progress towards new partnerships on offshore wind, all of which will help to make the UK a net energy exporter by 2040.

Third, we must use the opportunity of this forum to focus on migration. We are proud of the way that we have opened our homes to 130,000 Ukrainian refugees. But we need a stronger response to the crime gangs that exploit desperate people. Today we will be deepening our joint working with France, the Netherlands and other countries along the migration route to step up our collective response to this trans-national tragedy.

I believe that with authoritarian states undermining stability and security around the world, democratic nations need to be bolder and more innovative in how they collaborate to ensure that our shared values prevail.

It is in this spirit that I will join my fellow European leaders today and ensure that this new forum delivers for the British people.

October 6, 2022
Ursula von der Leyen – 2022 Speech on Russia’s Escalation of its War of Aggression Against Ukraine

The speech made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on 5 October 2022.

Dear President Metsola, dear Roberta,

Honourable Members,

Since we last met to discuss the state of our Union, the Kremlin has escalated its aggression to a new level. Putin has launched Russia’s first mobilisation since World War II, treating hundreds of thousands of young Russians as cannon fodder. He uses sham referenda in an illegal attempt to change international borders by force. And since many months, he is using energy as a weapon. The Russian war causes economic and social hardship. It places a heavy burden on our citizens and on the economy in our Single Market. Rising energy costs in particular are leading to reduced purchasing power for citizens and loss of competitiveness for companies.

Over the course of the last seven months, together with our Member States, we have already taken important steps. We have diminished our gas consumption by around 10%. Russian gas supplies have decreased from 40% to now down to 7.5% of pipeline gas. We have compensated this reduction by increased imports of LNG and pipeline gas, mainly from our reliable suppliers like the US and Norway. Gas storage in the EU is now at 90%. This is 15% higher than on the same day last year. In addition, three weeks ago in this hemicycle, I announced that we will skim the exceptional profits made by energy companies and use them to support vulnerable citizens and businesses. Last week, this has been enshrined in EU law. We achieved this in lightning speed, also thanks to the outstanding work of the Czech Presidency. And yesterday, the Council reached agreement on REPowerEU.

So we have key instruments in place to make it through the winter – storage and savings; to jointly purchase gas – Platform; to get us out of the Russian grip – agreement with US; to redistribute the windfall profits to support those in need – electricity emergency intervention; and to invest in the future – REPowerEU.

The measures we have put in place provide us with a first buffer of protection. Thanks to these, we can and will now step up to the next level. I will lay out a roadmap in a letter to Leaders in view of our meeting in Prague later this week. It includes the following key components: We will step up our negotiations with trusted partners – for example with Norway – to dampen the price we pay for gas imports. As European Union, we have considerable market power. And many of our suppliers want to conclude deals with us, which are beneficial for both sides. We will also strengthen our Energy Platform. This is in our collective interest. We have to avoid a scenario where Member States are again outbidding each other on world markets and driving prices up for Europe.

My next point is on gas prices. We use gas in three domains: industry, heating and electricity. Let me start with electricity. High gas prices are driving electricity prices. We have to limit this inflationary impact of gas on electricity – everywhere in Europe. This is why we are ready to discuss a cap on the price of gas that is used to generate electricity. This cap would also be a first step on the way to a structural reform of the electricity market.

But we also have to look at gas prices beyond the electricity market. We will also work together with Member States to reduce gas prices and limit volatility and the impact of price manipulation by Russia. In March, we have already offered this as an option. We have said that it can give an important signal that the EU will not pay any price for gas. We qualified such a price cap as having an immediate impact on price levels. But that it entails drawbacks, in terms of security of supply of gas. The situation has critically evolved since then.

Today, compared to March, more Member States are open for it and we are better prepared. Such a cap on gas prices must be designed properly to ensure security of supply. And it is a temporary solution to cater for the fact that the TTF – our main price benchmark – is no longer representative of our market that includes more LNG today. It is a temporary solution until a new EU price index ensuring a better functioning of the market is developed. The Commission has kick-started work on this.

Honourable Members,

These are far-reaching measures. I wholeheartedly agree with you when you say in the resolution you will adopt today that exceptional times require exceptional emergency measures, where the Union needs to act as jointly and united as ever. So, in pursuing our action, two things remain paramount: acting in unity and acting in solidarity. We need to protect the fundamentals of our economy, and in particular our Single Market. This is the strength of the European Union. That is where the wealth of the European Union comes from. Without a common European solution, we risk fragmentation. So it is paramount that we preserve a level playing field for all in the European Union.

With REPowerEU, we have developed a crucial instrument to accelerate the transition to energy independence. It will allow to invest in infrastructure, like pipelines, interconnectors or renewables. And it allows to support businesses and households to invest in energy efficiency – like insulating houses or installing heat pumps. So I think we should further boost REPowerEU with additional funding. This way all European states can accelerate the necessary investments. We modernise the energy infrastructure. And we preserve the level playing field. And we secure our European competitiveness on global markets. And we have to do it as Europeans, together and jointly.

Honourable Members,

There is another pressing issue, which we have to address today. The acts of sabotage against Nord Stream pipelines have shown how vulnerable our energy infrastructure is. For the first time in recent history, it has become a target. Pipelines and underwater cables connect European citizens and companies to the world. They are the lifelines of data and energy. It is in the interest of all Europeans to better protect this critical infrastructure.

For this, we will present a five-point plan. First, we must be better prepared. We have very recently agreed new legislation which will strengthen the resilience of critical EU entities. The responsible Parliament committee will be voting on it next week. And we can and should already now be working on this basis.

Second, we need to stress test our infrastructure. We need to identify its weak points and prepare our reaction to sudden disruptions. We will work with Member States to ensure effective stress tests in the energy sector. This then should be followed by other high-risk sectors, such as offshore digital and electricity infrastructure.

Third, we will increase our capacity to respond through our Union Civil Protection Mechanism already in place. With this, we can support Member States in addressing the disruption of critical infrastructure – for example, with fuel, generators or shelter capacity.

Fourth, we will make best use of our satellite surveillance capacity to detect potential threats.

And finally, we will strengthen cooperation with NATO and key partners like the US on this critical issue.

Honourable Members,

This war has entered a new phase. The Ukrainian army keeps reporting impressive successes in its fight against the aggressor. We all saw the images of deeply relieved people welcoming Ukrainian soldiers. And I could see with my own eyes, three weeks ago, that life has returned to Kyiv. Of course, it is the bravery of the Ukrainian people that made it possible. But Europe’s contribution has also made a huge difference. Our backing has helped Ukraine face down the invader. Only a strong and steadfast Europe will stop Putin. This is the moment to stay the course and support Ukraine as long as it takes.

Long live Europe.

October 5, 2022
Ylva Johansson – 2022 Speech on General Visa Issuance in Relation to Russian Applicants
The speech made by Ylva Johansson, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, on 30 September 2022.

Firstly I want to say – Putin cannot win, and will not win

Every step he takes show we cannot trust him, we cannot deal with him or show weakness

The recent ‘sham referenda’ in occupied Ukrainian and the mobilisation of Russian citizens confirm this.

Now following the mobilisation order, we can see Russian citizen trying to enter the EU.

That is, from certain perspectives, understandable, they don’t want to go to war in another country that has been occupied by their leader.

This said, avoiding the mobilisation does not necessarily equate to opposing the war as such. In addition, it cannot be excluded that Russian citizens trying to circumvent the mobilisation by getting into the EU, also constitute a threat to public policy, the internal security or the international relations of a Member State or the Union as a whole.

That’s why, on our external borders we should be very vigilant regarding letting people from Russia in.

We already abolished the VISA facilitation agreement, we adopted guidelines for Member States – so already now it is very cumbersome and expensive to enter the EU from Russia as a tourist.

Now we take one more step.

We must ensure the security of Europe and its citizens.

We have to keep in mind – to come to Europe is a privilege, not a fundamental right.

We should stay open, of course, to dissidents, journalists independent from the Russian government.

These are bravely and actively opposing the Putin Regime.

But we should very carefully scrutinize case by case every application.

And we must take the geopolitical aspects into account.

What is new in the Guidance?

The Guidance we are adopting today covers both Visas and the management of External Borders
1. On Visas we have updated our previous guidance
1. New visas
- Stricter assessments and security over new visas
  - Schengen visas are issued for short stays of 90 days cannot cannot provide a long-term solution for Russian citizens seeking to avoid mobilisation.
  - For Schengen visas we have restricted our approach for all Russians, including for Russian citizens escaping the military mobilisation order.
  - MS should apply a strict approach assessing the justification of the journey.
  - It should be ascertained whether there are reasonable doubts as to the reliability of the statements made by the applicant or his/her intention to leave the territory of the MS before the expiry of the visa applied for.
  - This is without prejudice to the right of such individuals to seek international protection under the EU asylum laws or the possibility to apply for national long-stay visas or residence permits at EU consulates.
- Restrictive approach of place of visa application
  - Following President Putin’s military mobilisation order, significant numbers of Russian conscripts have fled to neighbouring and other countries with the aim to avoid the Russian army. There are widespread expectations that many will seek to obtain Schengen visas in view of continuing their journey inside the EU.
  - In our guidance we make it clear that – pursuant to Article 6 of the Visa Code – applications should only be examined by the consulate of the competent MS in whose jurisdiction the applicant legally resides.
  - On this basis Member States should not accept Schengen visa applications from citizens of the Russian Federation that are present in a third country, such as for example Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates etc. for short stay or for purposes of transit.
  - Such applicants should be directed to the consulate competent for their place of residence, normally in the Russian Federation.
  - Exceptions can be made in cases of hardship and for humanitarian reasons (e.g. family visits due to sudden serious illness of a relative residing in the EU, dissidents, human rights defenders).
- Confirms the humanitarian exceptions and clarifies its individual application
  - The Visa Code contains derogatory provisions allowing for the issuing of short stay visas on humanitarian grounds, for reasons of national interest or because of international obligations.
- - This is relevant, for instance, in case of visa applications lodged by dissidents, independent journalists, human rights defenders and representatives of civil society organisations and their close family members, that are not controlled by the government of the Russian Federation and their close family members.
  - Member States should apply these derogatory provisions after a thorough assessment. It is therefore up to Member States, based on an individual examination, to assess if applications by Russian citizens can qualify as falling under the category “humanitarian grounds”. There is no unique set of documents that would prove that a person qualifies for a visa on humanitarian grounds, because individual circumstances differ too widely and need a case-by-case assessment.
1. Revocation and annulment of valid visas
- Stricter scrutiny of valid visas irrespective of the issuing Member State
  - MS should also adopt a strict approach with respect to reassessing visas already issued to any citizen of the Russian Federation, similarly to the principles applied when assessing new visa applications
  - In case there are grounds for annulment/revocation, such a decision may be taken by the border guard irrespective of the visa issuing MS. The authority should inform the issuing MS accordingly as well as affix the corresponding stamp on the visa sticker and enter the information on the annulment/revocation in the Visa Information System.
1. Guidelines on controls of Russian citizens at the external borders (Schengen Border Code)
1. Coordinated and through checks at the external borders to ensure protection of the Schengen area
Coordinated strong checks at the EU external borders protect not only security in the MS concerned, but also the integrity of the Schengen area as a whole.

Coherent and comprehensive checks of Russian citizens
- Border guards at all the border crossing points at the external borders should assess in a coherent fashion whether a Russian citizen crossing the EU’s external border fulfils the entry conditions into the Schengen area. This is to avoid that an applicant who has been denied entry by a Member State is admitted by another one.
- In accordance with Article 30 of the Visa Code, the mere possession of a visa does not confer an automatic right of entry into the Schengen area.
- If the entry of a Russian citizen is refused on the grounds that they are considered to pose a threat to the public policy or internal security of the MS entry should be refused.
- With a view to carrying out such an individual assessment, border guards should notably conduct a thorough interview with a Russian citizen seeking to enter the Schengen area. In addition to a check on the basis of travel document data, a check using fingerprints in the Schengen Information System should be carried out, to also detect alerts on persons using false or unknown identities.
- In this context, border guards should also take into account that allowing a Russian citizen to enter the Schengen area at a time when their country of origin is engaging in an illegal military aggression against an EU candidate country, could seriously harm the international relations of any MS with Ukraine, with another MS, or the EU as such. Therefore, the Commission recommends that border guard authorities consider the current geopolitical context when carrying out their case-by-case assessment. In light of the additional workload this reinforced scrutiny will lead to, Member States are encouraged to transfer additional staff to the border guards force located at the external borders concerned.
However, the heightened scrutiny must not lead to denying entry to persons that have a legitimate interest to leave the Russian and should be performed in a way that preserve the right to seek asylum and prevents risks of non refoulement.

Carriers Liability

The carriers are obliged to immediately assume responsibility for third-country nationals who are refused entry into the territory of one of the MS. r.

It is therefore important that carriers remain vigilant when verifying the presence of travel documents required for entry. The Member States are encouraged to offer practical support to the carriers in this regard.

Monitoring

The Commission will closely monitor the implementation of these new guidelines, in particular through the Blueprint Network. We will also discuss their implementation with Member States in the context of IPCR and adapt them in accordance with the evolving reality on the ground.
September 30, 2022
Ursula von der Leyen – 2022 Statement on New Sanctions Against Russia

The statement made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on 28 September 2022.

We wanted to present together the eighth package of sanctions. Last week, Russia has escalated the invasion of Ukraine to a new level. The sham referenda organised in the territories that Russia occupied are an illegal attempt to grab land and to change international borders by force. The mobilisation and Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons are further steps on the escalation path.

We do not accept the sham referenda nor any kind of annexation in Ukraine. And we are determined to make the Kremlin pay for this further escalation. So today, we are together proposing a new package of biting sanctions against Russia.

The first part concerns the listing of individuals and entities that will be presented by the HR/VP, Josep Borrell, in a moment.

I want to focus on the second part of these sanctions that will further restrict trade. By that, we isolate and hit Russia’s economy even more. So we propose sweeping new import bans on Russian products. This will keep Russian products out of the European market and deprive Russia of an additional EUR 7 billion in revenues. We are also proposing to extend the list of products that cannot be exported to Russia anymore. The aim is here to deprive the Kremlin’s military complex of key technologies. For example, this includes additional aviation items, or electronic components and specific chemical substances. These new export bans will additionally weaken Russia’s economic base and will weaken its capacity to modernise. We will also propose additional bans on providing European services to Russia, and a prohibition for EU nationals to sit on governing bodies of Russian state-owned enterprises. Russia should not benefit from European knowledge and expertise.

The third complex is concerning Russian oil. As you know, Russia is using the profits from the sale of fossil fuels to finance its war. Concerning Russian oil, you might recall that we have already agreed to ban seaborne Russian crude oil in the European Union as of 5 December. But we also know that certain developing countries still need some Russian oil supplies, but at low prices. Thus, the G7 has agreed in principle to introduce a price cap on Russian oil for third countries. This oil price cap will help reduce Russia’s revenues on the one hand and it will keep global energy markets stable on the other hand. Today, in this package, here, we are laying the legal basis for this oil price cap.

And my last point that I want to focus on is: We are stepping up our efforts to crack down on circumvention of sanctions. Here, we are adding a new category. In this category, we will be able to list individuals if they circumvent our sanctions. So for example, if they buy goods in the European Union, bring them to third countries and then to Russia, this would be a circumvention of our sanctions, and those individuals could be listed. I think this will have a major deterring effect. Our sanctions have hit Putin’s system hard. They have made it more difficult for him to sustain the war. And we are increasing our efforts here and moving forward.

September 30, 2022
Ursula von der Leyen – 2022 Speech at Princeton University

The speech made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, at Princeton University on 22 September 2022.

Dear Dean Jamal,

Dear Andy, Professor Moravcsik,

Thank you very much for welcoming me back to Princeton,

Distinguished members of the Princeton faculty and administration,

And most importantly, dear students,

Indeed, this is the United Nations General Assembly week right now. And you can imagine that one dominant topic was and is the war that Russia unleashed against Ukraine. It was 24 February when Russia invaded Ukraine and brought war back to Europe. I visited Kyiv for the first time since the beginning of the war round about five to six weeks after the invasion started. And I went to the town of Bucha. Before the war, Bucha was a quiet, friendly suburb on the outskirts of Kyiv. It has been occupied by Russian troops. Two days before I went to Bucha, it had been liberated by Ukrainian armed forces. When I went there, I saw mass graves; I saw the body bags lying there – men, women, children. I saw these brutal scars of missiles and bombs that had been aimed deliberately at residential areas, hospitals, schools kindergartens. So I basically saw first-hand the reality of Putin’s war.

Last week, as you said, Andy, I was again in Kyiv and I was in Irpin, also on the outskirts of Kyiv. You still see the scars of the bombing of houses and hospitals and schools. I spoke, for example, to schoolchildren. And while we were speaking, when I visited that school, there was a missile alarm so we had to go to the shelter. And they told me that it was the third time on that day that they went to the shelter. That is their daily experience. But I also saw that life has come back to Kyiv. The streets were filled with people, the shops were open. People in Kyiv try to win their life back. The Ukrainian army is making impressive advances, liberating many towns and villages, and forcing the Russian army to retreat. Of course, I know that this all needs consolidation, but the success of the last days is lifting spirits – and not only the Ukrainian ones.

I know that some are calling to stop the fighting. But I must say that the reality is as follows: If Russia stops fighting, the war is over. If Ukraine stops fighting, there will be no more Ukraine. Much is at stake. Not just for Ukraine – but also for Europe, for the international community and for the global order. Russia has invaded Ukraine with the goal to wipe the country from the map – that is what Putin says and writes. So Ukrainians are fighting for their survival, but they are also fighting for global values. This is not only a war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine. This is a war on our values; this is a war on the rules-based international order. This is an attack on the UN Charter. I mean, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations, we should not forget it. This is trampling on the UN Charter. And this is a war about autocracy against democracy. And I tell you: Many, many worldwide are watching very precisely what the outcome is going to be.

From day one on, the United States and the European Union and many other friends have stood at Ukraine’s side with weapons, and it is amazing to see the bravery of the Ukrainians fighting for their survival; with funds; with hospitality, on the European Union side, for more than 8.1 million refugees in seven months; and with the toughest sanctions the world has ever seen. Let me tell you that these sanctions have only been possible because of a very, very close cooperation with our friends in the United States. As you said, I have been in politics now round about 20 years, 14 of them in the government of Angela Merkel. Never ever have I experienced such an intense, trustful and detailed cooperation with the White House. And therefore, I think the saying is right: When you face a crisis, you know who your true friends are. Since last year already – it was around Christmas or New Year when Putin had started, as you might remember, to deploy 10,000 troops to encircle Ukraine –, our teams started to work on the sanctions to align the European system with the American system. They are very different but the effect of the sanctions should be the same. And we do not want extraterritorial effects but sovereign effects from the European Union but also all the other G7 members that joined us and, of course, the United States. And this intense work over weeks then had as consequence that when the invasion started – on day two, day four, day six –, we could immediately deliver three very heavy packages of sanctions that are unfolding their effect right now. The sanctions are biting. Russia has tried everything to camouflage the effects. And as this is not a free country, you can twitch and turn around facts and figures into what you want them to be. Or you can say what you want and hide what you want. But if you look at the financial sector in Russia, it is on life support now. Russia’s industry is in tatters. It is very interesting to see the military complex, because the military complex now has a very hard time to replenish what is necessary for the armed forces. Because the updated technologies are missing, these are coming from our side and are no longer delivered, there is a ban on the exports. The spare parts are missing. So you observe now that the Russians are cannibalising their refrigerators and their dishwashers to get semiconductors they can use for the military complex. Basically, the Kremlin has put Russia’s economy on the path to oblivion. And I want to make it very clear that the sanctions are here to stay. This is the time for resolve and not for appeasement.

The same is true for our financial support to Ukraine. So far, Europeans have provided more than EUR 19 billion in financial assistance since the beginning of the war. And that is without counting our military support. The message is: We are in it for the long haul.

I grew up in a divided country. I was lucky. I was born in West Germany, in the western part of Europe, in a free and democratic country. I vividly remember the times of the Iron Curtain. When I was your age, student age, when we wanted to drive to the island of West Berlin that was surrounded by the GDR, I remember, still today, the feeling of being terrified when you were driving on the corridor through the death zone. Because you knew, one false move and there is no rule of law anymore to protect you. So I remember this feeling very well, what the Iron Curtain and the Wall, and the death zone were all about. I also remember, of course, in 1990 the jubilant days, when the Iron Curtain came down, when the Wall in Berlin came down, and when the countries behind the Iron Curtain broke free. Indeed, the Baltics, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Czechia – you name it, so many others. Today, there is the same wind of change that is once again blowing across the continent. Because Ukraine has now applied for membership in the European Union. With their decision to apply for the candidate status in order for Ukraine to join the European Union, they have very clearly chosen the path of freedom. And with our decision to grant them candidate status, we have chosen to stand by Ukraine as long as it takes.

This war will change Europe and the world fundamentally. Take energy, I want to speak a little bit about energy. At the beginning of the war, Europe was heavily dependent on Russian fossil fuels: coal, oil, gas. 60% of the Russian budgets’ revenues at that time was from fossil fuels. So you can imagine how important the fossil fuel export was and is. Putin has built very strategically, and later on used, our dependency to blackmail us, basically to suffocate us, with lowering – already in hindsight, I see it – the gas supply last year to the storage to make sure that we have not enough gas in the storages to make it through the winter, and slowly but surely cutting the gas supplies to one Member State after another. At the moment, he prefers to flare the gas – that is literally burning the gas – instead of delivering it, as he should, if you look at the contracts. I guess that he obviously thought that he could intimidate us and divide us. But let me tell you that just the opposite is the case. This blackmailing has really united us. And it is a turning point, because we have decided, as a European Union: We will end our reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, Europe has banned Russian coal imports completely. We have been winding down and are winding down the oil imports from Russia, down to 10% by the end of the year. Gas is interesting. Let me give you three figures: If you look at the overall global pipeline gas demand, 75% was the demand of the European Union on global pipeline gas supplies. So we are a huge client – very important. Half of it was imports from Russia. Today, we are down, on Russian imports, to 25%. One quarter is left. How are we doing this? We are diversifying away from the Russian supply towards other suppliers that are democratic friends and trustworthy. First of all, of course, our friends in the United States. I closed an agreement with President Biden on LNG imports that really, really helped us and saved us in these difficult times. It is very successful. The second point that we are doing, besides diversifying away, is saving energy. The energy that is not being used is good energy. We save it to the storage for the coming winter.

Of course, this comes at a price. So let me tell you that we all feel that the global energy market is very tight. The whole Russian supply is missing, so we are demanding energy on the global market. Therefore, the global market is really tight. Energy prices are skyrocketing, as you will observe in Europe. This is a heavy burden on people’s and businesses’ shoulders. We are taxing now the windfall profits of electricity-producing companies to have a targeted support for vulnerable households and vulnerable businesses. We are doing all this not only because it is necessary but also because we know that this is the way to dry out Putin’s war chest. And we know that we are doing this because with energy independence and energy freedom comes greater power to defend the global rules. This is the immediate response. But there is of course a mid-term and long-term response.

Ultimately, the best way to get rid of fossil fuels is a massive investment in renewable energy. Every kilowatt-hour that we are producing electricity from sun, from wind, from hydropower, from geothermal, from biomass, from green hydrogen – you name it – is not only good for the climate – it is also good for the climate that is the most important part – but it makes us independent. It is home-grown; it is security of energy supply; it created good jobs at home. If you look at the price today of solar and wind energy, it is cheaper by now than fossil fuels. This is why, for example, we are investing heavily in offshore wind parks. The biggest one worldwide is now starting in the North Sea. When it is ready to go, it will heath 50 million European homes throughout the whole year.

So in sum, the era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe is coming to an end. And this is a big geopolitical shift, because if you look at the map, the demand and supply from Russia is coming to an end. This demand from the European Union will now switch towards the Global South. Because if we do it right, we are not only diversifying to other gas or fossil fuel suppliers, but we massively invest now in renewable energies, in regions where the resources are in abundance. If you look at the other side of the Mediterranean, in the European Union, it is the African continent: sun, wind, partially hydropower, in abundance. And if we invest in the infrastructure, we do not only gain freedom from the blackmail that we have experienced with Russia, but we are also fighting the right cause against climate change.

The fight against climate change is the biggest one. And I want us – the Europe Union and the United States – to be allies in that fight. Global warming is the real crisis that is overshadowing everything. We know that climate change is man-made. The body of evidence is overwhelming. So it is us. The impact is tangible, you know it: floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, melting glaciers, rising sea levels. I had yesterday a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Pakistan: three-quarter of the country is inundated – climate change, it is nothing but climate change. So it is very bad. But there is a glimpse of hope, because if it is true that climate change is man-made, we can do something about it. That is the good news and the bad news. And that is what the European Green Deal is all about. When I came into office in 2019, this was the first initiative I took. Our strategy, the European Green Deal, wants to transform our economy, so that we preserve and restore nature. We need to decarbonise our economy; we need to move towards the circular economy; we need to develop a way of life and work that gives our planet a real fighting chance for the next generation, for you. So we have, as the European Union, cast in law our goals for 2030 and climate neutrality for 2050. We want to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. And we are the first highly industrialised continent that has put a concrete plan on the table on how we want to get there. So pieces of legislation, legal acts to make this transformational change happen.

What are the principles? The first one is: CO2 needs a price, because nature cannot pay the price anymore. Those who emit CO2 must pay. Therefore, we have put in place an Emissions Trading System: If you want to emit CO2, you pay. If you want to avoid that, you go and innovate into clean technologies. Second principle: The transition has to be just, otherwise it will not happen. So we invest massively to support the regions that have to leapfrog forward, for example coal-abating regions that have to leapfrog forward into completely different industries. And we have a Social Climate Fund to support the small incomes and the vulnerable businesses that have no leeway to adapt to cleaner mobility, to insulated houses, to better heating systems and all that is necessary to change. The third principle is: We need massive investments in innovation and infrastructure. That is the point where NextGenerationEU comes into play. I called it NextGenerationEU because we raised EUR 800 billion on the capital markets to invest in projects that will serve the next generation. EUR 360 billion of these will go into projects of the European Green Deal. And I am very glad that the United States is matching that now. I was happy to hear that from this climate package, USD 369 billion, I think, are going into green projects, projects fighting climate change. The fourth principle is, and that follows from it, that the fight against global warming is a global one, a global task. Europe is responsible for 9% of the global emissions. We need everyone on board. Therefore, I very much welcome President Biden’s strong commitment to also become climate-neutral by 2050. And last but not least, the fifth and last principle is: We consider the European Green Deal as a huge business opportunity – our new growth strategy. If we master the turnaround, those who have innovated and developed the clean solutions will be the front-runners. They will have the first-mover advantage. Then the whole world will be asking for their technologies. This is the reason why we have to prepare now if we want to be competitive in the future.

This brings me to one afterthought. I have been speaking about energy, I have been speaking about dependency, the European Green Deal or fighting climate change. The green transition but also the digital transition, I must say, will massively increase our needs for raw materials. Lithium for batteries; silicon metal for chips; rare earths to produce magnets, for example for electric vehicles. Demand for those raw materials and rare earths will presumably at least double until 2030. The good news is: That shows that the European Green Deal and the green transformation overall worldwide is progressing fast. The not-so-good news is: One country dominates the market. Out of the 30 critical raw materials, today 10 are mostly sourced from China. And China basically controls the global processing industry. Almost 90% of rare earths and 60% of lithium are processed in China. We have to avoid falling into the same trap and dependency as we did with oil and gas. So we have to be very careful not to replace one old dependency with a new one.

And that brings me back to where I started: Democracy versus autocracy. Each of our democracies is very unique and different. Because ultimately, they have been shaped by our people, by our history, by our backgrounds, our cultures, our constitutions. But in the very end, democracies in all forms come down to one single point. And that is: It gives people a voice. It gives the ability to change things at the ballot box. In democracies, we even fight for the right to be against us. That is democracy. To be able to speak you mind. To change your mind, if you want to. To be free to be yourself so that if you are different from the majority, you are equal before the law. It is the accountability to all, and not only to those who have voted for you. That is democracy. A system where power is given and taken away by the citizens and framed by checks and balances. And we see what the alternative is. At the beginning of this year, Russia and China declared an ‘unlimited friendship’. And despite the fact that cracks have appeared in the last days, both continue to aim for a fundamentally different vision of the future. I believe we have to take this challenge very seriously. We need to defend the open and inclusive international order – both in the United States and the European Union, and beyond. Those who were lucky enough to be born and raised in democracies – like me – can often take the democracy just for granted. It was always there. I have always lived in a democracy. But now I realise that it is not going to be here if I do not stand up for this democracy. Those who have lived in autocracies and authoritarian regimes will know all too well how precious freedom is. In Europe, we have learnt that we must always work on improving democracy – because we know how quickly and how devastatingly history can change. We know that the opponents of democracy today are using sophisticated, new tools, modern technologies to oppress and manipulate through systematic disinformation. Disinformation is not a partisan issue, it is a societal one. Because it seeks to muddy the waters so much that truth and facts become impossible to distinguish from lies and falsehoods. So in the very end, democracy needs us – each and every one of us, explicitly. By that, I want to address you, the students, the faculty members, the administration here in this room: You have the privilege to study and work in an institution that is based on a long tradition to unveil truth through critical discourse, through evidence-based research, respect for facts and figures, the understanding of history. These are the tools and the ingredients to dismantle disinformation. You have a mission. As politicians, we have a mission, too, but you have a mission. Or in the words of Princeton’s informal motto: In the nation’s service and in the service of humanity.

Many thanks for your attention.

September 27, 2022