00:00Madame Presidente de Roberta, Deputy Minister Raúna, dear Marilena,
00:07Honorable Members, let me start with the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
00:14For decades, Ayatollah Khamenei ruled through repression, violence and fear.
00:20Under his rule, Iranians lived under a system that silenced dissent and crushed basic freedoms.
00:31Earlier this year, hundreds of thousands of young Iranians took to the streets to demand a better future.
00:39They were met with brutal repression.
00:43More than 17,000 young men and women were killed as the regime clung to power.
00:50But the crimes of this regime go back decades.
00:54It imprisoned and tortured its own citizens.
00:57It sponsored terrorism across the region and even on European soil.
01:02And it provided crucial support to Russia's brutal war against Ukraine.
01:10There should be no tears shed for such a regime.
01:21Many Iranians have celebrated Khamenei's downfall.
01:25They hope that this moment can open a path towards a free Iran.
01:30That is what the Iranian people deserve.
01:33Freedom, dignity and the right to decide their own future.
01:39But allow me to make one important point.
01:44Seeing the world as it is in no way diminishes our determination to fight for the world as we want
01:54it.
01:54The European Union was founded as a peace project.
01:59Our unwavering commitment to the pursuit of peace, to the principles of the UN Charter and to international law
02:09are as central today as they were at our creation.
02:15And we will always uphold these principles.
02:25Honourable Members, Europe's first responsibility is to protect our citizens
02:29and to prepare for the impacts of this conflict.
02:33And Deputy Minister, dear Marie-Lena, I want also to be very clear.
02:40All of us stand here in full solidarity with Cyprus.
02:45Your security is our security.
02:53Honourable Members, we are also seeing the impact of the situation in the Middle East on energy.
02:59Thanks to the actions we have taken in the recent years,
03:03Europe is now far less exposed to fossil fuels imports.
03:08Our diversification efforts are paying off.
03:11But this does not mean that we are immune to price shocks.
03:16Energy markets are global.
03:19Disruptions in the Gulf quickly affect prices everywhere.
03:24We are already seeing price spikes.
03:26And this is why the G7 energy ministers met yesterday to be followed by a video call by G7 leaders.
03:35But no matter what we do, in terms of measures,
03:41as long as we import a significant share of fossil fuels from unstable regions,
03:49we are vulnerable and we are dependent.
03:53And this energy always comes at a cost.
03:57I want to give you just an example.
04:00Since the beginning of this conflict,
04:03gas prices have risen by 50%
04:06and oil prices have risen by 27%.
04:10If you translate this in euros,
04:13the 10 days of war have already cost European taxpayers an additional 3 billion euros in fossil fuel imports.
04:26That is the price of our dependence.
04:31And, Honourable Members,
04:34fact is,
04:35we have energy sources that are homegrown,
04:39renewables and nuclear.
04:41Their prices have remained the same over the last 10 days.
04:46Yet, in current crisis,
04:48some argue that we should abandon our long-term strategy
04:53and even go back to Russian fossil fuels.
04:57This would be a strategic blunder.
05:00It would make us more dependent,
05:02more vulnerable and weaker.
05:05So, we should stay the course of our long-term strategy.
05:09We can be more pragmatic,
05:11we can be smart in its implementation,
05:13no question,
05:14but the direction of travel is the right one.
05:17Now, where do we stand today?
05:21Households and companies face pressure now.
05:24So, we must deliver relief now.
05:27And we must comprehensively look
05:30at how we can reduce people's energy bills.
05:34Not only looking at one component,
05:37but rather at all four components of the price.
05:41That is,
05:42the cost of the energy itself,
05:45which makes more or less 56% on average.
05:49of the bill,
05:52which charges on average 18%,
05:55taxes and levies 15%,
05:58and carbon costs on average around 11%.
06:02As I said,
06:04of course,
06:05these are averages
06:06and they differ depending on the energy mix
06:09in the respective member state.
06:12Now, on the cost of energy,
06:14on the market design.
06:15Overall,
06:18the current market design has delivered.
06:22And there is overall support
06:24for the current system.
06:27But,
06:28it is crucial that we reduce the cost impact
06:31when gas sets the electricity price.
06:36Therefore,
06:37we are preparing different options.
06:39Better use of power purchase agreements
06:42and contracts for difference.
06:45State aid measures.
06:47And we are exploring,
06:49subsidizing,
06:51or even capping
06:52the gas price.
06:55Second,
06:56on the grid charges.
06:57That is a delicate matter
06:58because on one hand,
07:00these charges are needed
07:01to invest in more
07:02and smarter grids.
07:04And on the other hand,
07:05there is room to increase
07:07the productivity of grids
07:09so that less renewables
07:11are wasted.
07:12And here,
07:13I want to give you one figure
07:14that is telling.
07:15Last year,
07:16we installed more than 80 gigawatts
07:19of renewables
07:20in the European Union.
07:21A record.
07:23So far,
07:23so good.
07:25But six times more renewable energy
07:29does not get access to the grids.
07:32So,
07:32if we produced six times more renewables,
07:35that was wasted.
07:37With electricity demand
07:39set to increase,
07:41this is simply not sustainable.
07:44My third point
07:45on taxes and levy,
07:46this is, of course,
07:47a national competence.
07:48I fully respect that.
07:50But it is also true
07:51that some member states
07:52are taxing electricity
07:54much higher even than gas.
07:58To give you another example,
07:59one member state
08:00applies 0% taxes,
08:04zero,
08:05on retail electricity,
08:07while some others
08:08apply over 16%.
08:09That makes a difference.
08:11So there is room for action
08:13and as I said,
08:14it is a national competence.
08:17Finally,
08:17the fourth component
08:18on ETS.
08:21Also on ETS,
08:22let me give you one figure.
08:25Without ETS,
08:27we would now consume
08:29100 billion cubic meter
08:32more gas.
08:34Again,
08:35making us
08:35more vulnerable,
08:37more dependent
08:38and weaker.
08:39So we need ETS,
08:41but we need to modernize it.
08:43And I look forward
08:44to continuing
08:45this debate
08:46on all these elements
08:47with you here
08:48in the European Parliament.
08:51Honorable members,
08:52let me finish
08:52on another aspect
08:54of competitiveness.
08:55It is one thing
08:57that we actually agree
08:59on components
08:59of competitiveness,
09:01that's good,
09:02but it's another thing
09:04that we deliver
09:05on the action
09:06and the legislation.
09:08And this is why
09:10we will soon present
09:11a roadmap
09:12for One Europe,
09:14One Market.
09:16The purpose
09:17of this roadmap
09:18is
09:20that we set out
09:22key legislative
09:23measures
09:24that we must adopt
09:26with clear timelines,
09:28clear targets
09:29to deliver them
09:30by the end of 2027.
09:32We want to be done
09:33and completed
09:34with the work
09:35by the end of 2027
09:37for One Europe,
09:38One Market.
09:43And I say that
09:44explicitly
09:45because we all know
09:46by experience
09:46only what gets measured
09:48gets done.
09:50So,
09:51the roadmap
09:51contains various
09:52packages of legislation.
09:54It's also very important.
09:56Savings and investment union,
09:58all the topics
09:58of energy
09:59I was just touching upon,
10:00quality jobs,
10:02AI,
10:03gigafactories,
10:04the 28th regime.
10:05You just name it.
10:06These are only a few.
10:08My point is
10:09that I would like
10:12all three institutions,
10:14parliament,
10:15council,
10:16and commission
10:16to sign up for it.
10:19We know the challenges.
10:21We know what must be done.
10:23Now we must deliver
10:25for European citizens.
10:26Thank you
10:27and long.
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