Is the EU setting the right priorities? MEPs slug it out on The Ring

Name: Is the EU setting the right priorities? MEPs slug it out on The Ring
Uploaded: 2026-11-11T20:40:04+00:00
Duration: 35 min 43 s
Channel: euronews (in English)

00:08Hello and welcome to The Ring, Euronews' weekly debate show broadcasting from the European

00:14Parliament in Brussels. I'm Stefan Grobe. On The Ring, debaters go face-to-face on some

00:19of the biggest political issues facing the EU. Today, we want to talk about the right

00:25priorities for Europe's future. Politically speaking, what should the EU focus on delivering

00:31before the end of its mandate? Luis Albertos has more.

00:39Europe wants to be greener, richer, safer and more competitive. But can it realistically

00:45deliver on all these ambitions at once? The challenges are enormous. An increasingly volatile

00:51geopolitical situation is forcing Europe to rethink its security and economic model.

00:56At the same time, European industries are struggling with high energy costs, excessive regulation

01:01and fierce global competition. Is it time for Brussels to put competitiveness

01:06first, even if that means slowing down the green transition? But there's another dilemma.

01:11Money. Should Europe spend less, cut red tape and rain in its ambitions? Or should Europe

01:17have a bigger EU budget, more common investment and stronger social and climate policies?

01:22And does it have the political will to shape its own future?

01:29A lot to unpack here for our contenders. And here they are.

01:35Benedetta Scuderi, an Italian MEP from the Greens. She's a member of the Committees on Industry,

01:40Research and Energy and Women's Rights and Gender Equality. She says,

01:44One of the priorities is definitely to achieve European autonomy. Not in terms of military

01:49spending, but in our energy, digital and industrial clean tech capacity. The goal is to phase out

01:54fossil fuels and re-industrialize our regions in a socially just way, thinking of our people

01:59and territories. And let's make polluters pay for this.

02:04Markus Ferber, a German MEP from the Central-Right European People's Party. A long-serving member of the

02:09European Parliament, he's the Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Tax Matters and a member of the

02:14Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. He says,

02:17The EU must prioritize competitiveness, economic growth and simplification, not deregulation.

02:23We need to achieve the same ambitious goals with less bureaucracy and paperwork,

02:28because only a strong economy can finance our climate ambitions, security and social model.

02:35So let me welcome to the ring Benedetta Scuderi and Markus Ferber. Great to have you here. Good

02:41to see you. Speaking of legislative priorities for 2027, is Brussels addressing the issues that really

02:49matter to European citizens? Or is it still setting its agenda from inside the Brussels bubble? What is

02:57the strategy, if there is any? The strategy is, in comparison to the last period where the Green

03:02Deal was the headline for five years, competitiveness is the headline of this five years period.

03:07And that means we have to get rid of bureaucracy. We have to take care on competitiveness of our

03:13industry and our SMEs as well. And if we have a growth on GDP, we have a growth on the

03:19European

03:20budget as well. That is the easiest thing to understand. And therefore, growth and competitiveness

03:25is number one, of course, to have sustainable growth, to, of course, to have social economy driven

03:31growth. Right. But growth is the key answer. Benedetta, are you subscribing to this?

03:37Growth doesn't happen because we want it to happen. And Europe is a proof of it. With all the political

03:43powers that are investing in today's capacities and Europe that is not investing in its capacity,

03:48is not investing in energy transition enough, is not investing in adaptation enough, is not investing in

03:53digital transition, is not investing in a social justice, because the investments we do are well

03:58beyond, well below what we need, then we're never going to thrive as a continent, as a European Union,

04:05as a political union. If we are not a political union, first thing, then we're never going to thrive.

04:10So, Markus, is Europe investing in an old model rather than into digital economy, cyber technology?

04:18I think we have firstly to discuss who has to invest, if everything should be invested by the

04:23public. Sorry, we will never be able to deliver. What we have to create is an environment where

04:27private investment takes place. And what we see at the moment is that the big investors of the world

04:33are moving away from Europe, from Germany as well, but from Europe total as well. And so we have a

04:40lack

04:40of in foreign investments, but we have a lot of investments from European companies outside the

04:45European Union. And that is our main threat we are confronted with. And if you ask industry, why is that

04:51happening? Number one, high energy prices. Number two, high bureaucracy costs. Number three,

04:57the level of skills of the employees. And I think that are things we have to address.

05:04The point is that my country argument is his argument, because he said two of the three things

05:09that are stopping our companies to be able to invest in Europe are energy. And we need to invest in

05:14energy. Energy prices are super high because we are extremely dependent on gas and gas imports.

05:19And that's what is making our energy prices high. And that's what we need to invest. That's what we're

05:24saying. And I'm sorry, on these investments, these, they need to come from public. They need to be publicly

05:29driven, cannot be only public, but they need to be publicly driven because we know where the market is

05:34going. They don't care about about energy prices like the big fossil companies. They are making huge profits

05:41about from our crisis. They're not going to invest in what it will make us better. And we need to

05:45drive that.

05:46And the second thing, skills. Who can make the skills? We have the skill, the union of skills,

05:52and we need to implement that, invest in that, and make it right. So that means that we really need

05:59to be sure that the skills that we need are everywhere in every angle of Europe.

06:04So investing in skills, that sounds good to me, Marcus. Yeah, but the problem is who is responsible

06:09for what. And we cannot say every problem in Europe has to be addressed by the European Union. We need

06:14member states who really engage because education, social welfare, all this stuff is national competence.

06:20And according to the treaties, it's their obligation. On the other hand of energy, sorry,

06:24you come from a member state who is a net consumer on energy. Italy was never able even to deliver

06:30the

06:30own energy for its own industry. I come from a member state who could in the past, but now we

06:35are

06:35net consumers as well. If we have only net consumers in the European Union, we have a problem. So where

06:41are

06:41the possibilities to produce energy for the industry? And that will not be done only by photovoltaics and

06:48windmills. Sorry, we need other sources as well. And that is what we are not equipping for the moment,

06:52because we have high bureaucratic burden for this investment, even for a windmill. In Germany,

06:57it takes one year only to get the allowance to construct a windmill. Sorry, we are far away from

07:03achieving our goals. Okay, Benedetta, your answer. Absolutely, that we need to fasten up our permitting

07:08procedures. Absolutely, our bureaucracy. But why are you against the omnibuses then? Because they are not

07:14simplification, they have deregulation. Omnibus, by the way, is not about cars, right? It's about

07:19irregular simplification. If you think that to make a windmill, we need to take away the due

07:23diligence of multinational companies, I don't think so. I don't think due diligence of multinational

07:28companies, that's where Omnibus that you voted for... That's not the problem. What? That's what you

07:32made into Omnibus. Well, as you made it into Omnibus, deeper restoration, you made it into an Omnibus. I

07:37never heard an Omnibus about fastening up permitting of windmills, in my opinion. That was not. Now we have a

07:44permitting fasting that is coming in the next commission program, and I'm really willing to

07:50work on it, and us Greens, we're really willing to work on it. We had the red that was about

07:54fastening up permitting, and the Greens were in it. But the point is, fastening up permitting

07:58doesn't need to be for data center, doesn't need to be for big companies. It needs to be for what

08:04we

08:04actually need, like windmills, like solar energy and solar support. So we don't need data centers?

08:10All right. All right. It needs to be just one second. You will not create growth without data

08:15centers. How do you think we can achieve growth? Look to the United States. The only driving force

08:20is AI. AI needs data centers. We don't have growth. We don't have competitiveness. I see. We're just

08:27getting warmed up here, which is really good. But now it's time for gloves off.

08:36Now we want viewers to get a real flavor of the European Parliament. We've already got this a

08:42little bit, where members ask each other questions. And Benedetta, I'd like you to ask the first question

08:48to Marcus. So as we were getting into it, we have a huge need to achieve our digital autonomy and

08:56our

08:56digital strategy. So I'm just wondering, but this, we cannot do this if we are selling out our data as

09:03resources to big tech. So I'm wondering if the EPP is fine to have a European

09:10digital strategy and implementation act, but most of all to have regulation and a clear

09:17authorization process for data center in order to not give our data and our energy and our water to big

09:24American big techs that will not do anything about digital autonomy. So do you want to have a strong

09:30regulation for data center and a strong strategy for digital digital autonomy for having European data

09:36centers? I think that is not the right question. The question is even for European investors. And I

09:42have a few of them in Germany who really want to invest in data centers to safeguard, for example,

09:47the data protection regulation, which means data from Europe should stay in Europe and not misused

09:53by NSA in the United States. But they have a problem to get allowance, to have the energy,

10:00to get the allowance for the water. Sorry, if you make a strategy only protecting for other investments,

10:06but not taking care that the investments are taking place. Sorry, that is what you're doing,

10:10because you don't grant the energy. We have only four places in Germany where you have enough energy

10:16to run a data center. Sorry, that is the challenge. It's not the question who is investing. No one can

10:21invest because the infrastructure is not appropriate. And you are defending that we can invest in the

10:27infrastructure, which is a public demand, but then private investors will come even from inside

10:32European Union. That is the wrong approach. Sorry, but then if we see 90% of the data center that

10:38are

10:39asking and are doing the data center is American companies. It's not European companies. If you

10:44see an island where 20% of electricity is for American companies, 20% of electricity is for data

10:49center. And most of it is for American companies. Look at Italy. Sorry, get out of Germany. If this is

10:54the situation in Germany, look at Europe, look at Finland. But Ireland is a very special problem,

10:59which we have for years. So if you don't have regulation against this, then you're not going to have...

11:03If you know everything better, we can stop the discussion. It's now my turn to ask a question to you.

11:07On the other hand, on the contrary, Marcus, I want to ask a Benedetta question now.

11:12Yeah, that's what I wanted to do, but thanks that I have a chance. Your group, the Green Group,

11:17calls the program for next year, and I quote, an attack against nature. Are you really sure that

11:23you are reading correctly what the commission has proposed? Are you really sure if we are reviewing

11:29any regulation after five years? And we have, for example, the habitat regulation, which is

11:34older than 35 years, and a lot of things have changed, that we have a look on that,

11:39and that is not an attack against nature, but really adjusting to a new situation?

11:45I think that adjusting to a new situation would be extremely great if you look at what is the

11:50situation. But it looks like the EPP is not looking at the climate collapse.

11:54You are not able to do anything about the climate. Who says that? What is your proof for this race?

11:59Sorry. That is unacceptable. That is unacceptable, really. Why is EPP?

12:03Because all the omnibus, as you really fried with them, are going against anything that would be a

12:08climate collapse. Which omnibus? Tell me, which omnibus? I told you, deforestation. The omnibus,

12:13the omnibus on due diligence. Deforestation is not in an omnibus. Sorry, don't tell stories which are not the truth.

12:19You are talking. In which omnibus is deforestation? Tell me. You are taking away. It's not right what

12:24you are saying. Due diligence, then. It was one of the strongest things that we had for the climate.

12:30Thunder Lion said in 2019, that will be the race to the moon. But the race to the moon did

12:36not work

12:36with bureaucracy. It worked with technology. And that is what we are suffering. We don't need a

12:40race to the moon. We need to protect this planet. We need to protect this planet. We don't need a

12:45race to the moon. The moon is unlivable. And you want to make this planet unlivable as much as

12:49the moon, I think. That's what you want to do. All right. All right. If you like the moon,

12:53I don't want to make the earth to the moon. Do you have, Marcus, just a second. I really

12:59regret that. Do you have another question for Marcus? Short one. For sure. So we have need for

13:10socially just Europe. And we have a huge amount of our population that is not able to sustain a

13:16living. It's not able to find a house that regards young people, people of my age, that regards all

13:22the people that regards workers. Workers in cities are not able to go and work in the city anymore

13:27because they cannot afford an apartment. They cannot even afford a room. So I'm wondering if the EPP is

13:34able to look at this problem, not saying that we need to build more because many of our cities have

13:39enough empty houses. So probably it's not the number of houses, but to say that we need to

13:44regulate Airbnb and to say that we need to have more public houses that are actually public and for

13:53actually low income people and solution for middle income people. Are you able to say that or we just

13:58need to build with deregulation? I'm a little bit surprised that you are taking EPP as we had the

14:03rapporteur on the housing public. I would be very happy even to say one sentence without being

14:11disturbed. That's what you did with me, by the way. Okay. We had the rapporteur from EPP and he

14:17drafted a report which was adopted by a huge majority by the European Parliament. And one of the key

14:23quotes of this report is that we need to build more houses. Sorry, because we have a lack of that.

14:30We asked,

14:31and that part was not supported by the Greens, that we need less bureaucracy to build houses. Sorry,

14:38that's the same problem. In Germany, it takes eight years when a city decides to make an area for

14:44construction till you have the right to construct something on that. The rest of the world does it

14:48in one to two years, even protecting environment and taking care of standards. Sorry, that is our problem.

14:54And that is a problem of the Green Group because you are refusing that we have an omnibus for the

15:00housing area. You will not be able to finance all this stuff by public investments. We need private

15:05investments for that. And therefore, we have to make it cheaper. And therefore, Europe can play a role.

15:10Okay. Marcus, one last question to Benedetta. One last question to Benedetta in this round.

15:14Yeah. So if we speak about autonomy and stuff like that, I think we have to speak about trade agreements

15:20as well. How Europe can create a rule-based world with trade partners around the globe. And I was

15:27wondering why, for example, the Green Group was voting against the Mercosur agreement with the far

15:32right, by the way, and brought it to the court of justice without ratifying it. Sorry, I was surprised

15:39that it's the wrong answer for the demands we need and the Greens are asking for. Okay. It's funny

15:44that it's coming from an EPP member that we voted with the far right. No, you vote more with the

15:50far

15:50right than us. Sorry. Let her answer. Let her answer.

15:55They actually made agreement with the far right to vote about migration. They brought it together.

16:02I spoke about trade agreement. And now they're claiming to us that we voted in our long-standing

16:10position that was against this agreement of Mercosur because it's first is damaging our people.

16:1725 years negotiation is fast. Let her just develop this.

16:21Yeah, and we were... On which planet are you living? Let her just develop this, please.

16:25Sorry. Sorry. You calm down, because you didn't even hear what I said. And you're saying,

16:29which planet are you living? So what's your problem? Because if you hear what I say, if you

16:33hear what I say, if you hear what I say, if you hear what I say, and then you say

16:39that I live in

16:39another planet, then you can say it. But you don't even hear what I say, then you are in another

16:44planet because you don't know what's my argument. You said we negotiated fast. 25 years is fast for

16:49you. Good luck. You see, it's just 25 years, 25 years. We were against all along because you make

16:54this deal just for profit. You don't make this deal for people here. You don't make this deal for

16:59people in the Amazon. You don't make this deal for our farmers. That will be... And they are already

17:05asking that review of the deal because they are damaged by unfair competition. You didn't make

17:11a deal with clear rules about what can come in because now meat that is made with deforestation can

17:18come in, which is damaging our farmers. So you are against free trade in total. And you didn't make

17:22this deal for the people in the Amazon. So you are against free trade in total.

17:25All right. Because this is going to damage the Amazon. So that's my argument. So who is in

17:29another planet? It's you. All right. I'm not against fair trade. Yes, you are. I'm against

17:32trade without fairness. All right. We got to take a break here. That is a fair trade agreement. Sorry.

17:38We got to take a break here. Thank you very much so far to our guest. That's it for now

17:43on The Ring.

17:45Stay with us here on Euronews.

17:56Welcome to The Ring, Euronews's weekly debate show. I'm Stefan Grobet. I'm joined by two members

18:01of the European Parliament, Benedetta Scuderi from the Italian Greece and Marcus Fairberg,

18:06Christian Democrat from Germany. Today, we debated the political and legislative priorities of the EU,

18:13and we discussed whether Brussels is addressing the issues that matter to people, to European

18:19citizens. Now, what is important to Europeans? What are their worries? What are their demands?

18:25And here we have two recent Eurobarometer surveys that give a pretty good picture of what people

18:30are thinking. When asked, what should the European Parliament prioritize? Inflation,

18:36rising prices and cost of living, 47% say that almost half of the population. When it comes to the

18:44economy and job creation, it's 35% and a little less, 34% say it's EU defense and security. And

18:53when asked

18:53how the EU's budget should be allocated, employment, social affairs, and public health comes in on top,

19:0041%, a little less, 38% say security and defense. And finally, 33% say the money should be allocated

19:10for

19:11education, training, youth culture, and media go figure. So the issue of inflation and increased cost

19:19of living is on top of the list. Not really surprising. Is the EU, are European governments doing enough to

19:27bring prices down and protect households and businesses? Marcus, I'm going to start with you.

19:32Yeah, the fight on the inflation is the responsibility of the European Central Bank,

19:36to be very honest. It's not something we can do as politicians. It has to be price stability is a

19:42mandate of the European Central Bank. And in my capacity as a member of the Econ Committee,

19:47we are in direct exchange with Christine Lagarde. And I hope as she has resigned,

19:51we will get someone who will really fight against inflation in the years to come,

19:55because that will be a key issue. And therefore, we have to do, as I said before, some investments

20:01to reduce the costs as we have high demands and low supply that is increasing costs and prices.

20:07Right. Bernadette, we've been hearing these complaints about high cost of living for quite some time now.

20:14But yet nothing has changed, nothing tangible has changed for European households, families,

20:21and businesses. What's wrong here? I really think Europe should do a step up and should take a big

20:27part into this, because I'm a federalist. And I believe that Europe has to have a big role

20:32into the well-being of people. And that's why we are asking for more social investments. That's why

20:37we're asking for investments in housing. That's why we're asking for investment in energy,

20:41because what is driving up the prices? Yeah, it's inflation, it can be the central bank. But what is

20:46driving up inflation is the energy prices a lot, is what's driving up the prices is the rent prices,

20:54and so on and so forth. If we don't do investments into these things, then nothing's going to change

20:59for people. And I really think that the European Parliament should step up and should be clear in what

21:06is our direction. And that's why I was saying at the beginning, this work program is not clearly going

21:10into this direction. And the budget of the European Union is not really going into this direction.

21:14The moment of crisis we're living now, we are even thinking about decreasing the current budget that

21:21is like pennies at the moment. I think we need to step up. You mentioned the EU budget. We have

21:27these

21:29heated talks going on for quite some time, probably until the end of the year. What should the EU budget

21:34focus on, Marcus? What are the topics? Of course, it's not only one.

21:39If you would have colleagues from the agri-committee, from agriculture policy, they would say, yes,

21:44it's very important to be resilient in the food supply and in the production. If you have people

21:50from Pura region, they would say regional policy is key, cohesion policy is key. If you ask me,

21:56coming from Germany, I say research and innovation is key. So we have to prioritize, of course, if we have

22:03limited resources and sorry, the budget, the public budgets have limited resources on national level

22:08and on European level. But to be very clear, as we have for the moment, 1.1% of the

22:14GDP.

22:15That's our budget. If we increase the GDP, we have more resources. So I think growth, competitiveness

22:22is a key element, even to have more resources available to fulfill all the obligations people

22:26are asking from the European Union. Okay. What about security and defense? How do we reconcile this

22:32with limited resources, as Marcus said, and now we need to spend more on defense? I first want to say

22:38that I'm a bit tired of this fairy tale of the market and the growth and everything's going to be

22:43fine. And in the meantime, people are going to be dead and starving. This is what is happening. If we

22:48wait

22:48for this growth that will come eventually and will save us all because the GDP is going to increase and

22:54then

22:54we're going to increase the budget, then our people are going to starve. They don't want this,

23:00they can't keep up anymore. So the point is, we have resources. It's not true that we don't have

23:06resources because look at the money. Money is very much going to very small, very big pockets of very

23:14small amount of people. So the point is, are we strong enough to take resources from who has the

23:20resources? Because billionaires, because huge profits are increasing and increasing and increasing.

23:26These equalities are increasing and increasing. What we are telling to the people that now cannot

23:30afford to pay for the shop, for the grocery, we are telling them, sorry, let's make them richer,

23:37the 1% of the population, the 0.1% of the population richer. So maybe at some point with

23:42the tickle

23:43down, we all be richer. We say that's this for a century now. And what is happening is that inequalities

23:48are just increasing and people are worse. So maybe now it's time to say to the people,

23:54so then to 99%, sorry, we were wrong. We want to take the money from the smallest part of the

24:00population that has the billions, from the huge profits of who is actually damaging our planet.

24:05In that situation that you just described, sorry, in that situation that you just described,

24:10it makes it even tougher to increase defense and military spending. How do we reconcile this?

24:17I think we need to look at security as a broader thing when we talk about security. And one of

24:24the

24:24problems of the politics today in Europe and in many of our member states is that we look at

24:29security only as weapons. And if we think that we're going to be more secure just buying more

24:35weapons, then this is not the answer. We need to look at security as resilience. We need to look at

24:41security as digital cyber security. And I think these days are really telling us this. We need to look at

24:46security also as security from climate events. Like security is really a broader concept.

24:51And we need to increase our budget to be able to spend money on security as a broader content

24:58and on all the other priorities, because they are also extremely important. And the survey showed it.

25:03We cannot take from one to give to the other because that will not work.

25:07Okay. Marcus, I'll give you the floor once we've reached the next round, as it's time to move on

25:13and go to round number four.

25:20And this brings us to our quote of the week today from the EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity,

25:26Valdis Dombrovskis. He said recently, and I quote,

25:29In 2027, we will go further in tackling unnecessary burdens and addressing implementation gaps in areas such as

25:38transport, housing and digital and accelerating permitting. Our goal is clear, less red tape

25:44and complexity for citizens and more scope for businesses to invest, innovate and grow.

25:51Marcus, you've heard the commissioner. Do you agree with him?

25:55Yes, it's the right agenda, because as we have a lack of investment, as we have a lack of productivity

26:02growth,

26:03we have to invest in the new technologies. And of course, we have to invest in decarbonisation.

26:08That's why energy is key. If you want to decarbonise by electrification and you want to have investments

26:15in AI, for example, you need more electricity than in the past. And we don't have that at the moment.

26:21And we have to do it sustainable. So therefore, huge investments are needed and possibilities to do

26:28the investments. And that's why bureaucratic burden are one of the key elements we are confronted with

26:33on European level. And there we have to find a solution, but as well on member states, on regional

26:38level, because at the end for the entrepreneurs, for the local authorities, it's a huge bulk of

26:45bureaucracy burdens coming from each political level. So we have to deliver, but member states and regions as well.

26:51Where do you draw the line between deregulation and sort of less spending,

26:58less benefits for, you know, people like families, the people who benefit from the current?

27:06Deregulation, maybe the wrong word is simplification, make it easier, make it simpler, not make it less

27:13burdensome in the sense of misusing nature, misusing water, misusing animal protection,

27:20biodiversity or whatever, even social systems. So simplification is the right answer. And that is

27:26one of the key problems. Inside the commission, you have silos of different general directories,

27:32who do not know what the other is doing. But at the end, all this stuff comes to the people,

27:36comes to the local authorities, comes to the entrepreneurs, and to get rid of these things,

27:42to achieve the main goals, but to simplify it. I think that is a key element. And the other thing

27:48is,

27:48of course, to create an environment where foreign investments will take place in the European Union

27:53as well. There we have really a lack, and that is what we have to address.

27:57Okay. Bernetta, simplification, as Marco said, is that a concept you could adhere to?

28:03Absolutely. When simplification is simplification, we are all in as Greens. We want to be faster on

28:10the transition, but we need to be knowing where we're going, so not to step backwards into our goals,

28:16because it's important also for investments, not just to simplify, but to give a clear direction,

28:22which now is a bit unsure in this European Union. We need to simplify the bureaucratic processes,

28:28and we need to simplify, more than simplify, to make efficient and more united what the commission

28:34is doing and what the territories are doing. What I'm wondering, though, is that why EPP is not

28:40doing this? Because you're running the European Commission. You're running the parliament. I mean,

28:45the EPP has had the president of the commission for the last seven years and a half now. And in

28:51this

28:51parliament, you're the biggest group. So why is this not happening? Why the commission has not

28:56reformed? Because actually, the commission now is even more divided into silos. It's even more

29:00complicated. Why are you not talking more with the territories? Why there's not more efficiencies?

29:05Like, I am wondering why this is not happening already, because we are all agreeing. The problem is

29:10that sometimes, behind the simplification, there's no difference in the bureaucratic process,

29:16but there's a lot of difference in the rules. And who is paying the price is local communities

29:20and nature. And this is the problem. Yeah. Sorry, it's not the EPP problem, to be very clear.

29:25It's a problem of the institution itself. Even in the parliament, you are sitting in the E3,

29:29I'm sitting in the Econ. When have we negotiated something? Although we are dealing with round about

29:34the same things. Yeah. We do macroeconomic tools, you do industry policy, but there's a lot of

29:40interlinkage. We never discuss it. You make your legislation. The competitiveness fund,

29:44for example, Econ is fully out. Although there are a lot of things, state aid rules,

29:48we are responsible. Competition rules, we are responsible. Tax rules, we are responsible.

29:53You don't take care. So don't blame EPP. It's a system problem, which you are not addressing,

29:58because you are misusing the system. That is what the Greens are doing. You live with this system,

30:03because you can develop things which are really harming us. Do no significant harm. It's harming

30:09us. It's harming investments. You invented it and brought it to all committees and to all realities.

30:14The question is, how do we get out of this? That's a problem. It's not EPP. It's the Greens who

30:18disturb it. You both describe the same problem, maybe from a different perspective. So my question is,

30:22how do we get out of this? How do we get out of a system that you describe as way

30:26too cumbersome,

30:27too bureaucratic and to the detriment of the people? I think Europe should focus on the main

30:35issues which really are European issues and not a Christmas tree with promises to everyone and

30:42everything, because we have local authorities with their responsibility. I come from a federal,

30:47state, regional authorities with their competences, the national level and the European level. If we

30:52focus on the really big things on European level, we will have the support by the citizens,

30:57and we will be able to deliver what is really demanded. So Parliament and Council are co-legislators,

31:04right? What happens if MEPs refuse to dilute legislation that the Commission wants to simplify?

31:13First of all, let me thank Marcus for the esteem he has in the Greens. We are the third smallest

31:22group in

31:22Parliament and we are managing to decide the agenda of the whole European Union. This is incredible.

31:29It's an incredible result. I am so amazed to be part of this group. You know, like they are the

31:35biggest

31:35party in the Parliament. They have the majority of the government and they have the president of the

31:40Commission. But who is harming Europe is the decision of the Greens that are setting the agenda.

31:45This is an incredible achievement. But that is what happened in the last period with the majority,

31:49the Socialists, Renew and Communists. Sorry, that is what you did. That is what you did to

31:54deforestation with five votes ahead. The not significant harm is an incredibly important

32:00principle that I thank the Greens. If it's really because of the Greens, I thank the Greens to

32:05excess, not because I'm part of it, but because it's an incredibly important principle that I'm

32:10sorry, but was taken on also from your president of the Commission. I want to remember it's an EPP from

32:15Germany and she wanted it in. So, and this is actually supporting nature, supporting the people,

32:21because it's saying, how can you say, do not do anything and harm me, it's harming us. If it's

32:26harming, you should not do it. And that is the basis of the principle. You brought it in with five

32:31votes,

32:32majority in this period. Sorry. Guys, I think there's disagreement, fair enough, right, on this point.

32:40And I thank you for that. On that note, we can close this point as it is time to move

32:44on to our fifth and final round.

32:50As we want to do something different, I'm going to ask you a set of questions and you can only

32:57answer with a yes or no. Okay. So, has the political center lost control of the political agenda,

33:06the European agenda to the far right and the populists? Yes.

33:13Markus? No, of course not. Okay. Should defense spending take priority over climate spending?

33:21That's not the issue. Sorry. Climate spending is a European responsibility. Defense, for the moment,

33:27is a national one. Yes, but now we have a defense commissioner and somebody in general.

33:31Yeah. In general, it's not so easy to answer as we don't have European projects. I would love to have

33:35European projects to finance, not to finance national budgets. Okay. So, in that case,

33:40we are responsible for climate, not for defense. Okay. Actually, we have the ECF,

33:46the majority of it is going into defense and a minority is going for climate. So, we have already

33:50the answer where the direction is going. And I would say no, it should not take over the climate. Okay,

33:57good. Next one. Does Europe need a bigger EU budget? Absolutely, yes. No more focused. Okay.

34:05Should the EU abandon its 2040 climate ambitions if they undermine competitiveness?

34:13Absolutely, no. We have to achieve both, yes. Should member states be allowed to run bigger deficits

34:19to invest in defense? No. Defense, no. Okay. Climate protection, no as well. Is common European debt

34:29necessary? Absolutely, yes. No. It transfers only the cost to another source which is not able to pay.

34:37Okay. Should agricultural subsidies be cut to finance European security? Only a little bit.

34:43I don't think, no. And last one. Is the EU doing enough to convince younger Europeans that the European

34:51project offers them a better future? Unfortunately, no at the moment. I think the EU is really pro-European

34:59and we should help them to continue being so. Okay. On that note, thank you very much. And that brings

35:06us

35:06to the end of this strong edition of The Ring. Thanks again to Benedetta Scuderi and Marcus Febber for a

35:13lively conversation here from the European Parliament. Thanks to our audience at home. If you like,

35:19you can continue the conversation by sending us your comments to thering at euronews.com. We'd love to

35:26have your feedback. That's it for today. I'm Stefan Grobe. Take care and see you soon here on Euronews.

Is the EU setting the right priorities? MEPs slug it out on The Ring

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