Strasbourg, Brussels Ursula von der Leyen chose the national colors of Ukraine for her big speech on the state of the EU. Wearing a yellow blazer and a blue top, the President of the Commission stands in the wide circle of the plenary hall in Strasbourg, glancing again and again at her guest of honour, the Ukrainian President’s wife Olena Selenska. “Today courage has a name and that is Ukraine,” she says. Alluding to the Ukrainian troops’ recent gains in territory in the Donbass, she adds that this courage is now paying off.
Again and again von der Leyen bridges the gap between the war and the energy crisis, which threatens to plunge the whole of Europe into a recession. In view of the approaching winter, she issues perseverance slogans to the Europeans. Russian aggression isn’t just a war against Ukraine, she says. “It is a war on our energy supply, our economy, our values and our future.”
In the fight against Putin, “Team Europe”, as von der Leyen calls it, has had some successes. The sanctions worked, the Russian financial sector is fighting for survival, she says. “The Russian military plunders chips from dishwashers and refrigerators in order to repair military equipment.” At the same time, Russian fuels account for only nine percent of EU energy imports, and European gas storage facilities are 84 percent full.
Relief in energy prices
But Europe’s politicians fear a harsh winter. If the filling levels fall significantly due to a long heating period, gas prices could rise even more and the economy could collapse. In order to relieve European households and companies from the high prices, the Commission wants to skim off and redistribute part of the chance profits from coal, gas and oil companies.
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This measure will bring in 140 billion euros, with which the member states could cushion the emergency, says von der Leyen. In Germany, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) expects revenues of ten billion euros.
In addition to the excess profit tax, the following measures have also been discussed intensively for days:
- Specifications for saving electricity, as they already exist for gas
- An intervention in the electricity market, through which the profits of cheap electricity producers above 180 euros per megawatt hour are skimmed off
- Relaxed liquidity support rules to allow national authorities to keep struggling businesses afloat
Leyen’s deputy Frans Timmermans wanted to present the plans for this on Wednesday. The work on it should be completed by the end of September. Many observers fear a rush job if, due to the political pressure, too naïve interventions are made in pricing on the electricity market.
There is a risk that supply and demand will no longer match as usual, more gas will be generated than necessary and prices will rise again as a result.
The European gas storage facilities are now 84 percent full.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Von der Leyen is also hoping for cooperation with Norway. In talks with the government in Oslo, the EU wants to ensure that gas is imported at lower prices.
reforms for the middle class
Von der Leyen also announces a relief package for small and medium-sized companies. She promises that the tax regulations will be simplified and the late payment directive will be revised. It is unacceptable that every fourth bankruptcy is due to invoices that were not paid on time.
The Commission also wants to tackle the shortage of skilled workers more effectively. “We have to recruit more targeted specialists from abroad,” says von der Leyen. For this, qualifications from abroad would have to be recognized more quickly. The coming year is also to be declared the year of education and training across the EU.
The Commission also wants to tackle the shortage of skilled workers more effectively.
(Photo: dpa)
The economic policy spokesman for the EPP Group, Markus Ferber (CSU), criticizes that this is not enough in the current emergency. The Commission has just parked measures that had already been announced under a new heading, he says. “Especially a European tax reform, which at best will take years if it comes at all, is not the short-term solution that medium-sized companies need today.”
Von der Leyen’s CDU party friend Daniel Caspary also calls for “burdensome legislation” to be postponed. “This includes the directive on industrial emissions, the soil health law or the supply chain law with its comprehensive reporting obligations,” says the head of the CDU-CSU group in the European Parliament. Additional requirements for companies and agriculture must also be avoided at all costs during the crisis.
The President of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), Peter Adrian, says that the Commission must quickly follow up with concrete measures for small and medium-sized companies. “In order to keep the European economy internationally competitive, we need affordable energy, above all, freedom for innovation, less regulatory burdens and efforts to secure skilled workers,” says Adrian. The European Year of Education and Training should not be “just symbolic”.
Convention for EU reform
To the delight of the MEPs, the President of the Commission is also in favor of a treaty convention to initiate a reform of the EU treaties. Some are of the opinion that now is not the right time, says von der Leyen. But if the acceptance of new members into the EU is taken seriously, “we must also make serious efforts to reform”.
>> Read here: Read all current developments in the energy crisis in the news blog
The Ukraine war had recently underlined that the EU is repeatedly unable to act because individual states use their veto – for example against certain sanctions. Therefore, many MEPs and some member states are calling for the unanimity principle in the EU Council to be replaced by majority decisions. Von der Leyen agrees with this demand: “We have to improve the way we act and decide.”
aid to Ukraine
von der Leyen does not give any new figures on the amount of future financial aid to Ukraine, nor does he mention further arms deliveries. Instead, the Commission President promises to integrate the country more closely into the internal market. Ukraine will soon be included in the EU’s roaming area – a rather symbolic act.
However, von der Leyen emphasizes that the EU will be committed in the long term. European solidarity with Ukraine is unshakable. “Putin will lose, Ukraine and Europe will win,” she says to applause. The Ukrainian President’s wife Selenska seems touched by the great popularity.
More: Upheavals on the energy market – medium-sized companies fear total power and gas failures