MEPs assess the 10-11 March informal summit’s outcome in Versailles, where leaders decided on further measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They also outline their priorities for this week’s 24-25 March spring summit, which will again be dominated by the war in Ukraine. US President Joe Biden is set to participate. COVID-19 and economic recovery as well as the European Semester will also be on the agenda. Opening statements by Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council and by Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Brussels

debate

plenary session

MICHEL, Charles (BE)

VON DER LEYEN, Ursula (DE, EC)

European Council meeting 24-25 March 2022

Debriefing of the European Council of the 10 March 2022 / Preparation of the European Council meeting 24-25 March 2022: opening statements by Charles MICHEL, President of the EU Council and Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the European Commission

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Madam President of the European Parliament, Madam President of the Commission, Dear members of the European Parliament. One month of war. One month of death, destruction and suffering one month of Russian terror against the people of Ukraine and one month of the democratic world rising up with full force to condemn Russia and to stand again this barbaric and immoral rule.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Mariupol like other cities, Mariupol will forever be engraved in the history of normative. A theatre bombed and art student bombed, while so many people took refuge. 90 percent of the city damaged or destroyed, residents held hostage by Russian troops. No food, no water. No electricity. No heating. Mariupol one month ago, a vibrant city and today in ruins.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Dear Colleagues, Russia is responsible for this war. Russia alone targeting women, children, civilians. These are crimes and those responsible will face international justice. No impunity. Ladies and gentlemen, we are not alone in condemning this brutal war. Far from it. The EU, along with our partners and allies, is rock solid in our solidarity for Ukraine. For one month, an international coalition has risen up to denounce this war.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Nations, businesses, citizens, the United Nations together with one common goal to defeat Vladimir Putin. Putin thought he would come to Ukraine in a few days, and he was wrong. He thought he would divide the EU and our allies, and he was orange because the people of Ukraine are fighting bravely defending their homes and the future of their children, defending their democracy and defending our European common values.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, The European Union with our allies, we stand as one and we are taking action. Okay, the Kremlin. With our international partners, we have imposed the heaviest sanctions we have ever adopted, hit in the financial system, crippling economic sectors and cracking down on supporters of the regime.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Freezing Russia's foreign reserves, banning banks from fished the ruble as permitted multinationals are flying, are flinch in sanctions on Western companies and on decision makers. Propagandist, oligarchs, freezing the EU assets banning their travel in the EU, targeting the yacht, the villas, the private jets.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, And we are implementing these sanctions and working to close the loopholes that provide an escape for Russia, and we are prepared to do more to stop Putin's war machine. Ladies and gentlemen, as we speak, the Ukrainian people are battling for their freedom and we will not abandon them because this is our political and moral duty.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, They are fighting not only for themselves, but they are fighting for our common values and principles. In just say, two weeks ago, we decided to increase our humanitarian, political, financial and material support to Ukraine.

paragraph-9 Over three million people have fled to the EU, mostly women and children, and we are welcoming them with dignity and will continue to offer them any assistance they need and show solidarity with the countries on the front line and will also continue to provide military equipment to Ukraine with one billion euro already mobilised through the European peace facility.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, We also have a very powerful tool in our association agreement with Ukraine, and we must make the most of it. Just last week, we continued our support in the energy sector by connecting Ukraine and Moldova to our European electricity grid. We have also worked intensely on the diplomatic front to try to end this war.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, President Macron and Chancellor Schulz have also played an important role in our diplomatic efforts, and I speak to President Zelensky nearly every day and have spoken with President Putin multiple times, and the goal is clear. This war must end. Our Ukrainian friends are also asking for another kind of help. This is political help. Ukraine is part of our European family and ready to support the European choice of Ukraine and its right to choose its own destiny.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, We have decided to immediately strengthen our bonds and deepen our partnership and to support Ukraine in pursuing its European path. We have proposed to launch a Ukraine Solidarity Trust Fund. And an international donors conference to provide support to Ukraine for its immediate needs and to help rebuild a free and democratic Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Ladies and gentlemen, we will have the opportunity to talk about this at the G7 summit and the European Council tomorrow. Now, a few points regarding the Versailles agenda, which I think breathed new life into the whole issue of European sovereignty. We all know that the European project is about peace and prosperity. That is the promise it holds now in the European Council. We want to make sure that we turn the European project and prosperity into reality.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, We have to factor in the climate agenda, the digital agenda, and we know to what extent COVID put a lot of pressure on us, and it revealed our flaws and our shortcomings. But of course, it also showcased solidarity and the ambition that we have for our European agenda.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, In Versailles, we pinpointed our flaws and our strengths, and we have come up with an agenda and our working method in order to push ahead. And we want to work hand-in-hand with the Commission and the Parliament. There are three points that I would like to focus on. The first point is something that we have discovered brutally. We have huge problems with energy weakness. And of course, this is linked to our Green Deal choices and our ambition to be more independent in the future.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, But we mustn't wait because climate neutrality has to happen now. We have to adopt the right measures. We have to look at resilience. We have to look at independents and we have to extricate ourselves from our dependence, especially on Russian gas. And this will really be at the heart of our debates tomorrow and the day after the European Council. The second issue is also obvious, and that is security, which is linked to peace. And so this is linked to Europe and the Europe of defence.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, For years now, some voices have been clamouring for European countries to work together in order to boost their European defence capabilities. We've got some initial tools that have been put into place, but now it's obvious that we have to change tack. We have to move up a gear.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, And I firmly believe that this bold decision taken by the 27 European leaders linked to a peace facility in order to deliver military equipment clearly shows that if we want to, Europe can have a real ability to bring its influence to bear in order to promote peace and our values and the ladies and gentlemen, the third point that I would like to raise is linked to the robustness of our economic base.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, We have to adopt measures that deal a blow to the Russian regime, and we can do that because we are have a strong internal market with 450 million consumers. We have many strengths and advantages, but we have to be clear headed. There are shortcomings, there are weaknesses that we have to deal with immediately and that's what we're going to be doing, working hand in hand with the Council and the Commission. And I hope also with the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (French), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Chips, microprocessors. These are technology related issues that we're going to have to look at and that will have a bearing on innovation, health as well. We've seen to what extent the whole issue of health has an impact on our collective welfare and prosperity and how it is linked to our economies. So we're going to continue working on this and push ahead. Madam President, you can see this.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, Ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt that the last few years haven't been easy for Europe and the world. We have had digital transformation. Global crisis. A global pandemic that has dealt a huge blow to us. But we have resisted and we've tried to draw lessons, especially those linked to economic recovery and the ability to work together. We all also woke up a month ago to a different Europe, to a different world because once again, war is unfolding on European soil.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, We are fully aware of our responsibility. We have to rise to the occasion because we are fully aware of the fact that the decisions that we take today have to be intelligent, have to be strategic so that we can make sure that we rise to the occasion and rise to the promise of the European Union linked to peace and prosperity. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Thank you, Madam President. Mr President, honourable members, every day we watched in horror the images coming from besieged Ukrainian cities, the devastation of Mariupol, Kharkiv and the outskirts of Kiev. But let me take you for a moment beyond the front line into occupied Ukraine after the siege and the shelling, the reality of occupation is just as terrifying.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Fresh food has become a luxury. Hospitals and pharmacies are running out of medicines. Hundreds of people have been detained by Russian occupation forces, and yet every day, thousands of Ukrainians keep taking the streets to protest against the invasion in caps on emergency and military power.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, They are waving their blue and yellow flags in the faces of the occupying soldiers, and they haven't stopped even after Russian soldiers have beaten them and shot some of them down. Honourable members, if freedom has a name, its name is Ukraine and the Ukrainian flag is the flag of freedom today. All our efforts are aimed at making this war a strategic failure for Putin.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And this is why member states agreed to assign one billion euros for security assistance to the brave Ukrainian fighters. But supporting Ukraine also means draining the resources that Putin is using to finance his atrocious war. Last week, we decided on a force package of unprecedented sanctions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We are denying Russia the status of most favoured nation and severely restricting US access to our markets because Russia should not benefit from the very same rules based order that is so grossly violating. We are stopping new European investment across Russia's energy sector because we should not be reinforcing the energy dependency that we want to put behind us.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, We continue to pressure Russian elites close to Putin by hunting down their yachts, prestigious villas and expensive cars because those who sustain Putin's war should not be able to enjoy their lifestyle. Why bombs are falling on Ukraine. These measures come on top of three other packages of sanctions. They are already biting hard into the Russian economy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, The ruble has plummeted to an all time low earlier this month. Interest rates above 20 percent. Rating agencies have downgraded Russian bonds to junk status. Hundreds of global companies are leaving Russia because they don't want to feed Putin's war of choice. This, honourable members, is the legacy that Putin will leave behind and Russia. He has become the worst enemy of the Russian people to.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, But first and foremost, he is responsible for the human tragedy in Ukraine, until now, more than three million people have left Ukraine. Half of them children. Every Second, a child from Ukraine, arrives in our union every second. So while I'm speaking to you here in the heart of the European democracy. 800 children are leaving Ukraine courageous, traumatised and in need of help. They leave behind their brothers and fathers, not knowing whether they will see them again. And it is heartening to see the pan-European wave of solidarity for our Ukrainian friends.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, I applaud the enormous generosity of all Europeans. All member states and Moldova. At the European level, we will mobilise massive resources to support member states hosting people fleeing the war. We've made sure that the regional development and cohesion funds and we do you can be used with the greatest flexibility so that cities and regions can invest in schools, housing and health care. And many, many thanks for your support.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, I saw this is up to 17 billion that we are moving now. Many thanks to you. But I think this is not enough. We now propose to accelerate 3.4 billion euros to front load liquidity to our member states that are showing such exceptional solidarity. So I count on you, honourable members, to greenlight this money quickly. This will send a strong message of our common commitment to supporting the Ukrainian people.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And honourable members, we should be clear eyed about what lies ahead of us. Our continent is being rocked by a tectonic shift not seen since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The consequences of this war on Europe's security architecture will be far reaching. And I'm not just talking about security in military terms, but also energy security and even food security are at stake.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, So let me start with energy. Energy policy is also security policy, and that's why the Commission has proposed measures that would allow us to significantly reduce our gas imports from Russia. This is very ambitious, but we can achieve it. We have already set a clear path to do this, and we are now accelerating with our new proposal, repower EU, we can speed up this transition even more.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, First, by fast tracking renewable projects. This isn't strategic investment in our security, including hydrogen and bio gas. Second, by speeding up investment in energy efficiency. Everyone can contribute in reducing our dependency on Russian gas. And Third, by diversifying our gas supply away from Russian gas towards reliable suppliers.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Tomorrow, I will discuss with President Biden how to prioritise LNG deliveries from the United States to the European Union in the coming months. We are aiming at having a commitment for additional supplies for the next two winters.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Honourable Members. We are stronger when we use the power of our single market and deliver solidarity. And in that spirit, we have just presented proposals to jointly tackle one of our root causes of the energy crisis. And these are the High and volatile gas prices. We are proposing common gas procurement and stricter rules for storage because instead of outbidding each other and driving prices up, we should pull our common weight and stop buying gas together as Europeans, not as 27 different member states.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And in addition, we should use our gas storage facilities in some member states of our union to secure the gas supplies everywhere and always union. This will not only benefit the member states whose tanks are where those tanks are located, but also their neighbours.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Take the Baltics, for example. Lithuania has one of the biggest LNG terminals in the region, while Latvia boasts massive underground storage facilities. So already today, LNG gas arriving in Klaipeda is used to fill storage facilities in Latvia. And of course, customers in neighbouring Estonia benefit as well. This is the way to go. And finally, the effects of the Russian war go beyond energy, of course.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, They are also disrupting vital food supplies and driving food prices up. The European Union has assigned at least 2.5 billion euros until 2024 to help regions across the world facing food insecurity. And this morning we decided on a wide range of special measures to help European farmers. We will table a package of 500 million euros to support those most affected by the crisis.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We should not forget that Ukraine alone provides more than half of the World Food Program's wheat supply. The shelling and the bombing makes it impossible for Ukrainian farmers to sell on top of that. Putin is blocking hundreds of ships filled with wheat in the Black Sea. So the consequences will be felt from Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia to Africa and the Far East, and I call on Putin to let those ships go.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Otherwise, he will not only be responsible for deaths, but also for famine and hunger. Let these ships go. Honourable members tonight will mark the first month of the Russian invasion since the very first day, Europe has stood united and let us continue to do so. If there's anything that Putin did not anticipate, then it's our unity, the speed of our action and our determination. He should be no doubt that we will stay the course. Long live unity and long live Europe. Thank you.