MEPs are discussing with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson the programme of Sweden's six-month Presidency of the Council, which started on 1 January. The four priorities of the Swedish Presidency are security, competitiveness, the green energy transitions, democratic values and the rule of law. Opening statements by Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister and by Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the European Commission. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

ŠEFČOVIČ, Maroš (SK, EC)

Swedish Presidency of the EU (T)

KRISTERSSON, Ulf

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Swedish Presidency: opening statements by Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister and by Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EU Commission

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Dear Prime Minister Kristersson, Dear colleagues, on the 1st of January, we welcome Sweden at the helm of the Council of the European Union. Today it is a pleasure to have with us Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to present a programme of activities of the Swedish Presidency. Prime Minister Ulf, welcome to the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Questions on the economy will dominate the Swedish Presidency, and I believe that a return to growth can be one of your major achievements. In order to boost the economy, you stand for an open, modern and competitive Europe. This is what the European Parliament stands for too. Growth will also come from reforming our energy market and to make it futureproof efforts must be made to reconcile energy security with the green transition.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Sweden is already a frontrunner in this area, which will prove essential when it comes to us. Wrapping up the fit for 55 package. Last year, the European Parliament and the five rotating presidencies committed to working in partnership to find agreement on the migration and asylum package before the next European elections. Your presidency falls squarely in the middle of this Legislature.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, The urgency to make progress on all the migration files is becoming very real here too. And yet, despite all these challenges, the biggest threat to Europe and our democracies is still and will continue to be Russia's illegal invasion and relentless bombardment of Ukraine. Sweden has been a great friend to Ukraine and you have always been true promoters of human rights and democratic values. We must continue to stand by Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Prime Minister Ulf, a month and a half ago you welcomed me and my colleagues at the group, leaders in the beautiful capital of Stockholm. It is in this constructive spirit that the European Parliament will continue to work with the Swedish presidency on the many important initiatives on the table and on behalf of this House. I look forward to working together with you and your colleagues, and I wish you all a very success for the upcoming six months. You have the floor.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Madam President, dear welcome, thank you so much. Members of the European Parliament, Vice presidents of the Commission. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a privilege and a pleasure to be here today to present the priorities of Sweden's third presidency of the Council of the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, In short, our chief priorities aim to help make Europe greener, safer and freer, greener, safer and freer. We have a lot to do together the coming six months. Times are, though, difficult. War is raging in Europe, a war that has led to countless of casualties, both soldiers and civilians and to brutal atrocities, but also to an energy crisis and to an economic downturn.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, All this will make the coming months very challenging. Most of all, of course, for all our Ukrainian friends, while we respond firmly to these emergencies, we must also move the EU's political and lawmaking agenda forward. So far, the European response to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine has been strong, united and decisive.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, In addition to nine sanctions and packages, we have recently increased our common support to Ukraine with a further €18 billion in macro financial assistance. Many individual countries provide Ukraine with important military equipment as well, and Ukraine and Moldova are now both candidate countries.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Moreover, the union is on the road to reducing our dependence on Russian fossil fuels. In the seventies, getting rid of fossil fuels was mainly an economic matter in the eighties and the nineties. It increasingly became a matter of fighting climate change, and now it has finally also become obviously a matter of geopolitics and security.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Over the last few years, we have shown that in times of crisis, the EU really can come together and exercise international influence without losing sight of our long term agenda. Vladimir Putin's regime under estimated not only Ukraine, but also the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, As a new presidency of the Council, we aim to build on the excellent work of the French and the Czech presidencies. We intend to continue in the same spirit when we try to seek solutions in the Council and of course with the Parliament and the Commission. Our obvious starting point. Everybody's first priority is and has to be Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Nothing is as important. But this is not simply crisis management. This is about fighting for democracy and fighting for decency. Ukraine victory is existential for Europe and honestly, existential for the whole world. Personally, I woke up in Helsinki on the 24th of February last year at 4:00 in the morning to the news that Ukraine had been invaded by Russia. That was only a few hours after a conversation with the Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, We both, during that conversation, saw the obvious risk of war, but we also saw the risk of divisions between friends, European friends and division trans-Atlantic. However, when the war came and it did, the Western democracies stayed united. Today, the transatlantic unity on Ukraine is stronger than ever. It is a horrific war which has displaced a third of Ukraine's population and destroyed half of the country's energy infrastracture.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Many Ukrainians, both soldiers and civilians have paid the ultimate price for this war. Bookshop has become part of our collective European memory, but history may was also made when President Zelensky refused to leave Kiev and remain in Ukraine with his government. In doing so, he has embodied the country's resistance on the battlefield, but also in the battle for hearts and minds.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Ukraine has offered hope for all of us who believe that the rule of people always trumps the rule of a strongman. While Ukraine's resistance continues, we must now do what we can to make sure that Ukraine prevails and that its future lies here in the EU. Because if the hope for democracy future is in Ukraine, Ukraine's hope lives with us.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Our task is to continue supporting the Ukrainians who are not only fighting for their independence, but also for a European way of life where rights is greater than might. Our role as President of the Council means we have to ensure the EU's continued economic, political, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine. For example, we will have to monitor the progress of Ukraine's reforms on its path towards EU membership.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, These also means that we have to start working on solutions for Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction. Together with all our international partners, reconstructing Ukraine after the war will remind us all of the Marshall Plan, after World War Two. And in this effort, frozen Russian assets need not only to be part of the problem, but also become a part of the solution. I foresee a very thorough analysis on the extent to which the democratic world can unite in reusing that money to repair some of the destruction.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, So our first priority as president of the Council will to be work together with the European Parliament to promote Europe's security by supporting Ukraine and highlight the EU's geopolitical significance in an increasingly uncertain world. And when we build security, we must also look at other aspects that are close to our citizens. Free movement in the EU should not mean free movement of criminal activities, obviously.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, There is much room for stepping up our cooperation against organised crime. We must also continue our work towards a common and coherent migration policy while at the same time managing the current situation with all tools already available to us. In times like these the EU's role in providing security and stability across all these dimensions is crucial.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Another area where the EU has a crucial role to play is in the Green Transition, a task that has only become more urgent in the light of the war in Ukraine. The plan to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 is vital to reach CO2 neutrality by 2050 and live up to the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. In Sweden, we are proud of our own contributions to Europe's shift from fossil dependent to fossil free.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, On the recent trips to Sweden, which chose to show both the Conference of Presidents and the Commission how companies such as the battery maker Northvolt or the car manufacturer of Volvo, are creating new, innovative ways to reduce Europe's dependence on fossil fuels. These businesses, they want to go to work. They want to benefit from the great opportunities of the green transition. And they are asking us in politics, domestic and European to provide frameworks for their work.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, And that is precisely what the EU has been doing. For example, through the decisions to prohibit the sale of new fossil fuel cars by 2035. Going forward, we must continue down this path. The Swedish Presidency, intends to do its part to strengthen the EU as a frontrunner in the green transition.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, We will continue the important ongoing work on the institutions and make a conclusion of fith for 55 our priority. We count on the European Parliament and we look forward to work together on this. We also look forward to beginning the work of reforming the European electricity market design since energy from the right sources and the right price is the foundation of the green transition.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Third, the green transition touches on our long term competitiveness. If European companies are to produce the energy and make the batteries the electric cars and the fossil free steel of the future, they all need good conditions to compete internationally. From the very beginning, the integration of our economies lay at the heart of the European project.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, By removing tariffs, red tape and other barriers, we have replaced power politics with a rule based market and turned a war between our own nations into things of the past. For the past three decades, the single market has fostered healthy competition and built strong economies and industries across our continent. Removing barriers for goods, services, capital and people have made our companies better.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Are countries more prosperous and provide consumers with higher quality and better priced products. The size and the strength of our economies is also a significant reason why the EU is such a powerful actor nowadays on the world stage. Thanks to single the market and thanks to the successful trade policy based on openness with agreements and partnerships around the world, the EU is a economic giant.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Despite this, as a union, we are not living up to our full economic potential. Our productivity is lagging behind, and fewer and fewer of the biggest firms on the planet are EU based. Today, we are spending significantly less on research and development than the US or China. And high energy prices may drive investments away from Europe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, In other words, we are struggling with several challenges related to the crisis that we are going through while facing actions of partners and competitors around the globe, such as the EU's inflation Reduction Act. The EU's response to these developments need to be analysed and discussed as a matter of priority.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, But we must not forget that long term competitiveness must be built on strong companies that are able to survive and thrive in competition on an open market. In the long term, factors like weak productivity, insufficient spending in R&D and electricity prices pose greater risks to European competitiveness than lack of subsidies to production in Europe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, If we want to maintain our leading knowledge based economies with innovative industries, we need to step up our game. Therefore, we need a long term new strategy on EU level to boost competitiveness and productivity. The single market's 30th year anniversary is a very useful starting point for that work.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Last but not least, the fourth priority of the Swedish presidency will be to uphold the Union's common fundamental values. I would like to pay tribute to European Parliament for your steadfast support for the most important principle that binds us all together. Respect for the rule of law. History teaches us that this is a precondition for our political, our legal and our economic cooperation.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, If we want citizens rights to be protected everywhere across the union and the single market to function properly, the rule of law has to be upheld in every country. Liberal democracy. The combination of popular sovereignty and individual rights is also what separates the EU from other international institutions and makes more people in more countries want to join.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, These values, not corruption and cronyism of Ukraine, Moldova and other candidates the countries are aspiring towards. In that sense, making sure that we preserve the rule of law in the EU is also a way of enhancing our global competitiveness and our attractiveness. There are certainly formats and forums to engage with authoritarian states, but the EU is not one of them. This is and must remain a club of democracies.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, In the last few years we have made significant progress to safeguard the rule of law in the EU. The conditionality mechanism has been an important new instrument to ensure that EU funds are not misused. Article seven proceedings have been initiated and the rule of law dialogues have shown that all Member States, not just a few, have room for improvement. As far as rule of law is concerned.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, During the Swedish Presidency, this work will certainly continue and in order to emphasise the importance of rule of law, we will also organise a symposium on this specific issue in Stockholm in May. When my Czech colleague Peter Fiala spoke to this Parliament in July last year, he paraphrased Ronald Reagan in saying that democracy is never more than one generation away from its demise. And I agree.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, If the last two years have taught us anything, it should be that no political institution can settle with past achievements. Democracy has to be defended and reinvented in both words and deeds. Dear Members of the European Parliament. Six months is a very short time. Yet there is so much to do since these months coincide with a truly unique moment in Europe's contemporary history.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, For obvious reasons, the only thing I can promise you all in this room is that we will do our utmost. There is only so much that my government can control, and some things will no doubt catch us by surprise. They always tend to do. But I can assure you that Sweden will be a constructive and enthusiastic leader of the work in the Council and the co-operative partner that will search for compromises with all Member States and all institutions in mind.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ulf KRISTERSSON, Swedish Prime Minister, Together, we will seek solutions to meet the challenges that I have outlined here today to security, to climate, to competitiveness, to the rule of law, and more. And we will count on you not just as a counterpart, but also as an ally. Thank you all for your attention. I now look forward to the debate. Thanks.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Madam President. The Prime Minister. Honourable Members, It's a pleasure to be here to discuss with you the programme of the Swedish Presidency of the Council. And I wish you, Prime Minister Kristersson, and your team, your colleagues, every success over the coming six month.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, And I also would like to wish the two, all of you, all of the whole honourable members, a happy New Year. And let me express also my hope that the 2023 will bring greater peace and prosperity to Europe. But for that to happen, we must continue to put all our efforts into tackling the far reaching challenges facing us. Challenges which have not disappeared with the changing of calendar.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, The Commission therefore welcomes and supports the Swedish Presidency's focus on its main priorities. First, we must maintain our unity and determination in supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people against Russia's war of aggression and Kremlin's barbaric attempt to weaponize even the winter. With a conflict in its eleventh Month. Ukraine continues to defend its land with bravery and tenacity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Our support, likewise, is unwavering with the first tranche of the unprecedent €18 billion support package set to be disbursed still this month. We continue to work relentlessly to keep the Ukrainian electricity grid functioning, including by providing power generators and transformers under the EU civil protection Mechanism. And we will resolutely support Ukraine in its reconstruction efforts.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, The international donors platform that we are setting up together with our G7 partners will help coordinate our efforts here. In addition, we welcome the Presidency's demand for those responsible to be held accountable, and we remain fully behind the commitment towards Ukraine's integration into the European Union. At the same time, we need to take action to address the myriad repercussions of the war.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, This means making swift progress in the work on security and defence, including via the adoption of the European defence industry, reinforcement through the Common Procurement Act and our updated Maritime security strategy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Secondly, we must continue to overcome the energy crisis, a consequence of the war in Ukraine being felt deeply by citizens and businesses across the Europe. Russia's effort to blackmail us by weaponising energy and manipulating our dependency on Russian fossil fuel imports have failed thanks to our solidarity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, We have reached 20% in gas savings and introduce a gas price cap, which, when matched with a warm winter, have led to our storage level being at 83% very high for this time of the year. With gas prices now lower than they been before the war, thanks in no small part to our work to accelerate permitting procedures, we deployed twice as much renewable energy capacity as expected last year.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, So there is still much to be done. Work is ongoing to operationalise the EU energy platform to enable the joint purchase of gas. And I had the pleasure of chairing the first meeting of the steering board yesterday. In this effort, it is vital that we effectively leverage the EU's political and market weight. At the same time, we need to further scale up renewables, which are critical for our long term energy independence, as well as for the green transition.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, As President Von der Leyen said last week, we should aim to double our renewable energy capacities this year again. This brings us to the third priority of the Swedish presidency, furthering our work to meet our climate ambitions. We look forward to the swift conclusions of the remaining trilogues. 4/5 455 Package The beating heart of the European Green Deal and stands ready to assist the co-legislators as needed.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, They also count on Swedish presidency to make a as much progress as possible on other European Green Deal proposals, including the zero pollution package and the proposal on packaging and packaging waste.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, This in turn will help boost our competitiveness in the framework of the 30th anniversary of the Single Market, a landmark we celebrated in this chamber yesterday. We therefore welcome the focus of the Swedish Presidency on our Union's economic competitiveness, a key part of its strength. We look forward to working with the Presidency on a number of relevant measures, including the review of our economic governance framework and the implementation of our upcoming Single Market anniversary Communication.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, Our economic relations with third countries are also important for our competitiveness, and we anticipate making progress on agreements with several key partners under Swedish presidency. We also welcome efforts to reinvigorate the EU's economy through additional investments in the green transition under the Repower EU.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, However, we must also consider how best to support Europe's thriving clean tech industry at a time where others around the world are taking measures which could negatively affect our competitiveness as well as reduce investments into Europe. For example, are currently working with the US to reduce the negative side effects of its Inflation Reduction Act. But we still face unfair competition from China's massive subsidies in its clean tech sector.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, In response, under the Swedish Presidency, we will introduce measures, including on strategic raw materials. We also need to update our state aid framework to better facilitate public investment. And finally, we are also pleased to see the Swedish presidency focus on migration. At a time when migratory flows are once again on increase a robust framework for our migration and asylum system is vital.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, We already have many answers to the challenges we face in the pact on asylum and migration. So we look forward to advancing on this issue in the coming six months. Honourable Members, The Prime Minister, as you can judge from my voice, is just a proof that the weather in Kiruna was cold. But I can tell you that the atmosphere was very warm and that spirit of cooperation was very, very strong.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, So therefore I am very glad to conclude by saying that all of us in the Commission, I am sure in the European Parliament are really looking forward to work with you, with your team, with Swedish presidency. And I believe that in the spirit of European unity and solidarity, we will deliver for the people in Europe and for the European Union. So once again, thank you very much for the attention and Prime Minister. All the best of luck for the presidency. Thank you.