During the plenary session (13-16 September 2021) in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Ursula VON DER LEYEN delivers the State of the European Union (SOTEU 2021) to the MEPs. Statement by Jörg MEUTHEN (ID,DE), ID Vice-Chair

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

state of the Union

MEUTHEN, Jörg (NI, DE)

state of the European Union 2021 (T)

State of the European Union 2021 debate: Statement by Jörg MEUTHEN (ID, DE), ID Vice-Chair

SOUNDBITE (German), J&ouml;rg MEUTHEN (ID, DE), Madam President, president of the Commission for EU Citizens, we don't want soothing words about the State of the Union. Just another example of which you've just delivered us. If you look soberly at what we've done is just an orgy of spending money, this green deal, the recovery fund, this just really means more centralization and more absurd and pointless subsidization for more red tape in a democracy and telling citizens what to do. And this is all being done with hard earned money of the citizens through EU taxes and through the EU raising money on the markets, which was not provided for in the EU treaties for good reason.

SOUNDBITE (German), Jörg MEUTHEN (ID, DE), But this is actually a de facto socialist approach, but saving Europe is not enough. You want to save the world as well as you want to save the world's climate. And you want to build up Europe again as if it had been destroyed by the pandemic. That was the case in the Second World War, but it's not the case now. But you don't seem to mind because you have an insatiable desire to acquire more power and more control over people's lives. Have you ever thought that the citizens of the EU just want one thing from the EU? They want to be left in peace. They want to keep their own hard earned income instead of handing it over to this money hungry administration in Brussels, instead of having it for their children, for their future.

SOUNDBITE (German), Jörg MEUTHEN (ID, DE), You're actually getting the most support from the left side of this house. But you should realize that in Germany, a government of red socialists and green socialists is in the offing. So that will just inspire you to fuel the flames of your spending orgy. When you talk about deals, a deal would imply consenting parties. What you are doing is an unparalleled attack against the economic foundations of our continent. So Europe is on its own, going to save the whole world,  and yet the price tag for this incredible hubris is going to be paid by the citizens.

SOUNDBITE (German), Jörg MEUTHEN (ID, DE), We've seen how ridiculous it is to be getting out of coal and nuclear all at the same time as German citizens have experienced this for themselves. So they've ended up with the highest energy prices in Europe, thanks to Angela Merkel's approach. People can't afford to heat their homes or buy fuel for their car on their way to work. This is not a very good example for our neighboring countries. The green deal is going to affect all of you. You're going to go through what we've been through in Germany.

SOUNDBITE (German), Jörg MEUTHEN (ID, DE), Madam President, you and Germany as well are at a crossroads: if you want Europe to be a prosperous, flourishing continent and at the same time achieve your objective of massively reducing CO2 emissions, you're not going to do this with some kind of planned economy experiments by the EU Commission or with any kind of pseudo ecological projects by the Greens that will build wind farms all over our countryside. It won't work. We're just going to have blackouts and energy rationing, you'll only solve these problems through high tech and that doesn't come from Brussels. High technology will only work as well if we make a modern use of the latest generation of nuclear energy.

SOUNDBITE (German), Jörg MEUTHEN (ID, DE), So your whole plan is completely wrong. You are literally leading the people of Europe into a cold and dark future, literally. Europe is not fit today. Europe is a sick patient and of course, it doesn't have the basic requirement for recovery, which is understanding what his problem is. All the Covid policy or the catastrophic migration policy is all going down the wrong track.

SOUNDBITE (German), Jörg MEUTHEN (ID, DE), You've shown massive hubris and self-satisfaction in your speech, but this is not going to serve the purposes of the people of Europe. In 25 years time, Madam, I predict that we will just look back and shake our heads in despair at the misguided policies that we're following today. And, you know, you don't need to have a crystal ball. You can just understand that if you look at the economic facts.