Von der Leyen says Green Deal will not be sacrificed by Russian invasion

MEPs quizzed European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on the EU executive’s past two years and implementation of its political priorities.

Questions were wide ranging, many touching on the pandemic and war in Ukraine as well as defence, energy, rule of law, minimum wages, taxation and trade.

Leader of the European Greens Philippe Lambert asked quite bluntly if the EU Green Deal was going to be the first bit of “collateral damage” from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Von der Leyen responded that it would definitely not be the case. “I think it’s just the opposite. Even before the war, enacting Fit for 55 already menat cutting off one-third of the EU’s dependency on Russian fuels.”

Von der Leyen explained that the EU was pursuing LNG fuels because the infrastructure was the same for transporting green hydrogen. Because of the war, Von der Leyen said its effect would only be to further expedite the process and show how sorely this kind of infrastructure was needed.

Responding to another question from Lambert on rule of law, Von der Leyen said it was indeed time to look at the conditionality mechanism for Hungary and its breaches of rule of law.

“We have prepared the guidelines and you have seen the ECJ ruling that the court fully confirmed the approach taken by the Commission,” Von der Leyen said, adding that Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn had informed Hungary that the EC will begin with the conditionality mechanism proceedings.

Responding to similar questions on Hungary and Poland from Stéphane Séjourné (Renew) and Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew), Von der Leyen said the biggest issues with Hungary were corruption.

Responding to In ‘t Veld’s questions on what exactly the Commission was asking of Poland, Von der Leyen said the main issues were with the independence of the judiciary. “The three criteria for reform are: first, dismantling of the disciplinary chamber; second, reform of the disciplinary regime and three, a process to reinstall the unlawfully dismissed judges.”

Iratxe García Pérez, head of S&D, asked about the Commission’s plans for social welfare measures. Von der Leyen replied that a social market nature was at the heart of the EU, and that the minimum wage directive is on its way. “I am a deep believer in collective bargaining. This is the right way to go forward for a minimum wage.  We should tell those who already have a good collective bargaining mechanism to keep it up and we tell the others that don’t have it to enact such a mechanism.”

MEPs also turned their attention to EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on the EU’s security and defence strategy for the coming decade. The Strategic Compass, adopted by EU ministers and approved by the European Council last week, maps out the EU’s action plan to “protect its citizens, values and interests and contribute to international peace and security”.