ECR Group Co-Chairman Patryk Jaki has warned that Europe’s economic decline will continue unless the European Union fundamentally changes direction on energy, regulation and industrial policy.

During a key plenary debate on the future of the Single Market and European competitiveness with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Jaki pointed out that Europe’s economic problems are not caused by a lack of strategies or roadmaps, but by years of costly regulation, expensive energy and ideological policymaking. Jaki argued that Europe’s competitiveness crisis is largely self-inflicted and directly linked to policies introduced over the past decade.

“I’ve heard here that the most important thing is to have cheap energy, less bureaucracy, a safer Europe, economic development, and innovation. Well, that’s exactly what Europe looked like around 2008. And the question is, what happened then? Well, you came to power with your program,” said Jaki.

Referring to Europe’s declining economic position compared to the United States, Jaki warned that excessive regulation and rising energy costs were seriously undermining Europe’s industrial base.

“In 2008, the GDP of the European Union was over 100 per cent of the GDP of the United States. Today, it’s around 65 per cent,” he said. “Moreover, you say you want cheap energy, but the problem is that from that moment on, you introduced expensive energy. You introduced your ETS systems. And now we’ll see in the data: when you introduced it, the cost of allowances was around €15 per ton; today it’s €65 per ton, about 250 per cent more.”

Jaki also criticised the impact of the Green Deal and the expansion of ETS-related costs on industry and households across Europe.

“The Commission President said she wants to rebuild industry through the Green Deal. Many people might take that as a joke, because it was the Green Deal that killed and is killing industry in Europe,” he added.

“I’m convinced that if we want to change something, we really need to change this direction first and foremost, because everything you’ve done so far has led to the exact opposite effect of what the President presented today,” he concluded.

Patryk Jaki’s speech reads in full:

Thank you, Madam President, Madam President, I’ve heard here that the most important thing is to have cheap energy, less bureaucracy, a safer Europe, economic development, and innovation. Well, that’s exactly what Europe looked like around 2008. And the question is, what happened then? Well, you came to power with your program, and let’s remember, in 2008, the GDP of the European Union was over 100 per cent of the GDP of the United States. Today, it’s around 65 per cent. Moreover, you say you want cheap energy, but the problem is that from that moment on, you introduced expensive energy. You introduced your ETS systems. And now we’ll see in the data: when you introduced it, the cost of allowances was around €15 per ton; today it’s €65 per ton, about 250 per cent more. This has resulted in wholesale energy being over 100 per cent more expensive, and average energy for families being over 200 per cent more expensive.

Well, you wanted to introduce cheap energy, and I have increasingly expensive energy. You wanted to introduce more competitiveness, and we have competitiveness. Competitiveness in the European Union is definitely distorted. You wanted to introduce economic development, but all this is destroying economic development in the European Union, and you represent the current logic of exclusive rights. Those who have ruined this situation have the right to fix what’s broken, and right now, the best solution should be that enough is enough, we need to change this direction, we need to change this direction radically.

Madam President, you mentioned that we’re off to a good start when it comes to artificial intelligence. The problem is that the ‘good things’ we have are indeed exceptions. Nowhere else in the world is there so much regulation when it comes to artificial intelligence, and that’s why we’re losing out to industry.

The President said she wants to rebuild industry through the Green Deal. Many people might take that as a joke, because it was the Green Deal that killed and is killing industry in Europe. Production of goods and investment in the machinery industry has fallen by nearly 9 per cent, and it’s getting worse all the time. Electricity prices are further killing industry, being twice as high as in the United States and 90 per cent higher than in China. Europe is now losing up to 500 jobs a day because of this, mainly in industry. So it seems – well, it doesn’t just seem so.

I’m convinced that if we want to change something, we really need to change this direction first and foremost, because everything you’ve done so far has led to the exact opposite effect of what the President presented today.

Thank you very much.