For ECR Group Co-Chair Nicola Procaccini, Europe will only be able to withstand future geopolitical shocks if it becomes far less dependent on others for its energy, its security and the foundations of its industrial competitiveness.

Speaking in the European Parliament ahead of the European Council meeting of 15–16 October, Procaccini called for Europe to increase its own energy production instead of allowing energy policy to be dictated primarily by decarbonisation targets.

“It is wrong to divide ourselves into two teams, one supporting renewable energy and the other fossil fuels.

“We need to become more autonomous in producing our own energy, whatever the source, instead of being forced to buy it from others. Yet here everything continues to revolve around the fetish of decarbonisation.

“Strategic autonomy is the only way to make ourselves resilient to geopolitical shocks that can occur at any moment,” Procaccini said.

Procaccini also warned that the EU Emissions Trading System is imposing increasingly heavy costs on European companies competing internationally. He cited the financial difficulties facing airBaltic as one example of a wider competitiveness problem.

“The first concerns the risk of airBaltic going bankrupt. From its accounts, we have learned that its main creditor is the Latvian state – or, rather, the European Union – and that the company has to surrender more than €40 million in ETS allowances.

“It is an enormous charge that creates an enormous competitive disadvantage between European companies and the rest of the world, without helping the environment,” he said.

Procaccini also pointed to the recent parliamentary election in Latvia, where the ECR Group’s political partners performed strongly, with United List achieving the strongest result of any political force in a democratic parliamentary election in the country’s history and National Alliance maintaining a solid level of support. For Procaccini, the outcome reflected strong voter demand for secure borders, greater security, respect for national identity and a return to economic policies focused on growth and competitiveness.

“Citizens are demanding firmness at the borders, security, respect for their national identity and a decisive return to economic common sense. The European Council should finally listen to this voice before crises overwhelm Europe,” Procaccini said.

The full speech reads:

Thank you, President. President von der Leyen,

The next European Council will meet while reality outside continues to knock very loudly at our door. With fuel prices rising, inflation is once again hitting families and squeezing businesses.

I will never tire of repeating this: it is wrong to divide ourselves into two teams, one supporting renewable energy and the other fossil fuels. The real objective is different. We need to become more autonomous in producing our own energy, whatever the source, instead of being forced to buy it from others. Yet here everything continues to revolve around the fetish of decarbonisation.

Strategic autonomy is the only way to make ourselves resilient to geopolitical shocks that can occur at any moment. This is true for energy just as it is for military defence. It is no coincidence that the first building block of European integration was based precisely on coal and steel. Energy sovereignty and security are two sides of the same coin.

In this respect, two important pieces of news have come from Latvia.

The first concerns the risk of airBaltic going bankrupt. From its accounts, we have learned that its main creditor is the Latvian state – or, rather, the European Union – and that the company has to surrender more than €40 million in ETS allowances. It is an enormous charge that creates an enormous competitive disadvantage between European companies and the rest of the world, without helping the environment.

The CEO of Lufthansa has set out two striking figures: the European Union produces only around 5 per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, but accounts for more than 80 per cent of global revenues from emissions-trading systems.

The second piece of news from Latvia is the great victory of Prime Minister Kulbergs and the conservative political family. Citizens are demanding firmness at the borders, security, respect for their national identity and a decisive return to economic common sense.

The European Council should finally listen to this voice before crises overwhelm Europe.