Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, has given a landmark speech in the European Parliament attacking the Green Deal.
Speaking in Strasbourg on January 22, Tusk warned that high energy prices were killing the EU and its competitiveness.
“It’s unacceptable that our European energy is the most expensive. If it cannot be the cheapest one, at least it should be more or less on the same level as in other countries … We all want to compete against the US or China but our energy prices are three times as high,” he said.
He urged the EU to deregulate “because our competitiveness depends on it”.
“Europe cannot lose out on global competitiveness, it cannot become a continent of people of naive ideas.
“If we fail at that level, no one will care about the environment at the economic level anymore. So I ask you to have a critical review of all legislation, including the Green Deal.
“We must be able not only to indicate the new path but also to change this legislation that can lead to a further surge in energy prices,” Tusk warned.
The Polish PM said there were “terribly predictable political consequences” if the EU continued “without an in-depth reflection on this path”.
“If we do go bankrupt as Europe, who will protect the environment instead of us?
“So, let us put our thinking caps on and conduct a thorough review of all legal acts, including those under the Green Deal.
“We should identify problems and have the courage to change those rules that might result in excessively high, prohibitively high energy prices,” he said.
Tusk warned his colleagues: “High energy prices can bring down democratic governments.”
He also said Europe should look optimistically at the presidency of Donald Trump in the US and his demands that EU countries pay more to NATO.
“The new President of the US says that Europe needs to share our take of responsibility for our security. Only an ally can wish another ally to get stronger. It is not what an opponent of Europe would say.
“Stop asking what America can do for our security but see what you yourself can do for our security.”
Tusk also called for a common European defence and a European rocket shield.
“If Europe is to survive, it needs to be armed,” he said.
“It is not our choice. I’m not a militarist. No one in Poland would like to see another war. We have suffered greatly, the most in Europe, and perhaps that is why we understand it so well: To avoid repeating history, we need to be armed.”
Tusk did say he opposed a specific European army, fearing, he said, internal division.
“I think Budapest would send such an army in the opposite direction than Warsaw would,” he commented.
Ask not what America can do for Europe and its security – ask what we ourselves can do for it. Europe was, is, and will always be great. pic.twitter.com/zp0Q69LY6t
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) January 22, 2025
