From our correspondent in Strasbourg – “There should be no tears shed for such a regime.” The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, reiterates that, in the case of the attack by the United States and Israel on Iran, the end justifies the means. However, in her speech to the Strasbourg chamber, the contradiction is evident from the moment she assures the audience of the “unwavering commitment” to the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law. In any case, what is done is done, and now we must face the costs: “Ten days of war have already cost European taxpayers an additional EUR 3 billion in fossil fuels imports. That is the price of our dependency,” von der Leyen said. The alternative is there for all to see: “renewable energy and nuclear power”, whose prices “have remained the same.”
Von der Leyen stays the course. She does not condemn the violation of international law by the two allies and attempts to gloss over (and skilfully shift the focus of the debate) the disastrous consequences of the unilateral actions of the United States and Israel on European citizens. Starting with Cyprus, hit by the attack of a drone last week: “Your security is our security,” the EU leader said. But Europe risks above all stumbling into a serious energy crisis, the second in a few years after the one triggered by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
“Thanks to the actions we have taken in recent years, Europe is now far less exposed to fossil fuel imports. Our diversification efforts are paying off,” von der Leyen said. But this does not mean that “we are immune to price shocks.” In 2024, it still imported 57 per cent of its energy. More than 90 per cent of the EU’s energy imports are oil and natural gas. And since the start of the conflict, “gas prices have risen by 50 per cent and oil prices by 27 per cent,” von der Leyen said.
The EU leader, who launched the major green transition plan in 2019 and is now gradually slowing down due to the shift to the right of the European political centre of gravity, and her party, the Popular Party, insisted: “The fact is we have energy sources that are homegrown – renewables and nuclear. Their prices have remained the same over the last 10 days.” This small victory allows von der Leyen to reaffirm the merits of the much-maligned Green Deal. “We can be more pragmatic and smarter in its implementation – but the direction of travel is the right one.”
According to von der Leyen, the market has held up relatively well so far, but it is “crucial that we reduce the cost impact when gas sets the electricity price.” There is also room to “increase the productivity of grids, so that less renewables are wasted.” The President of the European Commission stepped back from “taxes and levies,” which remain within national competence, but she emphasised that “some Member States are taxing electricity much higher than gas.” This is a golden opportunity to rebuff those who want to undermine the foundations of EU environmental policy. “Without the ETS (the emissions trading system, ed. note), we would now consume 100 bcm more gas – again, making us more vulnerable and more dependent,” she added.
After her, the leaders of the political groups took the floor. Starting with the Vice-President of the People’s Party (EPP), Jeroen Lenaers, who highlighted the EU’s inconsistency in major international crises: “Europe was not consulted on the peace talks in Ukraine, we were not present in Venezuela, and now we are not present in Iran.” The president of the Socialist Group, Iratxe Garcia Perez, used very harsh words against von der Leyen: “It is one thing not to mourn the regime, but it is quite another to remain silent in the face of the death of innocent people,” she said, adding that “her responsibility is not to declare the international order obsolete, but to defend it, demand respect for the rules, and oppose autocrats with concrete actions.” One cannot fail to “state the obvious,” namely that “the US and Israeli military attack against Iran violates the United Nations Charter.”
For Lucia Annunziata, a socialist MEP, “President von der Leyen spoke of this conflict as something with ‘unintended consequences'”. However, Annunziata points out, “a fundamental question remains: did the United States’ intervention violate international law? We have not received any clarification on this point either.” Bringing the focus back to soaring energy prices, the co-chair of the Greens, Terry Reintke, seized her moment: “I remember we were on track to abandon fossil fuels. If I remember correctly, it was called the Green Deal,” she said sarcastically.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
