“Independence from all fossil fuels is essential.”

On Friday, 8 September 2022, MEP Irena Joveva attended a press briefing at Hiša EU (House of the EU) ahead of the September plenary session. The briefing focused on tackling the current energy crisis. Joveva stressed the need for a common response at the European level, and that independence from all fossil fuels is a must; not least “so that the Earth does not melt, and we or our descendants with it”.  She expects the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to elaborate on how the EU will address this in her annual State of the Union speech.

In this context, Joveva also expects President von der Leyen to make more specific proposals on how to better tackle climate change, and, in particular, how to prepare for periods of drought and fires. She added that she agrees with the proposal for a price cap on electricity and gas, as it is essential to reduce costs for domestic users and prevent businesses from running into difficulties or failing.

“There is also a need to reform the Union’s energy market in the long term, because unfortunately it is not fir for purpose at the moment. Above all, at this point in time, we should decouple electricity and gas prices.”

On the decoupling of gas from electricity, the MEP stressed that the electricity market must be designed in such a way that cheaper forms of energy production can continue to invest in cleaner production methods that are also in line with the Green Deal, and that she expects more understanding from the Council and the Member States in this regard. She underscored that the environmental crisis must not be neglected either.

Asked by the press how the current cost of living crisis will affect the implementation of the measures under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, the MEP replied that the Green Deal must not be allowed to disintegrate. The environmental crisis is as acute as the price inflation. And if we do not want the world to melt before our eyes, we need to act swiftly and decisively. That is why she is also in favour of making the use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility as flexible as possible.

“I would also like to see more ambitious and clear definitions from the European Commission President regarding the future of the EU and its institutional setup.”

At the same time, she underlined that during the next week’s plenary session, she will support both legislative proposals from the Fit for 55 package, as well as the proposal for a directive on minimum wages.

During the press briefing, Joveva also took the opportunity to mention the report on the impact of COVID-19 closures of educational, cultural, youth and sports activities on children and young people in the EU, where she acted as rapporteur on behalf of her Renew Europe group. She is extremely proud of the report and her work on it, and is therefore all the more looking forward to seeing it approved by the Plenary.