Dutch GreenLeftLabor leader Frans Timmermans' speech

[pieter]

Dutch GreenLeftLabor leader Frans Timmermans' speech to European Socialists



Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA) is in old-fashioned form. In a speech before the European elections, he warns against the extreme right. This was on a meeting of the Party of European Socialists (PES) today.

[pieter]

12 dec 2019 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - HEMICYCLE
Statement by Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission. www.eudebates.tv/tag/green-deal/ Closing Speech by Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, in charge of the European Green Deal at the European Parliament Plenary Session on the European Green Deal, in Brussels


Honourable Members,

I've listened very carefully to this debate and I'm really excited by the fact that this Parliament has expressed such broad support for the European Green Deal. This is a great start of what is going to be quite a bumpy road, where we will need both institutions to concentrate on all the elements that we need to make the Green Deal work.

Let me say here today: I want to congratulate Greta Thunberg for having been nominated Person of the Year by Time Magazine. I think this is a great sign that this generation – our kids – are leading the way. And as a parent, there's nothing more beautiful than when you see that your kids are leading the way.

But that's not the only reason why I believe we need to act now. The reason I believe we need to act now is because the facts are staring us in the face. And I think if you are a responsible Member of Parliament, if you're in a responsible position in the Commission, if you're a citizen, if you're a parent, you do not have the luxury to ignore the facts. Look at what's happening in Greenland. Look at what's happening globally with our climate. Look at the desertification. Look at the erratic weather. Look at the people suffering because of this erratic weather across Europe. Look at what's happening to our biodiversity as we speak. We do not have the luxury to ignore this anymore.

And look at another thing that's happening. We are in the middle of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. That is going to change our economy, our industry whether we like it or not, whether we act or not. So the question we have to face today as Europeans is this: are we going to try and be masters of this momentous change, of this paradigm shift, or are we just going to let it happen? And then others will be the masters of it and we can just be the subjects of what others will decide. This is the fundamental question we have to answer.

And the Green Deal is not a blueprint. It's a roadmap. It's an extended open hand to you and to all the stakeholders, whether it's businesses, whether it's NGOs, whether it's trade unions, whether it's citizens, whether it's cities, whether it's regions to be part of a discussion of how we are going to reorganise our society in a just way, so that it reflects the values we want to stand for.


And we need to do this because Mother Earth is fed up with this behaviour. And you know, she was able to exist for millennia without human beings, she will be able to exist for other millennia without human beings. We better make sure we create an existence in balance with her, so that we can continue to exist as human beings for millennia. And this is the responsibility we have before our kids.

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I bring back a message from Madrid, the COP, where I'm going to go back and present the Green Deal tomorrow. The message is this: we need European leadership. The message is also this: some of us are insecure what we should do, but if Europe leads we might go in the same direction. I had meetings with Ministers of many countries saying: climate neutrality by 2050 is a good idea, we might do it the same way. With the Chinese we're in debate. Are we going to have collective global leadership on this, yes or no? We need to work on that because if we do it together, the impact will be much bigger.


But at the end of the day, it is very important that this Parliament takes this into hand, and makes sure that Parliament has a leading role, together with the Commission, to convince our Member States in Council to do the right thing.

But finally, I want to add one thing which is very, very important. You know, the biggest risk here I see, is that those who are most vulnerable in climate change, see themselves also as most vulnerable in the answer to climate change, so that they start resisting the Green Deal, because they feel that they are vulnerable. And at the end of the day, if they resist the Green Deal and they stop it, they will be the first victims of the consequences of not doing the right thing.


And at the end, because “Man on the Moon” was quoted, so I obviously thought of the famous moon speech by John F. Kennedy, and let me just amend it slightly and end with that: “We choose to go for climate neutrality in 2050, and do the other things. Not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills. Because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept. One we are unwilling to postpone. And one which we intend to win.” Thank you.

[pieter]