EU Parliament, Strasbourg, P10 CRE-REV(2025)03-12(3-0110-0000).
Frau President.
Five years ago, Frau von der Leyen presented here the Green Deal; Europe should become the first climate-neutral continent. Greta Thunberg would now say: We are on a good way. For years declines the CO2 output in Germany. Yet that is primarily due to the regressing industrial production. The steel, chemical and automobile industries are no longer competitive on account of higher duties and much too expensive energy.
The result is massive profit breakdowns and job cuts. Thirty percent less profit at Mercedes and Volkswagen, 35,000 positions eliminated at Volkswagen, up to 300,000 workplaces in the entire automobile industry. Especially wrong is: As a result of the EU’s arbitrarily set climate goals, European automakers will be forced to buy CO2 certificates from Chinese competitors so as to avoid penalties from Brussels. We thus finance the rise of China and the sell-out of our industry.
The Commission is responsible for this industrial policy harakiri of Europe. Frau von der Leyen and her CDU are a danger for the competitiveness and prosperity of Germany and Europe. Here helps no course corrections, here helps only voting out of office.
[trans: tem]
