A new model of politics

The huge amount of resources that the European Union member States will have available for recovery is a golden opportunity to change what needs to be changed. That means, as I see it, to invest on health and social matters, on an economy that is friendlier to the environment, on the digital dimensions and on greater inclusion of those who have less income and insecure jobs. The funding of new projects should be guided by these concerns. This is a turning point and we cannot miss it. I am confident the Commission will provide the necessary guidance and will try to make sure the governments do respect the paradigm change. The real challenge is to prevent these monies are used to enrich the supporters of those in power. That will be the old tendency. But we are in a new era. The European Commission must ensure that the citizens in each State have enough power to stop the old clientelism and the ways of doing things that make some richer and the vast majority more vulnerable.

Times of change

We all agree the economic recovery is pressing. Truly, we are confronted with extreme urgency. There are too many people without income, or with a reduced one, too many companies close to insolvency, plenty of sectors working below capacity. The economy is seriously disrupted, in many countries, including in the EU states. Speed is, therefore, the key concern, in the minds of the politicians as well as in the private sector.

Then, a number of intellectuals have come forward and said this post-pandemic time is the big opportunity to change direction and make the economy greener and people-friendly. I agree with their proposals. They are not all of them entirely realistic, but they are well-meaning and the right type of utopia we need to make this world a better place. It would be a mistake not to give attention to them.

There will be some changes, for sure. More people will be working from home, there might be less commuting, and we will witness a lot of pressure from the politicians for the entrepreneurs to bring home some of the investments made far away. There will be a new impetus to move on to a greater share of renewable sources of energy.

But the urgency might upset some of these proposals. Jobs, investments, and revenue generation will be the key criteria for decision-making. And they might not coincide with the new economy we would like to see. But there will be progress in that direction. People are coming out of this crisis with a different approach to life and their own priorities. That is why I think it is important to keep insisting on progressive modifications to the way we produce and trade goods, and a new approach to the worth of some services the pandemic has shown to be of essential importance to our daily lives. 

  

There will be a process of change. Not as much as we would like, but we should not give up. This is an appropriate time to talk about a more balanced world.

The extreme urgency of addressing environmental matters

If there is anything this Summer is teaching us, I would say it is about the urgency of addressing climate change. It has been an abnormal season, in most of Europe and elsewhere. Now, the extensive forest fires in Siberia and other Arctic regions have given us additional evidence we have entered another epoch in human life. Our duty is to join our voices and political pressure to those activists and to the scientists that keeping underlining the gravity of the current trends. The change must occur now, and it ought to be deep and resolute.

We have no longer the luxury of ignoring the issue. And that’s the message that people like Greta Thunberg are fighting for. Now, we must make the politicians and corporations act.

European energy policy: a priority

Energy remains high in the list of strategic factors. Countries that matter pay a lot of attention to the issue. The U.S., for instance, managed to address it by investing heavily on shale rock exploration. They will become, within the next five years, the key exporter of oil, overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia. Moreover, they are already a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). All that is fossil energy. Not what people would call environmentally friendly.

Europe must take a different route. At present, the EU imports 55% of all the energy it consumes, which means around €270 billion per year.  The EU imports 87% of crude oil it consumes. It is time to invest much more money on clean sources of energy, on diversification and on energy efficiency. Including on better performing engines and engines that can run on alternative sources of energy, such as hydrogen.

Europe must pay special attention to its energy policy. That includes the links between energy use and the environment and matters related to our own strategic sovereignty.