Peter Liese: I am rather disappointed / The candidate did not recognize the signs of the times / We need less bureaucracy and more competitiveness to really make the Green Deal a success

“I am rather disappointed. The Vice President-designate of the European Commission Teresa Ribera has not recognized the signs of the times. She spoke as if there was neither an economic crisis nor a war nor a changed majority in the European Parliament," said the environmental policy spokesman for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), Dr. Peter Liese, following the hearing of the Vice President-designate of the European Commission and acting Environment Minister of Spain, Teresa Ribera.

“In her remarks, Ribera spoke as if she only depended on the Left, the Greens and the green part of the Liberals. She has not indicated that she is really seeking the support of the largest group in the European Parliament. This disappoints me all the more as we actually reached some agreement during preliminary discussions that the focus must now be on less bureaucracy and more competitiveness. Especially as someone who is firmly convinced that we have to stick to our climate goals, I believe that we have to change course now and achieve the goals together with business and agriculture and in doing so we have to be technology-open. This hearing is a heavy burden for the new Commission and I hope that in the next few days we will get assurances that the Commission's policy is actually changing, exactly in the spirit of Ursula von der Leyen's speech in July and her Political Guidelines," Liese emphasized.

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