We need to talk to people more about Europe, democracy and future plans, Slovak PM Peter Pellegrini said.
To move the EU forward, isolationism, protectionism and nationalism are not a solution, Peter Pellegrini told MEPs on Tuesday in the 18th debate on the Future of Europe.
Speakers' interventions in the debate are available by clicking on their names (below).
The EU can no longer be trapped in the status quo, but needs an EU-wide debate on its strategy and aspirations for the middle of the century, Mr Pellegrini said, after he was welcomed in the chamber by EP President Antonio Tajani.
United, prosperous and secure, globally relevant, honest to its citizens and caring about their future, is his "vision of an attractive Union that EU citizens can trust and support."
"It is obvious that isolationism, protectionism and nationalism are not a solution. Our answer must not be to fragment into small national states with limited resources, but stronger unity of the EU as a global power." Mr Pellegrini said. For that, we need a common path based on a unity of values but also the diversity of our national, regional and local cultures, he added.
Mr Pellegrini praised regional political cooperation, such as the one of the Visegrad Group, as "the essence of EU success". "We need to communicate, try to understand each other and perhaps go the extra mile on both sides", he said, insisting that disputes should be solved through dialogue.
The greatest challenges and the way ahead
The biggest challenges the EU is currently facing are, among others, climate change, a new wave of technological revolution, growing social differences and regional socio-economic disparities, but also "growing Russian and Chinese aspirations, which require a strong and united EU response", the Slovak Prime Minister said.
Mr Pellegrini supported the idea of a European minimum wage and setting up a European Labour Authority, which Slovakia would like to host. The EU, he insisted, must stay at the forefront of technological progress and innovation. He defended cohesion policy, which "helps rich and poor regions to converge" and insisted that the EU should first set its policy goals and only then discuss the next EU long-term budget.
EU elections
With the EU elections quickly approaching, "we need to mobilise our forces" and "fight against fake news, hybrid threats and cyber propaganda. Make people feel the urgency. Make them understand that the elections matter", he concluded.
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the Slovak government for supporting the European Pillar of Social Rights and echoed Mr Pellegrini's statement about cooperation, by confirming that Europe must breathe with both its lungs: western and eastern ones.