Address by President von der Leyen at the plenary session on European affairs in Taizé

Thank you so much, Brother Alois.

Indeed, you asked me why I came to Taizé and how it is possible that I heard of Taizé. And I told you that Taizé is since long a part of my life. I have never been here before, but it was always known to me as a very special place, and the spirit of Taizé is also known to me. Because when I was a young girl, my brothers and my cousins went to Taizé and came back in a different way. So, I mean, it was almost 50 years ago, I must say, half a century, that they were here. And what I did not tell you yesterday is the fact that this was a very sad time in my family because my little sister, she was 11 years old, died of cancer in that time. So it was a time of darkness and doubts. And Taizé and the spirit of Taizé – and we have spoken about it manifold during these two days – has so much hope in it and so much confidence in the future. And this was also the case 50 years ago. So it brought light and confidence and hope again back in my family. And I am still grateful. Now I am here and it is wonderful. It is even better than my expectations, I must say.

Indeed, it is for me, what I experience, a place of refuge and a place of reflection. A place of faith and, of course, a place of encounter. As I approach now the conclusion of my visit, here, I must say – and I guess it is the same for you, at the end of this week – that I am filled with joy, and I am filled with gratitude for all of this. What I have seen here in Taizé, I think it is described perfectly in the gospels, in the tale of the talents. In this story, each person is given a small treasure. But while some make good use of it, others just bury their talents underground. It is a gospel that questions every one of us, personally: Are we making good use of the talents we have gotten, that we are entrusted with? And what is the purpose of the mission, of our lives? I think, here in Taizé, the answer is clear. All the people I met here have something in common, beyond your age or your nationality or your personal background story: You are all wanting to put your talents to good use. You have all chosen to dedicate your life to love, to service, to solidarity, and, yes, to god. I also know very well that this is not a matter of course. Doubts and worries often torment us. Distractions and annoyances are our daily companions. But in principle, you are trying to live your life to the fullest and with the strongest sense of purpose. This is so inspiring, this so important. Not only for all of us, as individuals, but also for our community and for our Union.

So I want to speak, of course, about our European Union. I believe that every generation of Europeans has a mission, shaped by our values, by our talents, by our aspirations. And when I started my journey as President of the European Commission, the first question I posed to myself was: What is my generation's mission? My parents' generation inherited a continent that was divided and destroyed by war. It is the generation of Frère Roger, the founder of the Taizé community. It is the same generation that laid the foundation for the European Union. Out of devastation and dust, they built the promise of a pacified and unified continent where war between neighbours would become completely impossible. They planted a seed which then flourished in the hands of the following generations of Europeans: For example, the generation that made us free to move, work and study all across the Union, something which is so familiar to you; or the generation that tore down the Iron Curtain and united the two halves of our continent. My generation has inherited an immense treasure from the previous generations: A Union of 450 million people, a democracy of democracies, with peace and prosperity within its borders. Our Union may still be imperfect. But Europe, first and foremost, is an aspiration. And as such, it is never complete, never achieved once and for all. Europe is constant work in progress. It is every generation's responsibility to take Europe forward and to always make it better. So what kind of continent will my generation leave to you, the next generation? What are we doing with the talents we have received? This is what I would like to talk to you about today, focusing on Europe's contribution to peace, to our planet and to solidarity among the generations.

Our Union was born out of the longing for peace. It was created so that never again would European countries wage war against each other. And so far, it has been the most successful peace project in human history. War between our 27 Member States is simply unthinkable. Our Union has become so successful that many of us have started to take peace for granted. And yet, this year, we saw that the Kremlin has brought war back to Europe. And so, our Union must go back to its roots, to the original aspiration of its founders. Once again, our mission is and must be to restore peace and security on our continent. A peace based on our values and on our principles. This is why we have been at Ukraine's side since the very beginning of the Kremlin's aggression. This is why we are doing our utmost to support Ukraine's resistance. Because, my friends, if Russia stops fighting, there will be no more war in Ukraine. But if Ukraine stops fighting, there will be no more Ukraine. So standing up for peace, today, means standing with the people of Ukraine. Ukrainians are fighting for their democracy, for their self-determination, for the respect for the human dignity. Ukrainians are fighting for their survival but also for our European values. And I am confident, just like you said, Brother Alois, that ‘in Ukraine, evil will not have the last word'.

The people of Ukraine are defending not only their homes and families but their right to be masters of their future. And they see their future in our Union. Our neighbours – in Ukraine and beyond – are telling us that they want change. They want more democracy, more freedoms, more perspectives. In one word: They want more Europe. Ukraine's path towards the European Union may still be long. But I have no doubt that our Union should be the home of all European countries that share our values. Our European family of values shall flourish and be on good terms with its neighbours. That is how we can realise our founders' aspiration to peace and reconciliation.

The second mission I would want to talk about is to reconcile our relationship with our planet. The natural world around us, creation, has been entrusted to us. But it does not belong to us. And we have forgotten that. Instead of preserving and nurturing the treasure we inherited, we devoured it, piece by piece. We built an economy that extracts, consumes and throws away. And this simply cannot be sustainable. Pope Francis has spoken many a time about the responsibility towards Mother Earth, our moral obligation to use responsibly the Earth's goods. It is out of this sense of responsibility that my first initiative when I took office was to present the European Green Deal. That is a strategy to transform our economy so that we preserve and restore nature, to develop a way of life and work that gives our planet a real fighting chance for the next generations. In short, that means CO2 reduction of at least 55% by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 – cast in law.

Now, much has happened in those three years of the European Green Deal. But our commitment has only grown stronger. The pandemic has made more and more people realise how important it is to have nature in our lives. So we have raised even more resources for the European Green Deal through our Economic Recovery Plan. Then, the war in Ukraine has shone a light on how fragile peace is and how destructive our dependence on Russian fossil fuels is. People are feeling the heat of higher energy prices because of the Kremlin's decision to blackmail us. We have to get rid of our dependency on fossil fuels overall. This is a must. We have to increase our energy efficiency, we have to speed up the transition towards home-grown renewable energy. Sun, wind, geothermal, biomass, green hydrogen – you name it. Today, the price of solar and wind energy has dropped to the point where it is cheaper than polluting fossil fuels. In the North Sea, we are supporting the development of one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world. It will soon cover the annual energy consumption of more than 50 million homes – that is roughly one quarter of all EU households. So by some measures, the European Green Deal has been a big success. But by no means is it enough. We have to do more. And whether that happens or not to a large degree is going to depend on my generation. We have to deliver. It is not about geopolitics only. It is about the survival of the next generations. It is about building a cleaner economy and leading a sustainable way of life. It is about respectfulness towards creation. It is about a better way than the one we have inherited from our predecessors. This is our second mission.

My third and final thought is about solidarity between generations. These last two years have been particularly tough for young people. First, the pandemic and the lockdowns. Then, when the recovery was already underway, the Kremlin's aggression against Ukraine cast new clouds on your future. I am the mother of seven children, five girls and two boys in their 20s and their 30s. And I have an idea of all the pressure that is put on your shoulders. I think that in the status of Facebook, you would say: It is complicated. Some say we have entered ‘the new age of radical uncertainty'. Pope Francis has found the perfect words to describe this moment. He said: ‘Whenever a young person falls, all humanity falls. Yet when a young person stands up again, the whole world rises as well.' And yes, he is so right. And in fact, young people like you have shown incredible strength in the face of adversity. You have been the engine of solidarity in Europe. From the early days of the pandemic, when you helped the elderly that could not leave their homes because of the lockdowns. To this very day, when so many of you are volunteering for the Ukrainian refugees that flee the war. In those two years, young people have taught us so much. You have set an example, you have urged us to aim higher. And in spite of all the uncertainty, this makes me so confident for the future.

That is why our Recovery Plan was named NextGenerationEU. Because it is investing first and foremost in the green and digital jobs of the future. That is why, at the height of the crisis, we reinforced – together with Philippe Lamberts and the European Parliament – the European Youth Guarantee, that is a commitment by Europe to young people that they will get a job, apprenticeship or education within four months. That is why we pushed so much to set an adequate minimum wage at the EU countries' level. That is why we have made 2022 the European Year of Youth. And that is why we launched a new initiative called ALMA, combining support for education and vocational training at home with a work experience abroad for those young people who fall into the gaps. That is why we implemented the first-ever European Climate Law – with legally binding targets. Because all our actions – of my generation – must always aim at making Europe a better place for our young people. I feel it is my generation's responsibility to ensure that our Union is ready for the next generation. And this means innovating and being ready for change. And it means protecting age-old values that remain true through the centuries.

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to listen to Pope Emeritus Benedict as he addressed the German Bundestag. He concluded his speech describing the fundamental values that define Europe's cultural heritage. And he said: ‘The idea of human rights, the idea of the equality of all people before the law, the recognition of the inviolability of human dignity in every single person, and the awareness of people's responsibility for their actions.' These are the values of our tradition. And I know for sure that these are also the values of so many young people like you. It is the treasure that we have inherited. The treasure that we must guard, and that we must put to good use for the next generation. I think that it is the treasure like the spirit of Taizé. And I thank you for your patience for having listened to me.

God bless you. And long live Europe.