Madam President, dear Roberta, Deputy Minister Raouna de Marilena, honorable Members.

Let me start with the ongoing situation in the Middle East.

For decades, Ayatollah Khamenei ruled through repression, violence and fear.

Under his rule, Iranians lived under a system that silenced dissent. And crushed basic freedoms.

Earlier this year, hundreds of thousands of young Iranians took to the streets to demand a better future. They were met with brutal repression.

More than 17.000 young men and women were killed as the regime clung to power.

The crimes of this regime go back decades. It imprisoned and tortured its own citizens.

It sponsored terrorism across the region and even on European soil. It provided crucial support. To Russia's brutal war against Ukraine.

There should be no tears shed for such a regime. Many Iranians have celebrated Khamenei's downfall.

They hope that this moment can open a path towards a free Iran.

That is what the Iranian people deserve freedom, dignity and the right to decide their own future. Allow me to make one important point. Seeing the world as it is.

In no way diminishes our determination to fight for the world as we want it.

The European Union was founded as a peace project.

Our unwavering commitment to the pursuit of peace, to the principles of the UN Charter.

To international law are as central today as they were at our creation,

and we will always uphold these principles.

Members, Europe's first responsibility is to protect our citizens and to prepare for the impacts of this conflict. And Deputy Minister dear Raouna de Marilena.

I want to be very clear all of us stand here in full solidarity with Cyprus. Your security is our security.

Members, we are also seeing the impact of the situation in the Middle East on energy.

Thanks to the actions we have taken in recent years,

Europe is now far less exposed to fossil fuel imports. Our diversification efforts are paying off.

But this does not mean that we are immune to price shocks. Energy markets are global.

Disruptions in the Gulf quickly affect prices everywhere. We are already seeing price spikes.

This is why the G7 energy ministers met yesterday, to be followed by a video call by G7 leaders. But no matter what we do.

In terms of measures as long as we import a significant share of fossil fuels from unstable regions,

we are vulnerable and we are dependent. This energy always comes at a cost.

I want to give you just an example. Since the beginning of this conflict.

Gas prices have risen by 50% and oil prices have risen by 27%. If you translate this into euros.

The 10 days of war have already cost European taxpayers an additional €3 billion in fossil fuel imports additional. That is the price of our dependence.

Honourable Members,

the fact is we have energy sources that are home grown renewables and nuclear.

Their prices have remained the same over the last 10 days.

Yet in the current crisis,

some argue that we should abandon our long term strategy and even go back to Russian fossil fuels. This would be a strategic blunder.

It would make us more dependent, more vulnerable and weaker.

So we should stay the course of our long term strategy.

We can be more pragmatic, we can be smart in its implementation, no question, but the direction of travel is the right one. Where do we stand today?

Households and companies face pressure now, so we must deliver relief now.

We must comprehensively look at how we can reduce people's energy bills. Not only looking at one component.

But rather at all four components of the price, that is the cost of the energy itself,

which makes more or less 56% on average of the bill. Which charges, on average, 18%. Taxes and levies 15%. Carbon costs on average around 11%.

As I said, of course these are averages,

and they differ depending on the energy mix in the respective Member States.

On the cost of energy, on the market design. Overall, the current market design has delivered.

There is overall support for the current system.

But It is crucial that we reduce the cost impact when gas sets the electricity price. Therefore, we are preparing different options.

Better use of power purchase agreements and contracts for difference. State aid measures.

We are exploring subsidizing or even capping the gas price.

Secondly, on the grid chargers, that is a delicate matter because on the one hand, these chargers are needed to invest in more and smarter grids, and on the other hand,

there is room to increase the productivity of grids so that less renewables are wasted,

and here I want to give you one figure that is telling.

Last year, we installed more than 80 gigawatts of renewables in the European Union, a record. So far, so good.

But 6 times more renewable energy does not get access to the grids,

so if we produced 6 times more renewables, that was wasted. With electricity demand set to increase. This is simply not sustainable.

My 3rd point on taxes and levies, this is, of course, a national competence. I fully respect that.

But it is also true that some Member States are taxing electricity, much higher even than gas.

To give you another example, one Member State applies 0 taxes.

On retail electricity, while some others supply over 16%. That makes a difference.

So there is room for action and, as I said, it is a national competence. Finally, the 4th component on ETS.

Also on ETS, let me give you one figure.

Without ETS, we would now consume 100 billion cubic meters more gas,

again making us more vulnerable, more dependent, and weaker.

We need ETS, but we need to modernize it.

I look forward to continuing this debate on all these elements with you here in the European Parliament.

Members, let me finish on another aspect of competitiveness.

It is one thing that we actually agree on components of competitiveness, that's good.

But it's another thing that we deliver on the action and the legislation.

This is why we will soon present a roadmap for One Europe, one market.

The purpose of this roadmap is We set out key legislative measures that we must adopt with clear timelines,

clear targets to deliver them by the end of 2027.

We want to be done and completed with the work by the end of 2027 for one Europe, one market.

I say that explicitly because we all know by experience only what gets measured gets done.

So the roadmap contains various packages of legislation.

It's also very important savings and investment union, all the topics of energy I was just touching upon quality jobs,

AI, gigafactories, the 28th regime, you just name it. These are only a few. My point is that I would like.

All three institutions Parliament, Council and Commission to sign up for it. We know the challenges.

We know what must be done, now we must deliver for European citizens. Thank you and long live Europe.