Where there is the EU, there is oppor­tu­nity.

A strong Euro­pean Union means a stronger, inde­pen­dent Finland

EU member­ship strength­ens Finland’s stabil­ity, secu­rity and pros­per­ity. There is strong popu­lar support for member­ship. The Union makes it easy to move between Member States. Finland does well when we are an active part of the West and Europe.

For the National Coali­tion Party, EU member­ship means a choice based on common sense: member­ship is a secu­rity choice, an economic choice and a choice of values. Through the EU, we can make a differ­ence in a way that a small coun­try could not other­wise.  The EU is a union of strong and coop­er­a­tive Member States through which Europe can promote common causes world­wide. The EU is also about compro­mise and recon­cil­ing differ­ent views in nego­ti­a­tions.

The National Coali­tion Party wants to increase the EU’s effec­tive­ness. We look to the EU for economic growth, secu­rity, and effec­tive climate and energy poli­cies. Less inter­fer­ence in the insignif­i­cant details and more market econ­omy. More free trade, less state aid. Fewer trans­fers, more respon­si­bil­ity for your­self. 

The EU must reform with deter­mi­na­tion. Europe must be able to make an impact in a world increas­ingly divided between democ­ra­cies and author­i­tar­ian states. With­out close coop­er­a­tion, even the largest Euro­pean coun­tries are too small to pursue their inter­ests glob­ally. 

A strong econ­omy is also a secu­rity policy. The stronger the econ­omy, the better the EU can defend democ­racy, for exam­ple, by combat­ing Russi­a’s mili­tary actions and China’s quests for power. The EU is also a key player in promot­ing human rights, equal­ity, and democ­racy. 

The National Coali­tion Party wants to make the EU a strong global oper­a­tor. The EU must strengthen the secu­rity of its Member States to safe­guard their economic inter­ests in inter­na­tional compe­ti­tion. Expand­ing the EU’s inter­nal market is impor­tant. The EU needs to develop into a clean energy pioneer. 

It is in Finland’s inter­est to have compe­tent and moti­vated repre­sen­ta­tives elected to the Parlia­ment who are able to acquire and use influ­ence. It is the only way to get the Finnish perspec­tive heard in the EU Parlia­ment. The National Coali­tion Party is part of the Euro­pean People’s Party (EPP), the largest and most influ­en­tial group in the Parlia­ment. 

1. Europe’s secu­rity must be raised to a whole new level

Finland’s member­ship in both NATO and the EU signif­i­cantly strength­ens Finland’s secu­rity. Finland’s over­all ideol­ogy of prepared­ness must be carried forward through­out the EU. The EU and its Member States must signif­i­cantly strengthen their abil­ity to defend them­selves, espe­cially against the threat of Russia. 

Russi­a’s inva­sion of Ukraine showed that secu­rity in Europe needs to be seen in a new way. It is a ques­tion of mili­tary prepared­ness as well as the over­all secu­rity of soci­eties more broadly. Strength­en­ing the secu­rity of supply covers not only secu­rity and defence policy but also areas such as energy and food secu­rity. As long as the war contin­ues, the most impor­tant thing is to support Ukraine. For the EU, the preven­tion of terror­ism is a matter of both exter­nal and inter­nal secu­rity.

1.1 Defence capa­bil­i­ties for Ukraine and all of Europe. Now.

The EU’s capac­ity for action and deci­sion-making in the Common Foreign and Secu­rity Policy must be improved. Indi­vid­ual Member States should not be able to block deci­sions that are vital for the Union and its Member States. The EU’s capac­ity and will to respond to the threat posed by Russia, in partic­u­lar, must be strength­ened.

Strong and cred­i­ble defence equip­ment produc­tion and the abil­ity to react quickly will increase the secu­rity of both Finland and Europe as a whole and facil­i­tate the shar­ing of the secu­rity burden between Europe and the United States. The Euro­pean Union and its Member States must direct more resources to secu­rity and defence. Obsta­cles to private finance for defence equip­ment produc­tion must also be removed.

The EU must play a strong role in the recon­struc­tion of Ukraine. Ukraine must also have a clear path to EU member­ship. Ukraine must be supported in meet­ing the condi­tions for member­ship. Ukraine should be accepted as a member as soon as the coun­try is ready. NATO member­ship is also part of Ukraine’s future. For both processes, progress must be made as quickly as possi­ble.

As the EU grows, it will become more influ­en­tial. That is why the National Coali­tion Party wants to keep the doors open for new Member States.In addi­tion to Ukraine, the coun­tries of the West­ern Balkans, Moldova and Geor­gia must be offered a real­is­tic path towards EU member­ship. Member­ship is only open to coun­tries that are not hostile to Europe or West­ern values. A coun­try aspir­ing to join the EU must be Euro­pean in its values and actions.

The EU and NATO must work more closely together. As a member of NATO, Finland can play an active role in this. In addi­tion to the EU coun­tries, Norway and the UK, which are outside the EU, are also partic­u­larly impor­tant in this coop­er­a­tion.

The EU’s capac­ity to provide crisis assis­tance to both its own Member States and its part­ner coun­tries must be improved. The EU provided rapid and effec­tive support to Ukraine after the Russ­ian inva­sion. The EU must act at least as quickly and effec­tively if one of its Member States faces a simi­lar crisis. 

The National Coali­tion Party wants to promote a common market for defence equip­ment in the EU. This is also an oppor­tu­nity for the Finnish indus­try. Defence and secu­rity procure­ment rules must be more effec­tively enforced, and the Commis­sion must be called upon to moni­tor imple­men­ta­tion more closely. At the same time, the secu­rity of supply require­ments must be taken into account more compre­hen­sively than at present.

Boost­ing Euro­pean defence equip­ment produc­tion is a key way to meet Europe’s secu­rity chal­lenges and also to ensure adequate support for Ukraine. The EU must pursue a Euro­pean arms export policy and increase RDI fund­ing for future defence tech­nolo­gies. The National Coali­tion Party supports the creation of an EU Defence Coun­cil and a Commis­sioner for the defence indus­try.

The use of the Euro­pean Peace Facil­ity must be strength­ened to rein­force mili­tary assis­tance to Ukraine. The mandate of the Euro­pean Invest­ment Bank to finance defence equip­ment produc­tion should also be extended.

The war in Ukraine has shown how impor­tant it is to move soldiers and mili­tary equip­ment quickly from one coun­try to another. Much work remains to be done on intra-Euro­pean mili­tary mobil­ity, for exam­ple, by increas­ing EU fund­ing to promote it. At the same time, the Euro­pean trans­port infra­struc­ture must be modernised to make it as suit­able as possi­ble for mili­tary use.

The National Coali­tion Party is in favour of main­tain­ing and increas­ing sanc­tions against Russia as long as the justi­fi­ca­tion for the sanc­tions, i.e. Russi­a’s ille­gal war of aggres­sion against Ukraine, contin­ues. The EU must also focus more strongly on those coun­tries that support and enable Russia to main­tain its war-fight­ing capa­bil­i­ties, such as Iran. 

WE WANT THE FOLLOWING:

• The EU to develop a common market for defence equip­ment, signif­i­cantly increase Euro­pean arms and ammu­ni­tion produc­tion and chan­nel RDI fund­ing into defence tech­nol­ogy devel­op­ment. 
• In line with open­ings already made by the National Coali­tion Party, Euro­pean finan­cial instru­ments are to be used more widely and effec­tively to finance defence equip­ment produc­tion.
• Obsta­cles to mili­tary and economic support for Ukraine to be removed and support increased to enable it to counter the Russ­ian inva­sion success­fully. Ukraine is part of the Euro­pean family and has a clear path to EU and NATO member­ship if the condi­tions are met.
• To estab­lish the posi­tion of a Defence Indus­try Commis­sioner and a Defence Coun­cil to strengthen the EU’s common secu­rity policy and the Euro­pean defence equip­ment indus­try.
• The EU to invest in crit­i­cal supply routes, such as the rail link from north­ern Finland to the Atlantic.

 

1.2 Fixing the exter­nal border, manag­ing migra­tion

With an ageing popu­la­tion, the EU needs skills and ideas from outside the conti­nent. Educated and entre­pre­neur­ial people from else­where in the world are welcome to EU coun­tries. Immi­gra­tion must take place in a controlled manner and through legal chan­nels. Crime-related migra­tion and abuse of the inter­na­tional protec­tion system pose a grow­ing risk to the inter­nal stabil­ity and economic sustain­abil­ity of Euro­pean soci­eties. 

One of the EU’s found­ing prin­ci­ples is the free move­ment of people between Member States. To work, it requires a cred­i­ble and effec­tive perime­ter. The National Coali­tion Party is in favour of strength­en­ing the EU’s exter­nal borders and Fron­tex, the Euro­pean Agency for the Manage­ment of Oper­a­tional Coop­er­a­tion at the Exter­nal Borders. Russi­a’s use of instru­men­talised immi­gra­tion for hostile hybrid influ­ence must be effec­tively coun­tered. EU asylum rules do not suffi­ciently address these new threats. It must be possi­ble to temporar­ily suspend asylum appli­ca­tions at the EU’s exter­nal borders if a hostile party uses a migra­tory weapon to under­mine the secu­rity of the EU or a single Member State. 

The National Coali­tion Party supports the idea that asylum and inter­na­tional protec­tion could be sought in safe third coun­tries. The EU must also offer its Member States support in situ­a­tions where coun­tries of origin refuse to take in their own nation­als. An effec­tive process­ing and return policy will minimise the incen­tives to seek to enter Europe through danger­ous and costly ille­gal routes. 

While devel­op­ing asylum poli­cies, the EU must encour­age and support Member States in recruit­ing skilled and trained labour.

WE WILL WORK TO PROMOTE THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES IN THE EU:

• The EU will strengthen the border agency Fron­tex in terms of staff, equip­ment and powers to secure the common exter­nal border. 
• On asylum policy, the EU and Member States will imple­ment a pack­age of reforms that will elim­i­nate the misuse of the asylum system as a chan­nel for general migra­tion and ensure that aid is targeted to those in real need. Regu­la­tions will also be reformed to ensure that there are adequate tools to combat hybrid attacks.
• There are clear chan­nels and processes for differ­ent cate­gories of immi­grants with differ­ent back­grounds. Free move­ment of labour within the EU to be promoted and the recruit­ment of skilled profes­sion­als from outside the EU to be facil­i­tated. 

1.3 Increas­ing the EU’s weight in world poli­tics

 

The EU must be an active player, like the United States, China, and India. To strengthen its influ­ence, the Union must, among other things, increase the use of qual­i­fied major­ity voting, at least in those areas of foreign and secu­rity policy, for which a shift to qual­i­fied major­ity voting does not require a change to the Found­ing Agree­ments. Nor does the National Coali­tion Party completely rule out open­ing up the Found­ing Agree­ments for review, should this prove neces­sary.

The EU must increase its coop­er­a­tion with demo­c­ra­tic allies. In addi­tion to the US, coun­tries such as Japan, South Korea, Canada and Australia are strate­gi­cally impor­tant coun­tries with which the EU should build its own alliance. The whole free world must close ranks. The National Coali­tion Party believes that the EU must strive for unity in the UN.

The EU must ensure that the funda­men­tal values of West­ern soci­ety, such as free­dom of the indi­vid­ual, free­dom of expres­sion and equal­ity, are upheld in the Union. In partic­u­lar, the free­dom of the press and the inde­pen­dence of the judi­ciary must be defended. Any breach of these prin­ci­ples must be more sensi­tive and lead to finan­cial and legal conse­quences for the Member State.

The EU must be able to speak with a stronger voice on foreign policy issues with­out any single Member State being able to block deci­sion-making completely. The possi­bil­ity of bypass­ing a single Member State on a case-by-case basis must be used more actively, espe­cially on the issues of coun­ter­ing Russ­ian aggres­sion and help­ing Ukraine.

THE NATIONAL COALITION PARTY ACTIVELY WORKS TO ENSURE THAT: 

• The EU is increas­ingly moving towards qual­i­fied major­ity voting in foreign and secu­rity policy.
• Demo­c­ra­tic coun­tries are strength­en­ing their coop­er­a­tion in the global race against the author­i­tar­ian East. The EU must play a stronger role in this.
• The Union will take a tougher line on viola­tions of the inde­pen­dence of the judi­ciary and free­dom of the press in the Member States.

2. Economic perfor­mance is the corner­stone of secu­rity and pros­per­ity

With a strong econ­omy, the EU can build strate­gic part­ner­ships through regu­la­tion, trade and devel­op­ment policy. In the future, it will be partic­u­larly impor­tant to increase the EU’s economic coop­er­a­tion with African coun­tries. An effi­ciently func­tion­ing inter­nal market is the engine of Euro­pean pros­per­ity.

The National Coali­tion Party wants to expand EU trade agree­ments that give Finnish compa­nies a compet­i­tive advan­tage in export markets. The EU’s single market and trade agree­ments will help Euro­peans to reach global markets, making them more compet­i­tive. A strong and grow­ing econ­omy is about secu­rity. 

2.1 A pan-Euro­pean market offers huge growth oppor­tu­ni­ties

In the EU single market, shops offer a wide choice of selec­tion, and compe­ti­tion is reflected in low prices. There is also an abun­dance of skilled work­ers in the inter­nal market. Free trade creates growth and jobs for Finns. Free move­ment is also impor­tant in terms of study oppor­tu­ni­ties and, for exam­ple, tourism. 

The National Coali­tion Party is deter­mined to improve the condi­tions for Euro­pean busi­nesses to compete in the inter­nal market, indus­try, and trade policy. We need to dereg­u­late and promote fair compe­ti­tion. Improv­ing the inter­nal market for services and improv­ing trans­port links are impor­tant.

A strong and func­tion­ing single market needs better EU legis­la­tion. More compre­hen­sive impact assess­ments of the proposed legis­la­tion will be required. Care­ful consid­er­a­tion must always be given to whether the same or a suffi­ciently good result can be achieved by means other than new legis­la­tion. Admin­is­tra­tive burdens must be reduced by commit­ting to the “one regu­la­tion in, one out” prin­ci­ple. Regu­la­tion must be predictable and tech­nol­ogy-neutral.

Deci­sions must be made as close to people’s perspec­tives as possi­ble. Regu­la­tion must not become too detailed to leave as much room as possi­ble for the use of “common sense” and the appli­ca­tion of better prac­tices. Over-regu­la­tion is a burden not only for busi­nesses but also, for exam­ple, for munic­i­pal­i­ties.

Better enforce­ment of EU rules is needed. The EU must better moni­tor the fight against corrup­tion, the use of common funds and compli­ance with inter­nal market rules.  Infringe­ment proceed­ings must be initi­ated more vigor­ously if EU laws are not prop­erly imple­mented. The creation of obsta­cles to the free move­ment of services and goods must be effec­tively prevented.

The EU should compen­sate for unfair compe­ti­tion in those prod­uct groups where carbon pric­ing in a produc­tion envi­ron­ment compet­ing with the EU is substan­tially lower and where carbon pric­ing has a signif­i­cant impact on the loca­tion of produc­tion. The best way forward is to nego­ti­ate and, if neces­sary, to nego­ti­ate hard.

OBJECTIVES OF THE NATIONAL COALITION PARTY: 

• The inter­nal market will be further improved to maximise its bene­fits for consumers and busi­nesses.
• The EU avoids unnec­es­sar­ily detailed regu­la­tion and reduces exces­sive regu­la­tory burdens.
• The impact assess­ment of EU legis­la­tion will be improved to ensure that the regu­la­tory burden on busi­nesses and munic­i­pal­i­ties is not exces­sive.
• The EU invests heav­ily in improv­ing trans­port links to promote economic growth and the free move­ment of people and goods.

2.2 Catch­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties with skills and new tech­nolo­gies

Europe must be part of the next indus­trial revo­lu­tion based on digi­tal­i­sa­tion and new tech­nolo­gies. Automa­tion and robo­t­i­sa­tion enable Finnish and Euro­pean labour produc­tiv­ity growth and improve the condi­tions to compete glob­ally. Compa­nies, in partic­u­lar, will need to invest to take advan­tage of these. The EU can create a compet­i­tive busi­ness envi­ron­ment. 

The EU is well placed to excel in high-tech and produce high-value-added prod­ucts for the global market. EU fund­ing must be increas­ingly targeted towards support­ing knowl­edge, energy tran­si­tion, secu­rity, digi­tal­i­sa­tion, research, and new inno­va­tions. Europe, and Finland as part of it, has cutting-edge exper­tise in areas such as arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence, chip and quan­tum research, high-perfor­mance comput­ing, and health tech­nolo­gies. We need to hold on to this exper­tise and be deter­mined to grow it.

The National Coali­tion Party wants to promote the digi­tal single market. The EU needs to improve the frame­work condi­tions for compa­nies provid­ing digi­tal services and ensure that digi­tal­i­sa­tion, research and inno­va­tion fund­ing programmes not only support the Union’s compet­i­tive­ness but also address soci­etal chal­lenges. The EU must be a favourable envi­ron­ment for the devel­op­ment and deploy­ment of arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence. It is better to move forward through better regu­la­tion rather than more regu­la­tion.

The strong role of West­ern democ­ra­cies in setting stan­dards for the digi­tal econ­omy must be ensured. The EU must promote human rights in rela­tion to the use of new tech­nolo­gies. This means, for exam­ple, ensur­ing people’s privacy and respon­si­ble use of their data and the secu­rity of systems.

WHAT WE ARE PURSUING:

• Making Europe an attrac­tive envi­ron­ment for the creation and growth of tech­nol­ogy-based busi­nesses.
• The devel­op­ment of the digi­tal single market.
• Research and devel­op­ment fund­ing to be directed towards new tech­nolo­gies.

2.3 Harm­ful depen­den­cies to be reduced with­out jeop­ar­dis­ing free trade

The EU must promote an open and fair trade policy. The National Coali­tion Party wants busi­nesses of all sizes to be able to oper­ate and compete in the EU’s single market. The EU’s strate­gic self-suffi­ciency must be strength­ened. But the pursuit of self-suffi­ciency must not mean compe­ti­tion between Member States for state aid or clos­ing the door to the rest of the world. 

The crises and disrup­tions in global supply chains in recent years show the impor­tance of supply secu­rity and its devel­op­ment. The avail­abil­ity and impor­tance of crit­i­cal raw mate­ri­als, supplies, safe and clean food, and afford­able and clean energy have entered the social debate. 

The EU is almost entirely depen­dent on imports from author­i­tar­ian coun­tries, espe­cially China, for many crit­i­cal raw mate­ri­als and compo­nents. The EU must ensure alter­na­tive import routes for miner­als and raw mate­ri­als, develop intra-Euro­pean mining produc­tion and create the condi­tions for the start-up of domes­tic produc­tion of crit­i­cal compo­nents. The same applies to other crit­i­cal commodi­ties such as medi­cines and microchips.

The United States is the EU’s main trad­ing part­ner. Together, we form the world’s largest economic area. Trade and secu­rity coop­er­a­tion with the US will allow the EU to assert its inter­ests and values more strongly in the face of super­power compe­ti­tion.

For the EU, China is a part­ner, a competi­tor and a systemic chal­lenger. To achieve a balanced and reci­p­ro­cal rela­tion­ship with China, the EU must moni­tor its trade inter­ests and uphold its prin­ci­ples concern­ing human rights. China must be expected to honour its commit­ments and improve the open­ness and trans­parency of its markets. 

WE MOVE FORWARD ACCORDING TO THIS OUTLINE:

• Europe will address its vulner­a­bil­i­ties, in partic­u­lar in crit­i­cal raw mate­ri­als and commodi­ties, while stick­ing to the prin­ci­ples of free trade as much as possi­ble.
• Euro­pean self-suffi­ciency and greater inde­pen­dence will be built both through domes­tic produc­tion and the creation of alter­na­tive supply routes.

2.4 Yes to personal respon­si­bil­ity, no to finan­cial moral loss

The National Coali­tion Party believes that each Member State must take respon­si­bil­ity for its own econ­omy first and fore­most. Europe must move from inef­fec­tive stim­u­lus and income trans­fers to a growth policy based on a stable and crisis-resilient Economic and Mone­tary Union. Only an econom­i­cally sustain­able Europe can succeed in global compe­ti­tion and offer its citi­zens increased pros­per­ity. Over-indebt­ed­ness, lack of market disci­pline and the fatal link between Member States and banks are the main prob­lems that need to be solved in the Economic and Mone­tary Union. 

The National Coali­tion Party believes that each Member State must bear primary respon­si­bil­ity for its economic policy and the sustain­abil­ity of its econ­omy. Member States must also have an inter­est in manag­ing their own public finances respon­si­bly. Any finan­cial support must always be strictly condi­tional. 

The prin­ci­ple referred to in the Found­ing Agree­ment, that the EU and its Member States do not assume the finan­cial commit­ments of indi­vid­ual Member States, must be restored to its full glory. The Euro­pean Stabil­ity Mech­a­nism needs to be devel­oped further in the direc­tion of a Euro­pean Mone­tary Fund. Risk weights for sover­eign debt must be restored to banks’ solvency calcu­la­tions.

The National Coali­tion Party is not in favour of a debt-increas­ing stim­u­lus policy, joint debt, or devel­op­ing the Union in the direc­tion of a trans­fer union. These all have a nega­tive impact on economic growth. Instead, we require arrange­ments where respon­si­bil­ity and power over debt are in the same hands, not differ­en­ti­ated, creat­ing moral loss and increas­ing the risk of over-indebt­ed­ness. 

The EU budget and other instru­ments of gover­nance must be linked to measures and struc­tural reforms that promote compet­i­tive­ness and economic growth in the Member States. The start­ing point should be that subsi­dies that promote economic growth become redun­dant over time. Partic­u­lar atten­tion must be paid to devel­op­ing the econ­omy and vital­ity of the EU’s east­ern border regions in a changed global situ­a­tion.

THE NATIONAL COALITION PARTY PROPOSES THE FOLLOWING: 

• The cred­i­bil­ity of the “no bailout” prin­ci­ple must be restored. The National Coali­tion Party is not in favour of an income trans­fer union or increased economic soli­dar­ity.
• Market disci­pline must be restored and sover­eign debt restruc­tur­ing made possi­ble.
• Aid to the regions must take greater account of, for exam­ple, the effects of war. The regions most affected by the war, such as East­ern Finland, need more support.

3. Honour­ing the sustain­able Euro­pean way of life

The National Coali­tion Party wants to build Euro­pean pros­per­ity in line with the prin­ci­ples of sustain­able devel­op­ment. This means ecolog­i­cal, social and economic sustain­abil­ity. Euro­pean compa­nies will thrive in global markets when the EU focuses on creat­ing a compet­i­tive envi­ron­ment rather than on subsidy poli­cies. Clean energy construc­tion and invest­ment will help attract energy-inten­sive process indus­tries back to Europe and Finland.

3.1 Yes to prof­itable agri­cul­ture and sustain­able use of forests

The National Coali­tion Party supports the reform of the Common Agri­cul­tural Policy in line with the prin­ci­ples of econom­i­cally viable agri­cul­ture and sustain­able use of natural resources. In envi­ron­men­tal policy initia­tives, Member States should be left consid­er­able room for manoeu­vre to imple­ment solu­tions in the way they see suit­able. The National Coali­tion Party trusts in the abil­ity and will­ing­ness of Finnish forest owners to take good care of their forests. 

We want to ensure that the sustain­able use of our forests, taking into account the entire value chain, remains a viable liveli­hood. For exam­ple, we are not in favour of giving the Commis­sion more power to decide how forests can be used in Finland. Finland has more exper­tise in this area than many other coun­tries.

Instead of bans and strict regu­la­tions, we need to create incen­tives for farm­ers. The EU must become a world leader in modern agri­cul­ture. This will improve yields and reduce envi­ron­men­tal impact. Finnish and wider Euro­pean food produc­tion must be safe­guarded and its compet­i­tive­ness promoted.

THIS IS HOW WE SEE IT:

• In EU forest policy, we defend national deci­sion-making and discre­tion and respect private prop­erty rights.
• The agri­cul­tural subsidy system must be devel­oped in a direc­tion that places greater empha­sis on produc­tion effi­ciency, envi­ron­men­tal sustain­abil­ity and improved compet­i­tive­ness.

3.2 Making Europe a super­power of clean energy

The energy tran­si­tion is an oppor­tu­nity for Europe. With clean energy, we can raise people’s living stan­dards and reduce emis­sions. This is also the most effec­tive way to fight global climate change.  The way forward is to invest in exper­tise, research, inno­va­tion, and clean energy solu­tions.

Euro­pean compa­nies play a key role in produc­ing clean energy and combat­ing climate change. The National Coali­tion Party wants the EU to be an excel­lent and compet­i­tive envi­ron­ment for creat­ing new inno­va­tions that reduce Europe’s carbon foot­print and increase its carbon hand­print. 

Europe must wean off Russ­ian fossil energy completely and as quickly as possi­ble. Moving away from fossil energy offers the EU an oppor­tu­nity to accel­er­ate the tran­si­tion to clean energy solu­tions. It is also essen­tial in terms of secu­rity policy. The EU must no longer drift into depen­den­cies that can be used to harm Member States. The tran­si­tion to a more sustain­able econ­omy must not come at the cost of compro­mis­ing energy secu­rity. The EU and its Member States must act to guar­an­tee energy suffi­ciency and afford­able elec­tric­ity prices.

Member States must complete the Energy Union by invest­ing in good trans­mis­sion connec­tions and elec­tric­ity grids in Europe and correct the prob­lems of the inter­nal energy market. The EU needs to develop joint gas procure­ment and the build­ing of joint stor­age facil­i­ties to improve its energy secu­rity. The EU needs to limit its grow­ing depen­dence on imports of the basic mate­ri­als needed to produce clean energy, solar panels, wind turbines and compo­nents for battery stor­age. 

Nuclear power is needed as part of the Euro­pean clean energy entity with­out arti­fi­cial restric­tions. Europe must be at the fore­front of invest­ment and research in small modu­lar reac­tors (SMRs) or other new appli­ca­tions of safe and reli­able nuclear power. EU research and inno­va­tion fund­ing programmes must support the Union’s compet­i­tive­ness and address soci­etal chal­lenges. 

THE NATIONAL COALITION PARTY WANTS TO THESE THINGS, AMONG OTHERS:

• The EU will invest in good elec­tric­ity inter­con­nec­tions and fix the prob­lems of the inter­nal energy market.
• Nuclear power will be perma­nently clas­si­fied as a clean energy source in the EU under the Sustain­able Finance Clas­si­fi­ca­tion System.
• The EU-wide phase-out of Russ­ian fossil fuels will be imple­mented as soon as possi­ble.

3.3 Loss of nature and climate change are a common enemy

Biodi­ver­sity must be safe­guarded, and the loss of nature must be prevented. The market should be used to prevent the loss of nature, as incen­tives are the best way to safe­guard biodi­ver­sity, not centralised regu­la­tion.

The National Coali­tion Party is in favour of the promo­tion of the bio- and circu­lar economy.This means, for exam­ple, reduc­ing depen­dency on fossil raw mate­ri­als and conserv­ing natural resources by consid­er­ing the entire life cycle and envi­ron­men­tal impact of the prod­ucts manu­fac­tured.

Climate emis­sions must be reduced. Actions to make Europe carbon neutral in 2050 must be accel­er­ated, and mile­stones must be commit­ted to support this. It is worth focus­ing on the goal itself rather than micro­manag­ing the meth­ods. 

The EU’s energy, climate and envi­ron­men­tal legis­la­tion must provide Member States with suffi­cient flex­i­bil­ity to achieve the desired outcome by what­ever means they find suit­able. The most effec­tive means of achiev­ing emis­sion reduc­tions may vary, and there­fore national and tech­no­log­i­cal room for manoeu­vre to achieve the targets must be possi­ble. The EU should not centrally pick winners in the market.

Reduc­ing indus­trial emis­sions must not make it prof­itable for compa­nies to move produc­tion outside the EU. Emis­sion pric­ing should apply not only to produc­tion facil­i­ties in the EU but also to imports from outside the EU. In Europe, services and prod­ucts that are sustain­ably produced must be more afford­able for consumers in the future than goods that are trans­ported from far away, produced in a pollut­ing way and intended for short-term consump­tion. 

WE STAND BEHIND THESE OBJECTIVES:

• The EU maximises the effi­ciency of raw mate­r­ial use through the circu­lar econ­omy.
• Reduc­ing emis­sions from indus­trial produc­tion in the EU while ensur­ing that non-EU and highly pollut­ing plants do not gain an unfair compet­i­tive advan­tage.
• Cutting climate emis­sions must allow for the most effec­tive meth­ods to be used and allow suffi­cient national room for manoeu­vre rather than detailed regu­la­tion.

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