European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Keynote speech by Commissioner Hoekstra at a Parliamentary Hearing at the Italian Senate and the Chamber of Deputies Rome, 31 March 2026 Gentili Onorevoli, Sono molto felice di essere nuovamente in Italia. Come alcuni di voi già sanno, ho un amore infinito per il vostro paese – specialmente per la “città eterna”. Da quando sono bambino, ho visitato l'Italia quasi ...
European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Keynote speech by Commissioner Hoekstra at a Parliamentary Hearing at the Italian Senate and the Chamber of Deputies Rome, 31 March 2026 Gentili Onorevoli, Sono molto felice di essere nuovamente in Italia. Come alcuni di voi già sanno, ho un amore infinito per il vostro paese – specialmente per la “città eterna”. Da quando sono bambino, ho visitato l'Italia quasi ogni anno con i miei genitori. Negli anni, sono tornato molte volte con la mia famiglia. Ho chiesto a mia moglie di sposarmi in Sicilia, e recentemente siamo stati in Puglia. Ho anche avuto il piacere di studiare a Roma nel 2000 per 6 mesi. È stata un'esperienza indimenticabile. La stima per il vostro paese è sempre intatta, purtroppo dopo 26 anni il mio vocabolario non lo è piu. Se me lo consentite, continuerò il mio intervento in inglese. Ladies and gentlemen, Truly a great honour in a time of maximum turmoil. Today, the world and the EU unfortunately face a complicated set of crises. There is everything that is happening in the geopolitical domain. There is the horrible war Russia is still waging on Ukraine. Assertiveness and aggression in the Indo-Pacific. The Middle East is on fire with consequences for everyone all over the world, and certainly here in Europe. On top of that, we see cracks in the marriage with our American friends. The conclusion is just that a full geopolitical winter has been forced upon us. Add to that the problem of climate change. Let's have no illusions: the world is continuing to heat up. Europe is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, and it is unevenly divided across the European Union. The South is very vulnerable. That means more economic damage, more wildfires, floods and adverse effects for all our societies. Then there's AI with all the opportunities, but also all the dangers, but also with a lot of uncertainties and disruptions in a way many politicians misunderstand and underestimate. This will be a game changer for our societies. And on top of that these global challenges, Europe faces two additional problems: With our sluggish economic growth, we're lagging behind competitors, especially the US and China. We need more economic growth if we want to make sure we can pay for all the things that are so needed for our citizens: defence, security, climate adaptation, energy, healthcare, education. And we have fundamental issues in the domain of migration and social integration. So there's a lot on our plate. It is truly essential to push for European cooperation. If I look at my own portfolio, the nexus of industry, climate and independence is necessary. In Europe, we managed more than before to bring climate policy, competitiveness and independence together. Never one at the expense of the other. We need all of those. We also need to roll out the elements of the Clean Industrial Deal that the Commission tabled last year. We also need more simplification, at European level, but frankly speaking at national level. We need more of a level playing field. I am a fan of competition, but it needs to be fair and just for our companies. They cannot face and afford to have unfair competition, particularly coming from China. We will need to have more Clean Tech and more Clean Tech investments, the lead markets for the products of tomorrow: steel, chemicals, etc. We need more Buy European, and we certainly need to finally embark on the capital market union. If you were to make a comparison with the Americans, you would find that liquidity for large and small companies is more available there than in Europe. We are still 27 different markets rather than one big one. We are underleveraging the major strength that we have. And then of course, we have the energy crisis. We have things to do in the immediate term, but also in the slightly longer one. First, our citizens and our companies feel the pain when they see bills for heating or when they fuel their car. We have to reckon with the possibility that we will be facing more effects and potentially a global recession, and damage to the economy. This might well not be over yet. That is why we are working in the Commission to encourage Member States to chop off parts of the energy bill, by allowing flexibilities in the domain of taxation, of networking costs. Together, for an average European country, is roughly 30% of the whole bill. At the same time, we need to have an important conversation in Europe. We are a resource-scarce continent. We don't have oil. We have hardly any gas. This is the second time already in five years that we are at the mercy of oil producers and those who export products to us. The only way to free ourselves from that in the long run, even if you forget about the climate problem, for our independence, we need to double down on this transition. You need more electrification, more interconnectors between Member States, one energy market, more solar, more wind, more battery storage and more nuclear. This is up to Member States, but when you look at this from a climate, competitiveness and independence perspective, you need all of it, including nuclear. Last thing, In the fourth quarter of this year, we will be coming up with a new package for adaptation. In any case, we can have no illusions on the impact of climate change. Including here in Italy. You're a country strongly exposed to extreme events where most areas are at risk of floods, droughts and heatwaves. In recent years, losses here have been substantial (totalling around 20 billion per year) with only a tiny fraction - roughly 4% - covered by insurance. This is why it's become increasingly clear that we need to get smarter about mitigating, adapting and becoming more resilient. The harsh reality is that every euro we spend on repair damage is a euro not spent on a more productive investment that could drive growth. Investing in prevention and preparedness might seem like a big upfront cost, but it will pay off in the long-term. And the good news is that good adaptation solutions are often about the design of space and processes, rather than new capital-heavy investments. Onorevoli, There is much more to be said. I will stop here and open the floor for questions. Delighted to be there in this combined session. Thank you for your attention. SPEECH/26/766 Press contacts: Anna-Kaisa ITKONEN (+32 2 29 57501) Ana CRESPO PARRONDO (+32 2 29 81325) General public inquiries: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email
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