Following on from President Ortyl's speech on Europe's strategic autonomy, Guido Castelli, Regional Minister of the Marche Region in Italy, took the floor during the CoR plenary to also share his insights on how Europe could play a more central role in the international arena and thereby build a "thriving future for our continent".

For Mr Castelli, none of the above is even imaginable without Europe building its own strategic autonomy, which he stated "mainly depends on the creation and defence of European supply chains". The COVID-19 pandemic only reinforced Europe's weaknesses in this area and clearly showed us just how dependent we are on third countries for manufacturing medicines, "not to mention other key areas such as defence or infrastructure", added the Regional Minister.

Another issue he raised was the dependence of Europe on third countries for its energy needs – an important stumbling block to achieving strategic autonomy, or even meeting Europe's energy needs and objectives. Mr Castelli sees more investment in nuclear energy as a means to promoting a successful internal energy union. To back this up, the Minister provided the gas crisis and escalating prices "affecting all European regions" as a clear example of the need for "immediate action in this area".

Ultimately, if the EU respects the principle of subsidiarity, it should do less but do it better, he concluded, and regional authorities can "undoubtedly contribute to the change".