During the Summit of European Cities and Regions held in Mons, the President of the Abruzzo Region and ECR Group’s President in the CoR, Marco Marsilio, emphasized the need to turn a page and put the European Union back on the tracks of sound realism.

“With a centre-right coalition at the helm of the European institutions we will finally be able to replace the prevailing ideology with healthy realism and pragmatism" the President stressed.

President Marsilio made it clear that interests of the Europeans can only be defended by political decisions based on hard scientific data and not the hampering policies of the European Green Deal. 

"Just look, for example, at two measures symbolic of this ideological delusion. Europe emits less than 8 percent of global CO2 emissions, but despite these figures, the European Parliament has decided, by adopting the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, to require all homeowners to renovate their properties at an average cost per family of between 20 and 55 thousand euros to cut energy consumption. All to achieve a zero emissions goal that will have a negligible impact on global pollution” President Marsilio stated.

Another concrete example shared with the summit audience by the ECR President was the recent adoption of the Nature Restoration Law by the European Parliament that will continue to oppress the agricultural sector. “Agriculture is the cornerstone of Europe, and European farmers are part of the solution, not part of the problem. The Europe we want should make decisions based on science and not by producing a regulatory tsunami like the Green Deal” Mr Marsilio pleaded.

President Marsilio also referred to Europe's competitiveness, which he described as "seriously lagging behind other major players". However, instead of working to close this gap by protecting its own industrial excellence, the President stated that the European Union continues to shoot itself in the foot with proposals such as the ban on the registration of conventional petrol and diesel vehicles from 2035, which will "have drastic consequences for the whole automotive industry". 

President Marsilio concluded with a call on behalf of conservative regional leaders to seize the momentum in June's elections to get back to realism, and thereby ensuring economic and social prosperity for the continent.