Mandl for the recovery: debureaucratization as well as innovation and production on EU soil

Subtitle: Omnibus package for security and defence must increase competitiveness and pave the way for recovery

Yesterday, Wednesday evening, Austrian MEP Lukas Mandl spoke in Brussels at the conference of Euromines, the European umbrella organization for the mining industry, during a panel discussion on geopolitics and EU defense policy. Moderated by Euromines Honorary President Mark Rachovides, Mandl was joined by the head of NATO's Defense Policy Section, Christian Liflander, legal expert Cecilia Pechmeze, and energy expert Isabelle Dupraz. Sylvia Kainz-Huber of the European Commission delivered an introductory speech.

Mandl welcomed the European Commission's plans to present an omnibus package for defense in June. "The Commission is presenting its proposals for deregulation and debureaucratization under the name Omnibus. I support this approach in the European Parliament. Because we need the upswing for prosperity and our social systems, and also for our security. Much of the harmful and dangerous bureaucratization from the past period will now be overcome," said Mandl, who is negotiating the omnibus package on supply chain rules and sustainability reporting in the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee.

"Anyone who wants to protect Europe against military and hybrid threats and strengthen Europe's competitiveness must increase Europe's independence in the extraction of its own raw materials, in innovation and production on the European continent, and in risk diversification in the sense of reducing one-sided dependencies. This is the path to be taken. I also expect this from the Omnibus package for security and defense," said Mandl, who once again emphasized: "We can only do justice to the values ​​​​promoted by the EU, such as those of human dignity and civil liberties, democracy and the rule of law, if we develop the corresponding external strength. This also applies to our goal of tackling climate change. The EU's position will only prevail with geopolitical strength."