Normandy MEP Thomas Pellerin-Carlin says Europe must prepare for an uncertain future

As the war in Ukraine continues and tensions in the Middle East threaten global energy supplies, Pellerin-Carlin believes Europe must become more self-reliant, strengthen its security and take a leading role in defending democratic values.

For Pellerin-Carlin, the European project remains closely linked to freedom: "To me, to be European means to be on the only continent that is free," he said. "The United States is historically a democracy but becomes more and more authoritarian as time goes by. Therefore, now more than ever, Europeans have to be leaders of the free world."

The former energy and climate researcher, who entered politics after being recruited by Place Publique leader Raphaël Glucksmann, argued that Europe possesses the economic and material strength needed to play a larger role internationally.

"The main weakness of the European Union is the way we perceive ourselves," he said. "We have everything we need to be leaders of the free world, such as economy and material strength, but we don't have the moral strength."

On the global energy crisis

One of the greatest concerns is energy security:

Pellerin-Carlin warned that Europe remains vulnerable to disruptions in global oil supplies if instability in the Middle East continues. While strategic reserves may provide temporary relief, he argued that governments should already be preparing for a prolonged crisis.

"We should be very active now in cutting oil wherever we can," Pellerin-Carlin told us. "We need to make sure that those who actually need the oil get it first, such as firefighters, nurses and soldiers."

Peace at the heart of the EU's successes

Looking at the European Union more broadly, Pellerin-Carlin described peace as being its greatest achievement.

On the question of future EU memberships, he rejected the term "enlargement", preferring to speak of countries choosing to join the Union. As a Norwegian, this was especially interesting to me. I'm from a country that is not a member state but still cooperates closely with the EU.

"What happens in real life is that states freely choose to join the EU," he said, to demonstrate his opposition to the term enlargement, which he associates with a more authoritarian way of becoming a member state.

He described the European Union as a unique political project in world history, bringing together diverse nations under a shared democratic framework while preserving national sovereignty.

"People are free to join, and free to leave," he said, pointing to Brexit as an example. "The British decided to join and then to leave without a drop of blood being shed. If you look at history, that's very unique."

For Pellerin-Carlin, the ability of countries to enter and exit the Union peacefully demonstrates one of the EU's defining strengths.

Ukraine and the EU

Among candidate countries, he singled out Ukraine as the most important. "Ukraine is the most important nation that right now wants to join the EU," he said.

The war in Ukraine also shapes his thinking on European defence. Pellerin-Carlin supports deeper cooperation between EU countries and believes Europe should learn directly from Ukraine's military experience.

"The only way to know how to fight a war is to actually fight it, like the Ukrainians are doing right now," he said. "That's why we need to learn from them."

How the EU impacts life in Normandy

Closer to home, the Normandy politician highlighted water quality as one example of how European policy affects daily life in the region.

"Many people think that Normandy has a lot of water, but that's actually not that true," he said, pointing to droughts in parts of the Calvados and concerns about pollution. According to Pellerin-Carlin, European institutions have often taken stronger action than national governments in monitoring water quality and studying the impact of pollutants and pesticides on public health.

As Europe faces growing geopolitical uncertainty, Pellerin-Carlin believes the answer lies in greater European cooperation.

"The war that Putin started is not specifically against Ukraine," he said. "It's against European freedom."