What Niels spoke about.

Dear colleague, you refer to coal as a very good form of energy that's good for humans, if I understood you correctly. Do you think that is really the case, taking into consideration the climate change that we are now seeing happening globally and also in Europe, where we have heatwaves killing thousands of people in Europe this year, this summer, and taking into consideration that coal contribute

I don't know about the specific case in Poland that you are referring to, but I do know that Poland is investing a big amount in renewable energy, and I think that that is indeed a very wise decision. I think that when you do this and you invest in renewable energy – when you build solar panels, wind energy, other forms of renewable energy – you need to make sure that the local communities get a s

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, we're looking at a very expensive winter. It's not only because we need to buy Christmas presents for our loved ones; it's because we're paying a high price in energy and a high price in electricity in particular. Some colleagues here are saying that the solution is to start importing gas from Russia or start importing more oil and gas from the Middl

Alright, Mr Vannacci, you talk about expensive fuel prices and expensive energy prices, but don't you know that gas and oil are more expensive than renewable energy? And by the way, don't you know that 98 % of the gas and oil we consume here in Europe we import from abroad? We do not have the gas and oil here, in Europe. So we send all the money to Donald Trump, to the Middle East, and we used to

Well, I think, dear colleague, when the sun doesn't shine, well, the wind might blow in another place in Europe. And so we need to invest in our grid system, so that when the sun shines in some places, the wind blows in some places, we can actually move the electricity to the places where it's needed. Also, we need to invest in better storage systems. We both talk about hydrogen and we talk about

Madam President, friends, we have a problem, obviously, with our dependency on the foreign fossil fuels we import for billions every day. When we import from the Middle East, from Vladimir Putin, from the United States. When we import gas and oil that we do not have ourselves. So, we need to import 98 % of the gas and oil that we consume here in Europe from abroad. I think it is absolutely crazy t

So you're saying that when we invest in solar and renewable energy, we're paying multinational companies. But right now, when we use oil and gas, you know who we pay? We pay foreign powers with whom we don't share values. 98 % of the oil and gas we consume in Europe, we import from abroad. We do not have it ourselves. So we support regimes in the Middle East. We support Vladimir Putin, we support

Madam President, there's one thing this crisis makes clear: that we need more renewable energy and more energy efficiency. 98 % of the oil and gas that we consume in Europe, we import it from foreign powers, often from foreign powers with whom we do not share values. And it's hurting our citizens, the higher prices that we are seeing, it's hurting our industry. So we need to build on the Green Dea

Okay, so we will need some metals for renewable energy. But in contrast to oil and gas, which we don't have in Europe (98 % of the oil and gas we consume, we import in Europe), the metals, we can get that also from Europe. We can reuse the metals to a much larger degree than we do today. And we can also have mining projects in Europe, so we can provide for ourselves. That is not possible with oil

Madam President! Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. The international order is changing and unfortunately not for the better, which is why Europe needs to face the realities. The fact is that there is still war on the European continent. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has now entered its fifth year, and it is not only Ukraine that is under threat. It is the security of all of us that is

Mr. President! Thank you very much, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Never again! That's the message from me today. Never again should we make the mistake of making ourselves so dependent on a foreign enterprise with which we do not share values. We can see how we have become dependent on Russian gas and how it has been a disaster for Europe. But it would also be a mistake to say, "Well, we'd b

I think Germany needs to invest more aggressively in renewables. I think Europe needs to invest more aggressively in renewables. And if you look at my own country, Denmark, I think that's a counterexample to what you're saying. We do not have nuclear power, but we have invested in wind turbines, we have invested in different forms of renewable energy, and we have reduced our carbon footprint. In f

I don't exclude nuclear power for some countries, renewable energy for other countries. I think it's a problem only to put your money on nuclear power for a number of reasons. One important reason, from my point of view, is that it takes too much time. If you look at the three most recent nuclear power plant projects in Europe – in Finland, France and the UK – the average time is 17 years from sta

Mr President, listening to this debate, I am puzzled by the colleagues who argue that we should slow down the energy transition because, honestly, I think we need to do the exact opposite. We are completely dependent in Europe when it comes to importing fossil fuels from abroad – 98 % of the oil and gas that we use is imported from foreign powers, and often from foreign powers with whom we don't s

Mr President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, congratulations once again with your good proposal to phase out Russian gas, and congratulations to the political groups here in the European Parliament for having been able to keep their heads cool and their hearts warm, and negotiate an agreement that has wide support. I think this is worth noticing in a time where it seems that politics is becom

I think when it comes to the vote today, it was mainly the extremes on the right and the left that voted the proposal down. Unfortunately, it was a secret ballot so we could not see who voted. We didn't ask for this secret ballot. When it comes to the climate change proposal, there are lots of good people in the EPP. I work with them. I think you can be a reliable partner and ask you to be one. We

Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, I want to congratulate you on the proposal on reducing greenhouse gases by 90 % in 2040. I think it's the right proposal. I think it's a sound proposal. And I think it is important, when we go to the COP meeting, that the European Union delivers ambition also to move other countries. We are struggling in the European Parliament to get your propo

Mr President! I often hear the argument that countries should decide their own tax policy and that the EU should not interfere in it. In fact, I fully agree that we ourselves must decide our tax policy on a country-by-country basis. But is that really what is happening today? Is this what happens if those who earn the most can just move their wealth to a tax haven and avoid paying taxes? Is this w

Madam President! A lot of people in Europe live a good life, and therefore there are also many who would like to come and visit us and experience our culture and history. And I can understand that. Most come with an honest relationship, but there are also some who take advantage of the loopholes to enter the EU and undermine our common project and commit crime. That's why I support making a deal.

Mr. President! 95%! 95% is the number that guides my thoughts when I think of green technology, for 95% of the solar panels that are being set up in Europe today, they are produced in China. It was a technology that was developed in Europe and where we had an industry 15 years ago, 10 years ago. We almost don't have that anymore. Production is now in China. For me, there is no doubt that green tec

Madam President! Commissioner, please! Madam Minister! Dear colleagues! China is an important partner for Europe, an important trading partner and also a partner for solving some of the major challenges such as the climate crisis. At the same time, however, we must realise that we have pursued a naïve China policy in which we have become dependent on the great empire in the middle. We have sold cr

Mr President, dear colleagues, we are not at war, but we are not living in a time of peace either. I think it's safe to say that, in our lifetimes, we are seeing the greatest threats that we have ever seen with Putin and his war in Ukraine. And who will be next if we do not stand together and invest in our common defence? Many countries, including my own, Denmark, have not invested sufficiently if

Mr President, dear Commissioner, honourable colleagues, dear Minister, we need to stop the import of Russian gas as soon as possible. That's why I think that 6 May, the day the Commission put forward the proposal on the phasing‑out of Russian gas, was a good day. I hope that we can name it our 'Independence Day', 'European Independence Day' in the future, because we need to follow up on this in th

Mr President! In the last mandate, we have adopted a number of climate laws to strengthen the green transition, to reduce CO2emissions. We can be proud of that. We in the EU must lead the green transition. We need to make demands on our businesses and our economy. But at the same time, we will not accept that our companies are being outcompeted by companies from other parts of the world, where the

Madam President! Dear colleagues! It is paradoxical how climate change, which is increasingly being denied, has the consequence that the Arctic, including Greenland, has become the subject of international interest on an unprecedented scale. It is as if we have forgotten that the backdrop to the entire discussion about the Arctic is the consequences of the climate collapse that we are moving close