Madam President, Commissioner! The people in the regions with wolf presence do not expect long discussions from politics, but decisions and actions. This applies not only to large carnivores, but in some regions also to species such as cormorants or otters. People are tired of being held up with the eternally same statements and endless debates about the favorable state of conservation. The exampl
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Empowering farmers and rural communities - a dialogue towards sustainable and fairly rewarded EU agriculture (debate)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Vice-President. We are currently seeing the largest farmers' demonstrations in Europe in a long time. Why? Because farmers feel overwhelmed by more and more, sometimes contradictory requirements and requirements, while real incomes have been falling for years. Farmers receive too little recognition for their contribution to society and are often patronised by
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Improving the socio-economic situation of farmers and rural areas, ensuring fair incomes, food security as well as a just transition (debate)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Did you have breakfast this morning with fresh bread, butter, milk, cheese, sausage or cereal with fruit and juice? Everything from us farmers freshly produced every day, of the highest quality and available at all times. Yes, in Germany we have the biggest protests since 2008. It is no longer just about agricultural diesel tax refunds. The problems go deeper –
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Reviewing the protection status of wolves and other large carnivores in the EU (topical debate)
Dear Mr President, Commissioner! By taking a one-sided look at the protection of species, we have created the absurd situation in some regions of the European Union that a predator that is not threatened with extinction threatens habitats and biotopes that are absolutely worthy of protection. The wolf is a cultural follower and can basically survive on garbage dumps. Countless plant species cannot
Madam President, Commissioner! This summer has once again shown us that prolonged drought has a massive impact on our agriculture. Agriculture is one of the most important consumers of water. Yes, it depends on a stable water supply to provide us all with the highest quality food – we must not forget that. With the opinion of the Committee on Agriculture, we were able to make a contribution to ens
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Delivering on the Green Deal: risk of compromising the EU path to the green transition and its international commitments (debate)
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Vice-President Timmermans! I welcomed the Green Deal from the outset. But we need to turn the transformation of the economy into a growth strategy. This is what our future prosperity depends on. What we have, however, is a puzzle with 1000 pieces without a template – a difficult matter. Your job is to make the puzzle pieces fit. Unfortunately, absolutely noth
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! Our Vice-President Timmermans never tires of explaining that the Nature Restoration Ordinance is a law that helps farmers and foresters. I'm sorry to have to say this so clearly, but that sounds like an educational approach from the last century. The kids don't understand it, but it's all for their own good. Sometimes you just have to force them
Madam President, Commissioner! Our support in the export of grain is vitally important for our Ukrainian partners. This support is a European task; We must therefore be able to answer them together and with clear European answers. The biggest challenge, of course, is this Black Sea agreement, this logistics, this reduction in transport costs. Everything is pretty clear to me. But, of course, what
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The role of farmers as enablers of the green transition and a resilient agricultural sector (continuation of debate)
Mr President, Commissioner! As an active farmer, I travel a lot with the farmers and try to explain the politics around the , um and. What I experience above all is frustration, incomprehension and anger about a lack of appreciation, paternalism and prohibition policy. The title of today's debate is well chosen, because it is the farmers who have to implement everything in the fields and pastures.
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Empowering consumers for the green transition (debate)
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The digital green transition is fundamentally changing the lives of consumers. In particular, I would like to raise three points that are relevant in this regard. Firstly: Consumers should be able to make informed purchasing decisions. Something that is sold as environmentally friendly is actually supposed to be environmentally friendly, and for
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This is Europe - Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz (debate)
Madam President, Mr Bundeskanzler! Shaping Europe? Yes, but you are judged by your actions in Germany. Here I can say: Too little and too late. A good year ago you started with the turn of the clock, which is correctly recognized. However, our Bundeswehr is not yet a piece of defence-capable, actually even defence-incapable. The same applies to energy supply. Although the self-destructive dependen
Dear Mr President, Mr Vice-President, dear colleagues! If you think you can solve complex challenges with simple answers, you are usually wrong. The de facto ban on the internal combustion engine and the unilateral political constraint on battery-electric propulsion are a prime example of this. The necessary transformation of the automotive sector towards climate neutrality threatens to become unn
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Towards equal rights for persons with disabilities (debate)
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Our goal must be to achieve an inclusive and attentive society for all people. People with disabilities have the right to live their lives the way they want. This includes: Relationships can live, acceptance and inclusion. This must be our common goal. Accessibility is central here. Even in the European institutions, we have not yet reached them
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Protection of livestock farming and large carnivores in Europe (debate)
–. Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The return of once extinct species is a success of species conservation. But coexistence means that both sides have a right to exist. The farmers and especially the animals suffer massively from the attacks of wolves and in some places bears. The ever-increasing number of fatal attacks on sheep, horses, cattle and calves must no longer be silenc
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Communication on ensuring availability and affordability of fertilisers (debate)
Madam President, Commissioner, thank you very much for this communication. It is a good sign – it has been recognised that the prices and availability of fertilisers on the EU market are a problem. The Market Observatory can also be useful. However, I do not have concrete steps to take to help farmers quickly. The reference to the CAP is, I think, well-intentioned, but it seems to me that the CAP
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Global food security as follow-up to the G20 Agriculture Ministers meeting (debate)
Mr President! For the vast majority of people in Europe, the secure supply of extremely cheap and high-quality food has been a matter of course in recent decades. The COVID pandemic has threatened supply chains. A great effort was needed to ensure the supply of essentials throughout the country. First of all, it is important to praise all those involved in the food value chain, especially the farm
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New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 – Sustainable Forest Management in Europe (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner! I would like to thank you very much for these contributions to the debate. We have heard different perspectives and approaches. That doesn't surprise me at all. But there are actually two guiding principles that have supported me in this debate: Once it is the expectations of our forest ecosystems that are very broad. And the other is this appeal to the different experi
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New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 – Sustainable Forest Management in Europe (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The report on the Forest Strategy that we are discussing today focuses on the close-to-nature and sustainable management of our forests. It is designed to enable our forests to fulfil their diverse roles: Climate resistance, carbon sink, habitat for plants and animals, provision of wood as a plant and fuel and a place of work and recreation for peo
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, First of all, I would like to thank Simone Schmiedtbauer for the excellent work. In the Committee on Agriculture, we unanimously adopted your organic action plan. In doing so, we have underlined that we are in principle in agreement that a higher proportion of organic farming can contribute to the objectives of the Green Deal and the Farm-to-For
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Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)
Mr President! Of course, we all want progressive European suffrage. However, I do not yet see the added value of transnational lists for citizens. The future will provide us with answers. For me, however, the 3.5% blocking clause for small parties in Germany is unthinkable. Parties that are rooted in our local communities and have been actively elected to regional parliaments with more than 5% or
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Need for an urgent EU action plan to ensure food security inside and outside the EU in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (debate)
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is drastically exacerbating the already tense global food security situation. The chairman of the UN World Food Programme expects a real famine in the third world in the course of the year. These are alarming statements. We in the EU have a productive agriculture. Our farmers produce the highest quality food
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The need for an ambitious EU Strategy for sustainable textiles (debate)
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Textiles are one of the biggest drivers of our raw material consumption. The global textile industry ranks fifth in terms of CO2 emissions, roughly on par with the automotive industry. On the way to a climate-neutral circular economy, it is therefore necessary that we focus on a more sustainable textile industry. However, the announcements so fa
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Implementation report on on-farm animal welfare (debate)
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the rapporteur very much for his excellent work. The welfare of our farm animals is very important to me as a farmer. I support the report's call for updated rules based on scientific evidence. Uniform implementation of these rules in all Member States is also welcome. However, I fear that developments in Germany will progr
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Deliberations of the Committee on Petitions in 2020 (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Our report reflects in detail the work of the Committee on Petitions last year. In addition to voting in elections, the petition is the most popular form of democratic action by citizens. We underline the great responsibility of our committee, especially in such difficult times as during the pandemic. We have received numerous petitions on COVID-19
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Common agricultural policy - support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States and financed by the EAGF and by the EAFRD - Common agricultural policy: financing, management and monitoring - Common agricultural policy – amendment of the CMO and other regulations (debate)
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, We met here today to decide on the legal framework for the Common Agricultural Policy from 2023 to 2027. This proposal, which I have negotiated for Parliament, is the result of many months of intensive negotiations with the Council. And this proposal is more than just a step in the right direction towards a performance-oriented, transparent and effective agri