Tom Vandendriessche
Country
Belgium
Group
PfE

Plenary speeches · European ParliamentPlenary speeches · EU Parliament

What Tom spoke about.

All Contributions
55
Since July 1, 2024
Time at the Floor
1.2 h
75 min
Average speech length
1:23
Rank: 383 / 696

Activity

Monthly speeches
2024-12: 12025-01: 2Jan '252025-02: 12025-03: 12025-04: 0Apr '252025-05: 12025-06: 02025-07: 1Jul '252025-08: 02025-09: 22025-10: 1Oct '252025-11: 12025-12: 52026-01: 1Jan '262026-02: 22026-03: 12026-04: 1Apr '262026-05: 12026-06: 02026-07: 0Jul '262026-08: 02026-09: 12026-10: 1Oct '262026-11: 0

55 Speeches

NLSpeech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 15-16 October 2026 (debate)

Mr President, they claim that the money has run out. That they should therefore save on our pensions and our families. That they therefore have to invent all kinds of extra taxes. As if the Flemings are not yet paying enough. What is not saved is already on the billions for the European Union. If von der Leyen gets its way, Belgium's contribution will increase by as much as EUR 4 billion, EUR 4 bi

NLSpeech

State of the Union (debate)

Mr President, Mrs von der Leyen, what reality is your Commission actually living in? You claim to guarantee safe borders. In reality, only a few weeks ago, 80 000 illegal immigrants flooded our external border in Ceuta. You claim to protect our prosperity and competitiveness. In reality, electricity is now 2.5 times more expensive and gas five times more expensive than in the United States. And if

NLSpeech

Reviewing the ETS system to support European competitiveness (topical debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union’s climate policy is downright disastrous. With the ETS, Europe is artificially making energy more expensive than in the rest of the world. That system punishes those who work, those who undertake and even those who simply want to heat their home. While China, India and the United States protect their industries, the European Union is chasing o

NLSpeech

Topical debate requested by a political group (PfE) (Rule 169) - Commission interference in democratic process and elections (topical debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the von der Leyen Commission censors social media and tries to influence elections. These are the conclusions of the U.S. House of Representatives' report, which was published in February this year. We have been asking for a debate on this issue since February. This has been denied twice. We requested hearings in three parliamentary committees. This too was brut

NLSpeech

Rise of political violence, notably by far-left organisations (debate)

NLSpeech

Spain’s large-scale regularisation policy and its impact on the Schengen Area and EU migration policy (debate)

ENSpeech

Order of business

Madam President, I have a point of order referring to Rule 164 of the Rules of Procedure. The European Commission is censoring legal speech criticising mass migration, gender ideology or the European Union itself in order to manipulate elections in Europe. These are the documented conclusions of an official report by the US House Committee. Censoring legal speech is a clear violation of our fundam

NLSpeech

Restoring control of migration: returns, visa policy and third-country cooperation (topical debate)

Mr President, colleagues, stop immigration and start remigration: That is the heart of the matter here. Europe is in an existential crisis. Our unique civilization is in danger of being wiped out. For years it sounded "Wir kopen das". For years there was a naïve welcome culture. For years we looked away from the terrible reality that that superdiversity is not so super at all, but for many ordinar

NLSpeech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025, in particular the need to support Ukraine, transatlantic relations and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

Mr Lagodinsky, I really do not understand where you want to go, because my whole point is precisely that the veto should protect smaller Member States. That is the lesson of history that we have learned, unfortunately on the axis of World War II, so that large Member States cannot trample the small ones and impose their imperialist policies. That's the point I'm making here.

NLAnswer

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025, in particular the need to support Ukraine, transatlantic relations and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

You quote, Mr Lagodinsky, interesting facts, a reality that we agree on. The Baltic States and Poland are part of the European Union and it is therefore necessary under the law of the Treaty that my country, and therefore also my voters and my party, show solidarity with these countries. Just as we are bound by treaty obligations in the NATO context. However, we honour those obligations. It is als

NLSpeech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025, in particular the need to support Ukraine, transatlantic relations and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

Mr. Sieper, I think we just have a very fundamental difference in understanding reality. You apparently believe in liberal moralism, from which the world functions and works on the basis of moral principles. I don't believe that at all. I follow another school, the realistic school, which determines that the world functions on the basis of interests. And in those conflicts of interest with each ot

NLAnswer

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025, in particular the need to support Ukraine, transatlantic relations and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

Mr Sieper, you must, of course, answer to your own constituents, just as I must. The preschool story told here may be a bedtime story for small children, but it simply doesn't match reality. There are two major risks, one of which is the financial stability of the euro area and the credibility of the Western financial and banking system. The other risk is who will carry it. And apparently there is

NLSpeech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025, in particular the need to support Ukraine, transatlantic relations and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Europe has completely lost its way and the reason for this is unfortunately the European Union. What once started as a cooperation for prosperity and peace has become a belligerent monster that is completely derailing. European cooperation had to ensure that smaller Member States could no longer be trampled on by large countries. That is the lesson of history an

NLSpeech

Communication on the Democracy Shield (debate)

Mr President, the European Commission claims that it wants to protect our democracy. But the so-called European shield for democracy is not at all about protecting our democracy, but about protecting itself, against the will of the people. After all, the people must have no other opinion than to agree to their agenda of climate madness, mass migration and endless wars. The European shield of democ

NLSpeech

Promoting EU digital rules: protecting European sovereignty (debate)

Mr President, colleagues, the Digital Services Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act are being proposed as laws to protect our European digital sovereignty. But in reality, that legislation does not protect us from external dominance at all; It builds a wall against freedom within. They talk about freedom, but they mean control. They talk about transparency, but they mean submission. They speak

NLAnswer

State of the Union (debate)

I just have to quote the President of the European Council, Mr Costa, who said last week that this trade agreement – which is clearly unbalanced – is being negotiated, because of the focus on the war in Ukraine, the endless swamp in which this Commission wants to drag us. That is why I think we need to adopt a different strategy, one that leads to peace and a strong Europe.

NLSpeech

State of the Union (debate)

Mr President, the situation in Europe is dramatic and the policy of this Commission is disastrous. Our farmers are hit hard by unfair competition. Our companies are being squandered by overregulation. Our families suffer from the skyrocketing energy costs. Our women and daughters are the first victims of illegal mass migration. But for Mrs. von der Leyen there is apparently no dirt in the air. Thi

NLSpeech

Lessons from Budapest Pride: the urgent need for an EU wide anti-discrimination law and defending fundamental rights against right-wing attacks (topical debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, where could homosexuals actually walk the streets the safest? Is it in Molenbeek or is it in Budapest? Yet we do not see any European parliamentarians parading around in Molenbeek. Where we also never see them showing virtue is in Riyadh, Tehran or Islamabad. This hypocrisy proves that it is not about equal rights for homosexuals at all, but about promoting a ge

NLSpeech

EU support for a just, sustainable and comprehensive peace in Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, the European Union's strategy against Russian aggression is totally failing. Mrs von der Leyen claimed that sanctions would bring Russia to its economic knees. That didn't happen. Mrs von der Leyen claimed to be beating Russia with arms deliveries. That didn't happen. Mrs von der Leyen claimed to isolate Russia diplomatically. That didn't happen either. What has happened is that we h

NLSpeech

Presentation of the proposal on a new common approach on returns (debate)

Mr President, the European Union is totally failing in its migration policy. Our boundaries are wide open. Illegal migration therefore continues to increase, while return procedures are inefficient, slow and lax. Only one in five of those asylum seekers is actually sent back. At the same time, the countries of origin receive billions from the European Union, but refuse to take back their illegal i

NLSpeech

Competitiveness Compass (debate)

Mr President, with the Green Deal, the European Union introduced climate regulations, climate commitments and climate taxes. This would make Europe the economy of the future and at the same time save the world. However, this dogmatic climate policy is causing Europe to be overtaken globally by the United States and China, which are not interested in any of these measures. While Europe bans plastic

NLAnswer

Need to enforce the Digital Services Act to protect democracy on social media platforms including against foreign interference and biased algorithms (debate)

You may be surprised, colleague, but a truth that must be protected by censorship has a name. That's a lie. This is a truth that cannot stand. When you talk about foreign actors or tech platforms influencing elections, I can only say: Let the market of free ideas flourish. Let a thousand flowers bloom, as Mao said – perhaps one of your inspirators to reach this conclusion. And then I just think th

NLSpeech

Need to enforce the Digital Services Act to protect democracy on social media platforms including against foreign interference and biased algorithms (debate)

Mr President, the European Union likes to lecture the whole world on human rights and democracy, but in reality it has itself become a model of censorship and totalitarian control. With the Digital Services Act, they claim to protect social media from so-called disinformation and hate speech, but in reality they want to protect those in power from the democratic protest of their citizens. When Elo

NLSpeech

Toppling of the Syrian regime, its geopolitical implications and the humanitarian situation in the region (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Syria urgently needs its doctors and engineers who have come to Europe in recent years. After all, asylum law should never be a migration channel leading to permanent residence. It is and will remain a temporary measure for people in need. This includes a clear agreement to return home as soon as the situation has been cleared up. For Syrian asylum seekers, that

NLSpeech

Presentation by the President-elect of the Commission of the College of Commissioners and its programme (debate)

Mr President, the voter's signal was very clear. Our people want more purchasing power and less migration. But that political elite, they just continue to act as if nothing happened at all. The von der Leyen Commission is therefore simply more of the same. More migration and more climate madness. This Commission has not only completely detached itself from the people, but also from reality. After

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