What Geert spoke about.

Mr President, from day one, the N-VA of this Commission asked for a much greater commitment to competitiveness. Unfortunately, our industrial activity is dropping further away. No European digital company is in the top 15 worldwide. There is insufficient productivity. We are far too dependent on China, partly because of far too few new trade agreements. And the regulatory burden has become even mo

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, corporate social responsibility is an ethical duty. No forced labour, no child labour, no environmental violations, no corruption. But we absolutely do not want a stranglehold around the neck of our companies. SMEs do not have the means to scrutinise and control the entire chain. The proposal has improved under pressure from other Member States, but Prime Mini

Mr President, first of all I would like to congratulate the Commission and the rapporteurs. This free trade agreement with partner country Chile brings good news at the last minute. It is very important for several reasons. In these difficult times, we do not leave geopolitics to China. This treaty strengthens our open strategic autonomy on critical raw materials and reaffirms our belief in free,

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Green Deal should have been accompanied from the outset by a European Pact for Prosperity and Jobs. That didn't happen. As a result, we are losing industry. As a result, companies are moving to the United States and we are hopelessly dependent on China for the much-needed materials for the green and digital transitions. In addition, th

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the EU Treaty provides that farmers have the right to a fair standard of living. Well, this policy is failing. The farmer is entitled to a good price for his good goods. But our farmer with a family business has no market power. He is alone in the food chain in front of big players. The Commission must therefore very quickly implement guidelines in competition l

Good morning Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Prime Minister, you are now also calling for a . You are calling for our competitiveness to be strengthened. You have obviously listened very carefully to what the N-VA has been proposing for years. But you are not acting on that, Prime Minister, and I hope that the EU will have a better policy than your disastrous Belgian policy. The top priority m

Mr President, we fully support this regulation on critical raw materials. It is more than necessary to achieve the green and digital transitions, to strengthen the competitiveness of our companies, to be less dependent on the rest of the world – especially China – and thus to strengthen our open strategic autonomy. We are in a period of deglobalization. Already now, the tense trade relationship be

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, finally a second trade agreement with Vietnam, congratulating the Commissioner and his staff and the rapporteur. Only a second agreement means that this is not a legislature to be proud of. However, trade agreements bring growth and prosperity. They diversify our supply lines, bring stability and also bring peoples together. It should be primarily about trade, i

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this Commission does not have a competitiveness agenda. Together with the Green Deal, there should have been an industrial plan for growth and prosperity. Meanwhile, the United States took a huge lead. It is only after the Inflation Reduction Act that the Commission came forward with this proposal for a Net-Zero Industry Act, which by definition only covers part

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this Commission wanted to be a geopolitical Commission. We see that. Four years later, our High Representative is asking China to recognise the EU as a geopolitical player. This is quite humiliating, I thought. You're not asking, you're acting like a geopolitical actor. The balance after four years is negative. Watertight sanctions against Russia are waiting. Af

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, innovation is not a luxury. Innovation is a necessity and we need to excel at it, because our global competitiveness is under severe pressure. This STEP could be a step in the right direction. The intention is good, but the effect is not. Not applying the highest standards, levelling, is bad for innovation, is bad for the most innovative federal st

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am a staunch supporter of fair, rules-based trade. Free trade creates jobs and prosperity, but also competitive challenges, which in turn lead to innovation. Free trade also brings people and peoples together and that requires the removal of trade barriers. But it is precisely on this point that the EU falls short. There are not enough new trade

Commissioner, you must indeed respect the deadlines, but there is also a speedy procedure. I ask you to apply this fast-track procedure to avoid drama and I also ask you to speak clearly and clearly at the EU-China summit. Fair trade? – Yes. Dumping? – No.

Mr President, Commissioner, the Commission's approach seems to me to be the right one. Not decoupling from China, but reducing the risks. No protectionism, but open strategic autonomy and above all fair trade based on a level playing field. And that's where the shoe pinches. I know of thriving Flemish companies with hundreds of employees threatened by dumping practices by China. Mass imports of pr

Mr President, we must indeed complete and protect our internal market, our greatest asset. And so it cannot be that in times of crisis the Member States will close the borders as they did at the beginning of the pandemic. And so a European framework that protects the functioning of the internal market in times of crisis is a good plan. But what is on the table here, colleagues, Commissioner, goes

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, from a trade perspective, we cannot dream of full self-sufficiency, let alone protectionism. European industry is far too intertwined with the rest of the world for this. On the contrary, the EU must focus on its strengths by also creating an ecosystem with global players that we have, such as IMEC in Leuven and ASML in the Netherlands. A nice appl

Mr President, colleagues, Commissioner, integrity and good governance must be an absolute policy priority. In this regard, I call from the outset for even greater transparency and, secondly, for the rules on conflicts of interest to be tightened up. Disclosure of conflicts of interest is not sufficient. In some cases, a member must completely refrain from intervening, from amending, from voting, a

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the farmer likes to be the guardian of nature, but he must have the means to pay the enormous costs of the green transition. Well, he doesn't have those resources. The EU's income support policy is failing. Many farmers live in poverty. The farmer must get money for his goods. The common agricultural policy aims to ensure a fair standard of living

Mr President, ‘Let China sleep, because if China wakes up, the earth will shake’, Napoleon warned 200 years ago. Now, today, China is a giant, economically and militarily. Moreover, China is a master strategist who imposes himself worldwide. However, decoupling China is not a good thing. The EU must continue to embrace multilateralism and trade. Moreover, colleagues, our shift towards renewable en

Presidents, colleagues, after years of political hostility, unrest and violence, the Good Friday Agreement has for 25 years provided a period of peace and democracy, democracy as a means to achieve political objectives. What followed was stability with power sharing between once sworn enemies. However, Brexit brought back unrest and tensions. At all costs, it was necessary to prevent the Good Frid

Mr President, I have heard many good intentions, but we have been hearing them since 2000. With the Lisbon Strategy, we would be the largest competitive knowledge-based economy in the world in 2010, then postponed with Barroso to 2020. Same with the Commission-Juncker. And now a new beginning. We have been asking for years: Take the right measures. Complete the internal market, strengthen trade ag

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we are very pleased that there is finally a workable agreement for the Northern Ireland Protocol – with a small caveat, albeit, for the Stormont emergency brake. All thanks go to Commissioner Šefčovič, who acted patiently, flexibly and pragmatically throughout the process. Colleagues, this agreement can be a pivotal moment. Either the British bill to remove EU r

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I wholeheartedly support the objectives of the Data Act and congratulate the rapporteur who, together with many, has made sensitive improvements to the proposal. The EU absolutely needs a competitive data market. Our backlog vis-à-vis the United States and China is dramatic. Sharing data is crucial for innovation and growth, for our competitiveness

Mr President, the answer to the IRA must not be protectionist and must not undermine the internal market by relaxing State aid rules to the detriment of workers and businesses in small Member States. Nor should the answer be a sovereignty fund with new debts and new taxes. The answer should be smart: faster authorisation of all investments, less suffocating rules and more structural reforms, a shi

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I was a member of three parliaments before entering this house. Well, none of these parliaments has as many integrity rules as this European Parliament. Rightly so. Noblesse oblige. And it could be even better. We need to tighten our rules and be even more transparent. But remember, this will not stop criminals. Criminal activities are not reported and happen un