What Nikolaj spoke about.

Madam President! Here we are on our last day of voting. What we are about to vote on, it was promised us already five years ago, when Ursula van der Leyen went to the elections to become President of the European Commission. We were promised a single supervisory authority for all the EU institutions to keep a watchful – and frankly needed – eye on lobbying and compliance with ethical standards, bu

Mr President, for far too long the EU has been about market, market and market, but the core of Europe is the people, not the market. To me, this was underlined at the La Hulpe Summit. There, the EU was reminded about the need to include social policy and workers’ rights. And I’m happy that the broadly accepted La Hulpe Declaration clearly mentions the need to revise the highly problematic public

Mr President! Fundamental human rights are currently being violated in Hungary. Our common values are under pressure. In fact, the situation in Hungary is currently deteriorating in concrete terms, with new attacks on the opposition and civil society. Yet Orbán's Hungary receives billions of tax dollars from the EU. Our tax dollars. Indeed, Orban's Hungary is at the top of the recipients of EU aid

Mr President! We are in a very serious situation. The Belgian and Czech intelligence services accuse European politicians, including Members of the European Parliament, of receiving money from the Putin regime to spread his propaganda. This is very serious. I hope that all political groups will take a firm stand against this scandal. Therefore, I would also like to take this opportunity to ask Mr

Thanks for the question. Yes, I am fully aware of what the Commission has put forward, and that is totally inadequate. The reality is that millions of citizens have repeatedly signed up, demanding that legislation be put forward to stop the animal cruelty that is taking place on European roads. Yet again and again the Commission ignores the citizens. It's not okay. It is a failure and that failure

Mr President! The reality is that animals are over and over again forgotten. The reality is that the animals suffer from extremely long journeys, in tiny miserable cages and flocked in the brutal fur industry. The reality is that it should have stopped a long time ago. Dear Commissioner, You had promised to come forward with legislation on better animal welfare. You have failed to make that promis

Mr President! Ladies and gentlemen, as shadow rapporteur, I have to say it as it is. This agreement, which we are about to vote on, is a declaration of bankruptcy! A declaration of bankruptcy in the fight for cleaner air for Europeans. It puts the short-term profits of the automotive industry above considerations of health and the environment. It is pure greenwashing, that without real improvement

Madam President, dear Mr Orpo, normally I would be happy and proud to welcome a prime minister from another Nordic country here in the European Parliament, but sadly I have to say today I’m not. Instead, I am disappointed, sad and honestly angry to have to welcome a Nordic prime minister that is leading a charge against social and trade union rights in his own country. Mr Prime Minister, the topic

Madam President, dear Yulia Navalnaya, it is both good and very sad to see you here today in Strasbourg. It is so incredibly sad because the reason for you being here is so tragic and wrong. Nobody should have to die for speaking up for what they believe in. All of us here today mourn with you the loss of your husband, Alexei Navalny – a man who became one of the symbols of resistance to Putin’s r

Mr President! The situation in Gaza is disastrous. Children are starving to death. Women get caesarean section without anesthesia. Hospitals, schools and civilians are bombed. It is collective punishment, and collective punishment is a war crime. The Israeli government is currently accused of genocide. More than 30,000 Palestinian civilians have already been killed. If we don't act now, history wi

Madam President, I would like to thank my very good colleagues, Cindy, Ilan, Catherine, Sara, Elżbieta, thank you so much for your kind words today, but also not least for our very good cooperation. I would also like to thank you, Commissioner Schmit. It’s been a great pleasure to work with all of you, work with your staff advisors on this important file. And then I would like to say to all of you

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, Europe can make a difference for workers. We can put the health and safety of those workers who build our wind turbines, assemble our batteries and energy renovate our homes at the forefront. This piece of EU legislation that we will vote on tomorrow will lead to concrete improvements for literally millions of workers out there in the factories,

Madam President! At last week's EU summit, there was a recurring problem on everyone's lips. The problem is Viktor Orban. The Hungarian prime minister uses the summit after the summit Ukraine to blackmail the rest of the EU. Orbán is holding the Ukrainian people hostage to share in our other people's tax dollars. Tax dollars that are otherwise being withheld because Orban is violating the human ri

Mr President, this Parliament has adopted legislation and policies which have helped improve the working conditions for millions of workers in Europe. But, to be honest, none of this would have been remotely possible without the hard work of our assistants. Unfortunately, the current rules governing the determination of our assistants are extremely precarious and completely opposite to the fair wo

Mr. President! Every year, public institutions in the EU spend around DKK 15 trillion on public procurement. Unfortunately, it turns out time and time again that the companies that win these tenders do not respect basic labour rights. This is possible because the EU rules today are completely unclear as to what local authorities must make of social and environmental requirements. On the other hand

Mr President! Negotiations on the climate-damaging F-gases were certainly not easy, but they were worth it. Despite opposition from several EU countries, we managed to make a good deal. We shall now vote on that agreement and I invite you to vote in favour. Because with the agreement, we are taking concrete climate action by cutting the use of F-gas. Now we are acting responsibly. By setting a dat

Madam President, Commissioner, and Prime Minister, this is Europe. A Europe where we stood united in solidarity with Ukraine after the brutal attack by Putin. A Europe that has imposed sanctions against Putin for his grave violations against international law and human rights. A Europe that actively has engaged in making sure that war crimes in Ukraine will be prosecuted. Dear colleagues, this is

Madam President! Here we are again. Once again, it is Orban's lack of respect for the rule of law that is on the agenda. Once again, the EU's steps to safeguard the fundamental democratic rights of the Hungarian people have been insufficient. Once again, there is clearly a need for pressure from the European Parliament if the respect for fundamental democratic principles is to apply in Hungary as

Mr President! Should we take an important step in the fight against climate change? Should we ensure that the green trucks and buses of the future are produced in Europe? Or should we just act like nothing and let go? That is the choice we have today. We have before us a compromise that will bring us important steps forward. It's not nearly as good and green as I'd like it to be. But it is a propo

Mr President! Every year, at least 70 000 Europeans die from air pollution, more than three times as many as road deaths. The vast majority of EU citizens are exposed to deadly air pollution. Air pollution is overwhelmingly caused by cars and trucks. We could have done something about that with this bill, but the friends of the automotive industry on the right wanted it different. So now, instead,

Madam President, Gaza is bleeding. The Palestinian civil population is paying the price for Hamas’s horrific terrorist attack and years of illegal occupation. Children make up almost half of Gaza’s population. Already thousands and thousands of children have died. While we speak, more and more are dying. No child should experience the war crimes that the children of Gaza are living through and dyi

It is absolutely essential that we fight all forms of anti-Semitism wherever we see it. That is why I would just like to ask the rapporteur: “What are you doing in your political group to respond to the cases we have seen a few days ago?” For example, in Germany, where the AFD holds itself accountable for anti-Semitic actions and tributes to Nazi Germany.

Mr President, have the EU sanctions on Russia been effective? No, not as much as they could have been. Special economic interests have protected different sectors from sanctions. From luxury handbag exports to imports of caviar, there’s always been a bad excuse. The shipping and banking sectors were protected. Even Russian blood diamonds may only be covered by sanctions from next year, maybe. Not

Mr. President! Oxygen is running out, seas are dying. Life in our streams is gone. It sounds like a horror movie, but it is the reality in Europe today. Our aquatic environment is in deep crisis. Life in our lakes, streams and seas must be restored. Therefore, more people need to be connected to the sewer system. More waste water needs to be treated and we need to introduce a new fourth treatment

Madam President! Nearly one million people are homeless in the EU. A million! It's a scandal! The reality is that access to a good home is a matter of class. Low-wage earners, old-age pensioners and students are hit hardest by rising inflation, energy prices and real wage cuts. They are the ones who are forced from the house and home when the rent rises. Our homes have become a speculative object