What Sakis spoke about.

The beginning. Of. The. Night. Of. The.

O. Sakis Arnaoutoglou. Good evening to you. As Europe we have really created a problem ourselves. Where this problem did not exist with a rule that had a proper environmental objective, we imposed on small businesses. We have also heard this from many colleagues who sell to other Member States the obligation of an authorised representative. In each country a small producer, I want to inform you fr

Mr Sieper, I think that a very important step has been taken by the Commission, and we see a very strong will from the Commissioner, whom I have heard many times. I think the tools and the will are here. There are simply some details that the Commission will have to pay much more attention to in order to improve some things. They are not easy, but I think they are realizable, if there is really a

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the new European strategy for islands is of course a very important step. But now we have to move from strategy to implementation. Firstly, we need a specific island dimension in European funding programmes with real criteria of insularity, and not just population. Secondly, we need guaranteed basic access to health, education, housing, energy a

Madam President, Europe needs neither phobic syndromes nor strategic dependencies vis-à-vis China. She needs self-confidence, clear rules and her own voice. Europe must be clear about human rights, defending international law, supporting Ukraine and protecting the economy from unfair practices and dangerous dependencies. But he needs one more thing. It takes strategic composure. We do not need a n

I was waiting for exactly this answer, but once again, as a far-right party, you did not give us the answer that people need to hear. These are hypothetical. Now what do we do? But you still make promises of a solution. You embellish things without really giving the answer the world needs. All that you said gave no answer to my question.

We had gone on a mission together in China and we saw together what you said, more or less I agree, and you said that China leads industrially in robots, in investments in artificial intelligence. But I want to ask you, will you support a common European funding to close this gap? And if not, why am I sure you will say no, how will the European states, each of them alone, effectively compete with

Madam President, dear colleagues, selling a book is not a crime. Remembering the victims of Tiananmen is not a threat to national security. Yet the cases of Leticia Wong, Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung, Albert Ho and Jimmy Lai show how fundamental freedoms are being criminalised in Hong Kong. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of everyone detained for peacefully exercising their righ

Madam President, first of all I would like to address the far right, which is constantly shaking our finger, saying that there is no climate change and that we are leaving everything for the sake of climate change, etc. Can you please send a message to Mr Trump, ask him, finally why did Mr Trump become interested in Greenland, while the melting of the ice is increasing their geopolitical and econo

Madam President, last week, and more specifically on Sunday, I met with representatives of fishermen in Agios Rentis, Attica. They asked me to convey to you – both to the European Commission and to you personally – their voice and anguish; I think you know her pretty well. They talked to me about the high cost of fuel, the ageing fleet, the suffocating bureaucracy, the difficulty for young people

Mr President, the European bioeconomy can of course be an important tool for Europe's green transition, innovation, industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy. But we have to be very clear: Bioeconomy cannot become a new form of pressure on land, forests, water and biodiversity in general. It is not enough to replace fossil materials with biological resources if this leads to overexploitati

Madam President, Commissioner, the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Mexico is certainly an important step towards stronger, democratic and resilient cooperation at a time of very great geopolitical upheavals. But it is not enough to just talk about more trade. Trade must be accompanied by strong guarantees on human rights, environmental protection, labour rights and t

Madam President, electromobility, renewable energy and the decarbonisation of the economy cannot go ahead without strong, modern and resilient electricity grids. Today, however, in many parts of Europe the grids remain old and inadequate, while in Greece, especially during heatwaves and strong winds, the power grids are often associated with the occurrence of destructive and deadly forest fires. T

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, today we are discussing the safety of rail transport in Europe and the lessons to be learned from the tragic accidents. For us Greeks, this topic has only one name: It's Tempi. It has been heard many times: Three years ago, 57 people, mostly young people, died in an accident that should never have happened. Two trains on the

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in Hong Kong a 78-year-old publisher is about to be sentenced to life imprisonment for defending freedom of speech. Jimmy Lai has already spent more than five years in custody, much of it in solitary confinement, in conditions that endanger his life. His conviction under the so-called national security law is not justice, it is repression. This case marks ano