What Wouter spoke about.

Mrs von der Leyen, Dear colleagues, Russia is testing and provoking. It wants to see how far it can go to put our unity to the test and at the same time divert attention from Ukraine. We can't let that break us up. We need to keep a cool head and react decisively with one common European response. And to that end, you came up with concrete initiatives within the Defence Readiness Roadmap. The disc

Mr President, dear colleagues, in Flanders fields, the poppies blow. More than hundred years ago, Canadian soldiers came to the fields of Flanders to defend our freedom. But that bond should be more than just a memory of the past. Because the reality is that Canada and Europe need each other once again, not to fight our wars, but to defend our interests together. As global powers put increased pre

Mr President, Europe must respect people who bring food to our tables every day, respect for the peasant stable. And that respect, that must also be reflected in our budget. Because whoever feeds us must be able to earn a fair income. Anyone who expects farmers to simultaneously provide the best quality food and at the same time invest in reducing their emissions must also put the right resources

Mr President, when it comes to China, we see the same thing in the debate, also today. One says we need to act stronger and stricter and the other says we need to keep the door open for extra investment or trade. But there is a simple reality. We are all particularly vulnerable to China. That is why we must cooperate not only in Europe but also with other strategic partners, such as Canada, Norway

Yes, I totally agree with your analysis, but that's no reason at all not for a 28e regime to go. That's one more reason to say: Let us be more ambitious in economic terms, in order to harmonise what needs to be harmonised. If we can provide Europe with one great service for our economic growth – and that means for our prosperity, for our socio-economic market model – it is economic harmonisation.

Mr President, today, innovative companies are colliding with 27 national systems, 27 registers, 27 legal thresholds. Who wants to grow? As a result, the European Union is losing a great deal of time, capital and potential. Europe has talent. We have talent, we have knowledge, we have drive. But scaling up is far too difficult. Mr Andriukaitis has referred to the Biotech Regulation and I fully agre

Mr President, unfortunately, since 2019 we know more than ever that viruses know no boundaries. Although the risks for Europe are currently very low, we see that the humanitarian tragedy in Congo and Uganda is not yet fully covered. Fortunately, we can count on strong intervention by the World Health Organisation, the European Union and its Member States, with local support for health care and inv

Mr President, protecting our citizens must be the absolute priority, as almost everyone agrees. Over the past five years, our defence budgets in Europe have doubled from 200 billion to 400 billion. It's gigantic. That's the good news. The bad news is: In fact, we are nowhere with a European pillar within NATO and we are almost nowhere with the implementation of Article 42(7) of the Treaty. We have

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, those who say today that the ETS needs to be overhauled – as here on the right – absolutely do not understand why we need to decarbonise. But those who say that we should continue with the ETS without listening to industry – like some on the left – do not understand how heavy that transition is for a number of sectors. Yes, we need to decarbonize.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I was thirteen years old when the Single European Act of 1987 laid the foundations for the completion of the internal market. I grew up with the ambitious objectives of the Single Market: Objective 1992, ode to Jacques Delors. And yes, many steps have been taken since then. But in fact, the European single market is more like Schrödinger's cat. The

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, the CEO of a major steel producer in Europe gave an interview in the newspaper ‘De Tijd’ in March last year. He then said that we still have one year, one year to save the steel industry in Europe. At the beginning of this year, another interview was published by the same CEO, who in the meantime sounded a bit more optimistic. I quote: “Europe has woken up.

Mr President, on Saturday, I was at the Pope’s audience with a number of colleagues in the Vatican. I was sitting there in the Sala Clementina, and on the wall, on the ceiling, two words were written: ‘justitia’ and ‘clementia’. This is where Ukraine's future lies: justitia and clementia. But in that order, first justitiaFirst, justice. In Bucha, 500 innocent civilians were killed. Bucha reminded

Mr President, the situation we are facing is serious. It is not for nothing that the International Energy Agency speaks of the mother of all energy crises. This crisis will cut deeper and last longer, partly because crucial energy ‑ infrastructure has been destroyed in the Middle East. Europe must play its part, but the real levers are still with the Member States. Therefore, I believe that

Mr President, tomorrow there will be a retreat in Alden Biesen, a beautiful castle with a rich history. That is in my province, Limburg, also with a beautiful history, a beautiful industrial history, a history of the rise of the mines and the closure of the mines, the rise of Ford Genk, the automotive sector and the closure of the automotive sector. We have been hit a few times in the region, but

Mr President, drones and anti-drone technology are no longer music for the future, but a strategic necessity for our security and our economy. But as with other innovations and other innovative sectors, we often encounter the same barriers. Too little access to finance, too many rules, too little room to grow. Europe must not slow down innovation through fragmented regulation or administrative bur