What Esther spoke about.

Mr President, I think ‘you cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today’ pretty much sums up the core of the debate on the economic governance framework. We need to take responsibility to protect the credibility of the Union and the stability of the eurozone by agreeing on new rules that are realistic and can be and will be respected and enforced. This is why the Commission mad

Madam President, with this State of the Union debate, we are looking into the fifth year of this Commission, but it also allows us to look back at the previous four. And I have to say, it feels like a lifetime, but I mean that in a good way, because in 2019, we knew that we had to embark on a double mission – the green and digital transitions – to ensure sustainable growth and competitiveness in E

Mr President, ‘The farmer really wants to change.’ These are not my words, but those of Roy Meijer. The Dutch may know him. For those who are not from the Netherlands: a young dairy farmer from Drenthe. This farmer is not against sustainability or biodiversity at all, just as the EPP is not. Let us be clear, and I say this above all to colleagues from the Greens, the Socialists, the Liberals, who

Mr President, Mohammed Chahim was so creative with Dutch proverbs, so let me throw in one that I owe to my mother. She always said: “Can't-I-don't lie in the cemetery, and Will-I-don't lie next to it.” I think that is really what those who were saying ‘we can’t do it this way’ meant – ‘we don’t want to’. We will see that page in the votes from the extremes, I think, tomorrow. But most importantly,

Mr President, as co-rapporteur – David, again, thank you –of the Social Climate Fund, am I proud of the agreement reached? Yes. And I thank, in particular, the whole team of shadows, both of the environment and the employment committees, as well as the representatives of the budget committee, who fought their ground very hard. I think we managed to strike a deal that reflects the priorities of all

Mr President, on this election day for the Provincial States in the Netherlands, allow me to translate the importance of something like net-zero industry legislation very concretely – and into Dutch, contrary to what you may be used to. Take the province of Groningen. I think it is a province that the President of the Commission knows well because it is her neighbouring region, a region where natu

Madam President, in a way, it’s ironic that it takes an Inflation Reduction Act in the US and high energy prices to put our industrial competitiveness higher on the agenda of this House. For the EPP, this should be a permanent priority, but unfortunately our calls to discuss it have often landed on deaf ears. So I’m happy we’re discussing it today. And let me be clear: for us, this is not about pr

Madam President, three years ago in this room the Green Deal was compared to putting a man on the moon. And indeed at the time we were afraid that others would wreck our launchpad through unfair competition. Now the US, with the Inflation Reduction Act, is building its own launchpad. And if we’re not careful, they’re beating us at our own game, with our approach, but better tools in their toolbox.

Mr President, Putin's war is taking place on several fronts. The most inhumane of course in Ukraine itself, but also in our national parliaments, where useful idiots – those few, that handful of parliamentarians – are spraying Putin’s poison. In addition, in our energy market, where gas is used as a weapon. When the market is no longer functioning, the government must intervene. The EU – in partic

Mr President, one minute is far too short to put this whole negotiation result in the spotlight. First of all, let me thank Véronique Trillet-Lenoir and all the members of our team. We may have been from different political groups, but we had common priorities and I would like to thank you for that. In this short time, I want to do three things. I want to say what I'm most proud of. In this negoti

Madam President, I would say to the Commissioner that when the Commission took office three years ago, it promised Europeans a market that works for people. Although not perfect, the European energy market in normal times has provided Europeans with accessible and affordable electricity and gas. But let’s be clear, a tyrant does not play by the rules of the market. A tyrant uses gas as a weapon. P

Madam President, I would respectfully say to Philippe Lamberts, of course, that this is not a normal vote, in the sense that a lot of the amendments that are put forward now have already been voted on and rejected in the first vote that we undertook in the previous plenary. So, in that sense, I’m not that worried about setting a precedent, and I would therefore say that using Rule 183(3) is justif

Madam President, dear colleagues, I think we all know that the ETS and the social climate fund are closely interlinked. We also voted accordingly in this report. Since for the moment we have referred back to committee the ETS report, I would propose on the basis of Rule 200(4) that we postpone the final vote on the social climate fund until, hopefully very soon, we also have an agreement on ETS. I

Madam President, I think, David, you thanked me in the end. But my Maltese is not perfect. But I would like to thank you as well as I would like to thank all the shadow rapporteurs that have been working in two committees in the EMPL Committee and the ENVI Committee on this dossier. And, Madam President, I have to say that in all my years in the European Parliament, this was one of the most exotic

Madam President, this is a unique chance and a huge responsibility. I think that is what this legislative package that is on the table today is – no less than that. It is a huge opportunity and, I think, even a last chance, because we are the last generation that can change the course of climate change. And it is a huge responsibility, because only when we do the right thing, when we do this the r

Mr President, it is 4 May today and in the Netherlands that means that we will all be standing still for a moment at eight o'clock tonight. For two minutes, the country stands still and remains silent to commemorate the dead from World War II and all those who died afterwards during operations and peacekeeping missions worldwide. And on a day like today, it therefore feels a bit strange to speak i

Very quickly, thank you for that reply and of course, that will bear fruit in the medium to long-term. But at the same time, I have vulnerable households in the Netherlands, but also in Germany, also in Romania and all our Member States, where families are putting the heating – even though it’s freezing outside – on 16 degrees because they can’t afford any more. And you promised a change that woul

Madam President, Madam Commission President, you already touched upon the fact that the war in Ukraine has demonstrated how dependent Russia is on fossil fuel imports from Russia. It was to the question of Philippe Lamberts. At the same time, we are in a situation that inflation is reaching levels not seen for decades – I think it is eleven point something percent in my own Member State. And our f

Madam President, first of all, congratulations to you. It’s an absolute pleasure to have you – and to have a woman once again – at the head of this institution. Let me also thank the French President for his committed, passionate and pro—European speech, as we have come, of course, to expect from this French President. I also thank him for his European commitment. He stated at the beginning of thi

Mr President, it looks like the more numbers go up in Member States, the more they go in different directions when it comes to the measures that they take. And let’s be honest, the COVID Pass that went through this Parliament in rapid speed was a success story. It allowed us at the time to use our freedom of movement whenever it was medically possible. But we’ve reached the stage now where we inde

Madam President, we cannot start this debate today about the upcoming European Council without looking back at yesterday’s debate with Prime Minister Morawiecki, because at this Council, clearly the rule of law risks being the elephant in the room. And let me remind all of you of Article 15 of the Treaty: ‘The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development

Mr President, Madam President of the Commission, you spoke of last summer's floods and forest fires. Rightly so, because they underline the need to act together on climate change. Although there were fortunately no deaths in the Netherlands, the damage was enormous there as well. I mention the entrepreneurs in the Grotestraat in Valkenburg, who suffered the water after corona, families who thought

Mr President, colleagues, when the first wave of corona hit our continent, my grandmother, who was 99 years old at the time, was being cared for in a care home in the southern part of the Netherlands, just a few kilometres away from the German border. When an outbreak appeared just across that border in Germany, of course Germany was on high alert. The Netherlands, however, took no measures for th