What Niels spoke about.

17 Jun

2026

EN Answer

Electrification Action Plan (debate)

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Well, I think, dear colleague, when the sun doesn't shine, well, the wind might blow in another place in Europe. And so we need to invest in our grid system, so that when the sun shines in some places, the wind blows in some places, we can actually move the electricity to the places where it's needed. Also, we need to invest in better storage systems. We both talk about hydrogen and we talk about …

17 Jun

2026

EN Speech

Electrification Action Plan (debate)

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Madam President, friends, we have a problem, obviously, with our dependency on the foreign fossil fuels we import for billions every day. When we import from the Middle East, from Vladimir Putin, from the United States. When we import gas and oil that we do not have ourselves. So, we need to import 98 % of the gas and oil that we consume here in Europe from abroad. I think it is absolutely crazy t…

17 Jun

2026

EN Question

Electrification Action Plan (debate)

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So you're saying that when we invest in solar and renewable energy, we're paying multinational companies. But right now, when we use oil and gas, you know who we pay? We pay foreign powers with whom we don't share values. 98 % of the oil and gas we consume in Europe, we import from abroad. We do not have it ourselves. So we support regimes in the Middle East. We support Vladimir Putin, we support …

29 Apr

2026

EN Speech

EU strategy in response to the ongoing Middle East crisis, its implications on energy prices and the availability of fertilizers (joint debate)

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Madam President, there's one thing this crisis makes clear: that we need more renewable energy and more energy efficiency. 98 % of the oil and gas that we consume in Europe, we import it from foreign powers, often from foreign powers with whom we do not share values. And it's hurting our citizens, the higher prices that we are seeing, it's hurting our industry. So we need to build on the Green Dea…

29 Apr

2026

EN Question

EU strategy in response to the ongoing Middle East crisis, its implications on energy prices and the availability of fertilizers (joint debate)

Watch

Okay, so we will need some metals for renewable energy. But in contrast to oil and gas, which we don't have in Europe (98 % of the oil and gas we consume, we import in Europe), the metals, we can get that also from Europe. We can reuse the metals to a much larger degree than we do today. And we can also have mining projects in Europe, so we can provide for ourselves. That is not possible with oil …

10 Mar

2026

DA Speech

Tackling barriers to the single market for defence - Flagship European defence projects of common interest

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Madam President! Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. The international order is changing and unfortunately not for the better, which is why Europe needs to face the realities. The fact is that there is still war on the European continent. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has now entered its fifth year, and it is not only Ukraine that is under threat. It is the security of all of us that is …

10 Mar

2026

DA Speech

Cutting red tape to enable a competitive and clean transition – the urgent need to shorten and simplify permitting (debate)

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Mr. President! Thank you very much, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Never again! That's the message from me today. Never again should we make the mistake of making ourselves so dependent on a foreign enterprise with which we do not share values. We can see how we have become dependent on Russian gas and how it has been a disaster for Europe. But it would also be a mistake to say, "Well, we'd b…

10 Mar

2026

EN Speech

Presentation of the Energy Package (debate)

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I think Germany needs to invest more aggressively in renewables. I think Europe needs to invest more aggressively in renewables. And if you look at my own country, Denmark, I think that's a counterexample to what you're saying. We do not have nuclear power, but we have invested in wind turbines, we have invested in different forms of renewable energy, and we have reduced our carbon footprint. In f…

10 Mar

2026

EN Answer

Presentation of the Energy Package (debate)

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I don't exclude nuclear power for some countries, renewable energy for other countries. I think it's a problem only to put your money on nuclear power for a number of reasons. One important reason, from my point of view, is that it takes too much time. If you look at the three most recent nuclear power plant projects in Europe – in Finland, France and the UK – the average time is 17 years from sta…

10 Mar

2026

EN Speech

Presentation of the Energy Package (debate)

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Mr President, listening to this debate, I am puzzled by the colleagues who argue that we should slow down the energy transition because, honestly, I think we need to do the exact opposite. We are completely dependent in Europe when it comes to importing fossil fuels from abroad – 98 % of the oil and gas that we use is imported from foreign powers, and often from foreign powers with whom we don't s…

22 Oct

2025

EN Speech

Ending all energy imports from Russia to the EU and closing loopholes through third countries (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, congratulations once again with your good proposal to phase out Russian gas, and congratulations to the political groups here in the European Parliament for having been able to keep their heads cool and their hearts warm, and negotiate an agreement that has wide support. I think this is worth noticing in a time where it seems that politics is becom…

22 Oct

2025

EN Answer

UN Climate Change Conference 2025 in Belém, Brazil (COP30) (debate)

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I think when it comes to the vote today, it was mainly the extremes on the right and the left that voted the proposal down. Unfortunately, it was a secret ballot so we could not see who voted. We didn't ask for this secret ballot. When it comes to the climate change proposal, there are lots of good people in the EPP. I work with them. I think you can be a reliable partner and ask you to be one. We…

22 Oct

2025

EN Speech

UN Climate Change Conference 2025 in Belém, Brazil (COP30) (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, I want to congratulate you on the proposal on reducing greenhouse gases by 90 % in 2040. I think it's the right proposal. I think it's a sound proposal. And I think it is important, when we go to the COP meeting, that the European Union delivers ambition also to move other countries. We are struggling in the European Parliament to get your propo…

8 Oct

2025

DA Speech

The role of simple tax rules and tax fragmentation in European competitiveness (debate)

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Mr President! I often hear the argument that countries should decide their own tax policy and that the EU should not interfere in it. In fact, I fully agree that we ourselves must decide our tax policy on a country-by-country basis. But is that really what is happening today? Is this what happens if those who earn the most can just move their wealth to a tax haven and avoid paying taxes? Is this w…

6 Oct

2025

DA Speech

Revision of the Visa Suspension Mechanism (debate)

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Madam President! A lot of people in Europe live a good life, and therefore there are also many who would like to come and visit us and experience our culture and history. And I can understand that. Most come with an honest relationship, but there are also some who take advantage of the loopholes to enter the EU and undermine our common project and commit crime. That's why I support making a deal. …

8 Jul

2025

DA Speech

Need for the EU to scale up clean technologies (debate)

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Mr. President! 95%! 95% is the number that guides my thoughts when I think of green technology, for 95% of the solar panels that are being set up in Europe today, they are produced in China. It was a technology that was developed in Europe and where we had an industry 15 years ago, 10 years ago. We almost don't have that anymore. Production is now in China. For me, there is no doubt that green tec…

8 Jul

2025

DA Speech

Preparation for the 2025 EU–China Summit - Tackling China's critical raw materials export restrictions

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Madam President! Commissioner, please! Madam Minister! Dear colleagues! China is an important partner for Europe, an important trading partner and also a partner for solving some of the major challenges such as the climate crisis. At the same time, however, we must realise that we have pursued a naïve China policy in which we have become dependent on the great empire in the middle. We have sold cr…

18 Jun

2025

EN Speech

Upcoming NATO summit on 24-26 June 2025 (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, we are not at war, but we are not living in a time of peace either. I think it's safe to say that, in our lifetimes, we are seeing the greatest threats that we have ever seen with Putin and his war in Ukraine. And who will be next if we do not stand together and invest in our common defence? Many countries, including my own, Denmark, have not invested sufficiently if…

21 May

2025

EN Speech

Russian energy phase-out, Nord Stream and the EU's energy sovereignty (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, honourable colleagues, dear Minister, we need to stop the import of Russian gas as soon as possible. That's why I think that 6 May, the day the Commission put forward the proposal on the phasing‑out of Russian gas, was a good day. I hope that we can name it our 'Independence Day', 'European Independence Day' in the future, because we need to follow up on this in th…

21 May

2025

DA Speech

Amending Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as regards simplifying and strengthening the carbon border adjustment mechanism (debate)

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Mr President! In the last mandate, we have adopted a number of climate laws to strengthen the green transition, to reduce CO2emissions. We can be proud of that. We in the EU must lead the green transition. We need to make demands on our businesses and our economy. But at the same time, we will not accept that our companies are being outcompeted by companies from other parts of the world, where the…

6 May

2025

DA Speech

Protecting Greenland's right to decide its own future and maintain the rule-based world order (debate)

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Madam President! Dear colleagues! It is paradoxical how climate change, which is increasingly being denied, has the consequence that the Arctic, including Greenland, has become the subject of international interest on an unprecedented scale. It is as if we have forgotten that the backdrop to the entire discussion about the Arctic is the consequences of the climate collapse that we are moving close…

2 Apr

2025

DA Speech

Energy-intensive industries (debate)

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Madam President! Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. There was a time not so many years ago when it was said that we did not need heavy industry, steel, cement and other types of heavy industry in Europe. We could just outsource it to other parts of the world, and then they could produce it for us. It was a big mistake. We have seen how jobs have disappeared from Europe, how our production of stee…

12 Mar

2025

EN Question

Accelerating the phase-out of Russian gas and other Russian energy commodities in the EU (debate)

Watch

I just need to understand the position of the Patriots for Europe. You criticise the policy of the European Union trying to become independent of Russian gas? Is your solution that we should just keep on importing Russian gas? Or what is your position besides the criticism that you come with?…

12 Mar

2025

DA Speech

Accelerating the phase-out of Russian gas and other Russian energy commodities in the EU (debate)

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Mr. President! 163 billion dollars. This is how much money we spent in the EU last year on importing Russian energy. That's $2 billion more than we used to support Ukraine. It is hard to look at, and therefore the Russian gas must be phased out as soon as possible. It has already gone too slowly, but it is clear that we should not replace one addiction with another. There is no point in replacing …

12 Mar

2025

DA Speech

Frozen Russian assets (debate)

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Mr. President! Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. For over 3 years, Ukraine has struggled to defend its country from an illegal and unprovoked invasion. For over three years, Ukraine has fought against tyranny and for freedom, and the hero Zelenskyy has stood up to the dictator and aggressor, Putin, and in the European Union we have stood behind him, supported him, and we will continue to do so. …