What Niels spoke about.

20 Jan

2025

DA Speech

Heat record year 2024 - the need for climate action to fight global warming (debate)

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Mr President. Dear Commission, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues. 2024 was the warmest year ever recorded. Climate change is not a distant future. They are here now and we are seeing the consequences of human loss, destruction, flooding, migrants having to flee and move for millions. It is very frightening, and it is paradoxical, that at the same time we see how politicians - now Trump in his ina…

19 Dec

2024

EN Speech

Commission’s plans to include the revision of the outstanding proposals on animal welfare in its work plan for 2025 (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner Várhelyi, thank you for being here today and engaging in a serious debate with us on how to improve animal welfare standards in Europe. Actually, you're the first European commissioner to have 'animal welfare' in your title. That comes with a lot of responsibility, and I'm not going to lie to you – if you fail to deliver, it would be a huge disappointment because we f…

27 Nov

2024

DA Speech

Rise of energy prices and fighting energy poverty (debate)

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Madam President! More than one in ten Europeans were unable to keep their homes warm last winter. In some countries, one in five people froze. That is well over forty million people in the European Union. This year it is expected that winter will be even colder than last year. It is totally unacceptable that we are in a situation where so many people will have to freeze and cannot afford to keep t…

26 Nov

2024

DA Speech

Reinforcing EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression and the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia (debate)

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24 Oct

2024

DA Speech

Closing the EU skills gap: supporting people in the digital and green transitions to ensure inclusive growth and competitiveness in line with the Draghi report (debate)

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Mr President! Ladies and gentlemen! Over the past year, we have passed very important legislation in this House. Legislation on how to promote the green transition. Renewable energy targets, how much do we need? Energy efficiency targets. Legislation to transform the industry into green. But all this can only be done if we have the necessary skilled labour. If we have enough skilled people who can…

9 Oct

2024

DA Speech

Taxing the super-rich to end poverty and reduce inequalities: EU support to the G20 Presidency’s proposal (topical debate)

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Mr President! We can continue to pretend that individual countries decide for themselves on their tax levels and their tax revenues. But if the reality is that the biggest companies can just move their profits to another country if they are dissatisfied. And the very richest people in our society can transfer their wealth to a tax haven if they don't want to pay taxes. So, who is really in charge?…

17 Sep

2024

EN Speech

Outcome of G20 ministerial meeting in Rio-de-Janeiro and fighting inequality (debate)

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(Start of speech off mic) ... an ever greater threat to democratic countries and societies. Since 2020, two-thirds of all wealth generated globally has flowed into the pockets of the top one percent – two-thirds of all wealth created. Meanwhile, extreme poverty is on the rise for the first time in 25 years. For too long, we have been told that rising inequality was just a fact, just a part of glob…

17 Sep

2024

EN Speech

Continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, for over two years, our courageous Ukrainian brothers and sisters have been fighting an existential war against a tyrant, Russia. No doubt that we are doing the right thing in the European Union by supporting our brothers and sisters, and we need to do whatever we can. But despite the good intentions, we are not doing nearly enough. Our approach…

23 Apr

2024

DA Speech

Withdrawal of the Union from the Energy Charter Treaty (debate)

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Mr President! How greedy are you allowed to be? Two years ago, energy prices were pounding upwards, and states had to give heat cheques and hold their hands under those hit hardest. Then there were others who made the money. One of them was the Klesch Group, which owns refineries in Denmark and Germany. The company has now sued the Danish and German governments for an exorbitant sum of billions, b…

14 Mar

2024

EN Question

Promised revision of the EU animal welfare legislation and the animal welfare-related European citizens’ initiatives (debate)

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The speaker talks about that we should avoid distortions of the internal market and red tape, and I get the impression that the speaker sees new animal welfare legislation as something which is just bureaucratic and creates red tape and distorts the internal market. Doesn’t the speaker realise that we have actually hundreds of millions of animals suffering in cages that we need to get rid of, and …

14 Mar

2024

DA Speech

Promised revision of the EU animal welfare legislation and the animal welfare-related European citizens’ initiatives (debate)

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Mr President! Commissioner. Honourable colleagues. I'm sorry to be here today. I am sorry that we have to have this debate today, because the point is that we should have had animal welfare legislation already on the table. Four years ago - in 2020 - the Commission promised Parliament and the public that we should have animal welfare legislation. That promise has been broken. It is a clear breach …

13 Mar

2024

DA Question

This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo (debate)

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Madam President! Yes, it is very interesting, Anders Vistisen, with your criticism of things not being taken seriously and your criticism of the EU and everyone else. We know that song from you. But what is your own suggestion on how to improve things here?…

28 Feb

2024

DA Speech

Need for an urgent Council decision in favour of amending the protection status of wolves in the Bern Convention (debate)

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Madam President! I think it's strange that every time we discuss wolves, it's going to be about gunpowder and bullets. It will be about how to shoot as many wolves as possible, and I think we have to hold on to the fact that in the last half century, that is, the last 50 years, there is not a single deadly attack by a wolf on a human being. Wolves are not life-threatening, so we should not exagger…

17 Jan

2024

DA Speech

Geothermal energy (debate)

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Madam President! In less than two years’ time, the homes of Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest city, will feel the heat from the earth’s interior, because a project is currently underway that will supply geothermal energy to the Aarhusians – 20 per cent of the Aarhusians, 36 000 households – in a few years’ time, and it will be the largest geothermal project in the EU. It's a good idea, and we need …

12 Dec

2023

DA Speech

EU-China relations (debate)

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Mr. President! Mr Borrell. Honourable colleagues. Do you remember the time after the financial crisis when Greece sold its largest port, Piraeus, to China? If not, do you remember earlier this year when the Port of Hamburg - parts of the Port of Hamburg - was sold to China? That's just how capitalism works, isn't it? Someone wants to sell something. Somebody wants to buy something. You make a deal…

12 Dec

2023

EN Speech

Framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials (debate)

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Mr President, for too long we’ve been naively believing in globalisation without asking critical questions. We thought we could get the goods that we needed from wherever we needed. It didn’t matter who we became dependent on as long as we could make a good deal. In the meantime, China has accelerated its industrial transformation and has monopolised a lot of the critical raw materials that we nee…

22 Nov

2023

DA Speech

Cyprus Confidential - need to curb enablers of sanctions-evasion and money-laundering rules in the EU (debate)

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Mr President! Ladies and gentlemen, we are here again. The new leak we are discussing today clearly shows that when we are talking about tax havens, when we are talking about money laundering, the arrow is not only pointing out to distant states in the Pacific. Then the arrow points most strongly towards ourselves here in the European Union. Because the leak we have seen now shows how the financia…

21 Nov

2023

DA Speech

Packaging and packaging waste (debate)

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Mr. President! We are drowning in rubbish and rubbish. And it only goes one way, and unfortunately it's upwards. Since 2009, the amount of waste in Europe has increased by 20%. Dear friends, I'm tired of plastic lying in nature and in the water. I think a lot of people are tired of that. And in Aarhus, in Denmark, you are also tired of it, and therefore you have started a scheme where you have rec…

20 Nov

2023

EN Speech

Framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s net-zero technology products manufacturing ecosystem (Net Zero Industry Act) (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, today China produces more than 80% of the global solar panels. China has invested more than EUR 46 billion during the last decade. That is more than ten times what we can manage here in Europe. We used to be in the lead in this sector. That has certainly changed, and now we risk that the same destiny will occur to our wind industry. We’ve seen invest…

8 Nov

2023

EN Speech

State of the Energy Union (debate)

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Mr President, gas imports from Russia have declined. Total Russian gas imports fell from 155 billion m³ in 2021 to between 40 and 45 billion m³ in 2023. Is that an enormous achievement or is it a tragedy? On the one hand, we managed to decline rapidly the imports of Russian gas. On the other hand, we are still paying EUR 2 billion every month to Mr Putin to buy his fossil fuels. If you look at it …

4 Oct

2023

DA Speech

European green bonds (debate)

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Mr President! Ladies and gentlemen! Dear Commissioner, We all know it's wrong to lie. Most of us learn it as little children, but not all lies are as bad as others. Some lies are harmless, such as: You get square eyes from watching too much television. Other lies can be dangerous. Other lies can help smash our planet right in front of us, like when companies want us to think they're green or susta…

13 Sep

2023

DA Speech

Reviewing the protection status of wolves and other large carnivores in the EU (topical debate)

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Madam President! Dear Commissioner, dear colleagues! Do you know the story of the shepherd boy Peter, who jokingly shouts: The wolf is coming, even if it's a lie. As you may know, the story ends tragically, because when the wolf comes one day, Peter is left to himself and the wolf. Unfortunately, it seems that some colleagues – including President von der Leyen – have misunderstood the moral of hi…

12 Jul

2023

DA Speech

Need to adopt the “Unshell” Directive on rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes (continuation of debate)

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Mr President! Everyone I've heard speaking at this lectern today says: Listen to me! We will fight shell companies. We cannot tolerate some rich people hiding their fortunes in shell companies. We have to have a law that does away with this system. We have seen in Panama Papers, in Paradise Papers and most recently in Pandora Papers, these huge tax haven leaks that have existed in recent years, an…

11 Jul

2023

DA Speech

European Chips Act (debate)

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Madam President! Ladies and gentlemen, we need microchips in virtually all the technology we surround ourselves with. We saw during the coronavirus crisis how we can get into trouble very quickly if we cannot access microchips. We saw this in a small town in West Jutland, Denmark, where I come from. The town is called Struer, and in Struer there is a startup company, which was told that there was …

10 Jul

2023

EN Speech

European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without animal testing’ (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, today we stand on the shoulders of more than 1.4 million European citizens who have signed the Citizens’ Initiative and demand that we treat animals in a more respectful and a more decent way. There is a broad consensus, even among politicians, that animals are sentient beings. Unfortunately, the current legislation does not reflect that obvious…