Speeches

Mr President! Today we are discussing a ban on trade in shark fins. We are doing this on the basis of a citizens' proposal in which more than 1.1 million people have signed up. ‘Finning’, as it is called, is a brutal practice where sharks are caught and their fins are cut off and then dumped at the bottom of the sea because you only need – you only want – you are only interested in their fins, which can be sold at an expensive price. It's animal cruelty to the utmost power. It doesn't belong anywhere. Fortunately, finning is banned in the EU, but many fins are sold, including on the European market. We should put an end to this, and that is why I support a ban on trade in these fins. I am one of the people who signed the bill. There are some colleagues who say that it will be of no use to stop the trade. They're wrong. Of course it will be useful. The European Union is a major market for these Finns, which is why we should stop trading. By doing so, we can also put an end to this terrible practice.

Mr President! Imagine this: As we fight to shut down coal-fired power plants and replace our gasoline cars with electric ones – yes, with a fingertip, the US President is putting two million polluting gasoline cars on the streets and opening 76 new coal-fired power plants. Will we accept it? Will we not approach our American friends and protest against such a policy that would so obscure the Paris Agreement that both parties have signed up to? I think we will protest, and that is why we should also raise this issue with the Americans, because what the Americans are doing is equivalent to sending millions of polluting cars onto the streets and opening up lots of new coal-fired power stations. According to President Biden's own administration, the Willow project in Alaska will generate so much oil that it is equivalent to having two million new petrol cars on the streets. It will produce so much extra CO2 over the next 30 years that it is equivalent to 76 coal-fired power plants. We are in the midst of a climate catastrophe! Far too far to approve new oil drilling. The International Energy Agency has made it clear in black and white: We have plenty of oil! We don't need any more oil projects. What we need is more green energy, less CO2 emissions – not more oil drilling! I have to ask: What are we doing here? The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world. The vulnerable nature of the Arctic is being harmed! Indigenous peoples' habitats are being destroyed. This is not going to be good for getting more oil here and now. It is a project that will not benefit in terms of independence in relations with Russia. This will only benefit the oil industry. We should stop that. It is our clear duty to send a signal to the United States. This can't go on. The Willow Project must be stopped! President Biden, roll the Willow Project back and stick to your climate pledges!

Mr President! While China has become increasingly autocratic in recent years, we in Europe have become increasingly dependent on China. We've seen how crucial raw materials for our industry come from China, and we've seen how critical infrastructure lands in Chinese hands. I am thinking, for example, of China's acquisition of Greece's largest port, Piraeus, and China's current plans to buy into the Port of Hamburg. It is time to stop this development. Enough must be enough. I have two suggestions. Firstly, we in the European Union must adopt a common definition of what counts as critical infrastructure and give each other a handshake that we do not sell it to foreign powers. Secondly, we should repatriate industries that are vital to our society. I am thinking, for example, of mining, but also of production in the green sector, for example. It is time for the EU to take a more critical role vis-à-vis China. We must be vigilant about our values, and we must realise that freedom requires independence.

Mr President! Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Animals are sentient beings, as we write in our treaty, and that is absolutely true. We should also act on this when we legislate in the EU and in relation to the way we run agriculture in the EU. We have problems in agriculture with animal welfare, that is clear, and it should be clear to us when we make the new legislation that will come in the coming years. I am talking here about the transport for days of animals that have too little space and lack water and food. I'm talking about animals that live most of their lives in small cages where they can't move. And I'm talking about chickens that have been bred so that they grow so fast that they break their legs. Therefore, in terms of ensuring animal welfare in the long term and ensuring some change, I believe that it is crucial that we have an Animal Welfare Commissioner. We should have a Commissioner responsible for animal welfare, also in his title, for several reasons. First of all: We need someone who takes responsibility. Animal welfare, it is all too often a subject that is pushed back and forth between different chairs. We have seen it often when there are animal welfare scandals. A few years ago, while Members of this House were elected to this House, we had a case where a ship from Spain was on its way to Libya with two thousand bull calves, but they were rejected in Libya on suspicion of disease. This ship, it then sailed around for months in the Mediterranean – and no one would take responsibility for it – until the animals they suffered and fell ill and died. Neither Spain nor any other European country or the European Commission wanted to take responsibility, but pushed it back and forth. That is why we need someone who is responsible, who is also an animal welfare commissioner in name, in order for us to be able to change this in the future. In addition, I welcome everything the Commissioner is talking about, namely all the new legislation to improve animal welfare. We are talking about new legislation for transports, new legislation to phase out cages, and a completely new animal welfare law in general. All this legislation needs someone who stands behind it and enforces it and pushes for it to be good legislation, which is why we need an animal welfare commissioner. We will take the lead in the area of animal welfare in Europe. We must show that, and we can do that by also making sure that the title of Commissioner for Animal Welfare is given to one of the Commissioners that we have. It's not just me who means it. There are 191 Members of Parliament here who have signed it in the ‘EU for Animals’ campaign and 230 000 people who have signed it here. So I hope the Commission will say a little about whether it sees the purpose of having an animal welfare commissioner in the future.

Madam President! Ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, Minister. When I listen to the debate this evening, I actually get optimistic, because it sounds like most of the colleagues here have become aware that we have slept an hour. We have relied blindly on globalisation, and we have ended up becoming dependent on foreign powers that do not share our values. We gave Russia control over much of our natural gas supply. It had fatal consequences and created the biggest energy crisis since the 1970s. China is heavily involved in the processing of critical raw materials. 90% of rare earths and 60% of lithium are processed by China today. We must change that, and we must enter the new globalisation 2.0, where we must not be protectionist, but at the same time must be realistic in terms of the fact that we cannot just leave it here to the free market, that we become dependent on a foreign power that does not share our values at all. And that is why we need to start making strategic trade agreements with the countries we can trust, so that we spread out our imports of raw materials and thus become less dependent on those we do not want to be dependent on.

Madam President! On 29 November – just two weeks ago – Germany reached an agreement with Qatar for 15 years to supply two million tonnes of liquefied gas per year. Earlier this year, the EU signed an agreement with Azerbaijan. By 2027, they will deliver 20 million cubic metres of gas to the EU. A doubling compared to today. I recognise that right now, when the cold hits Europe, we have no choice. It's tragic that we ended up like this. But it is tragic that for decades our leaders have tied us to natural gas from a rogue state, and we must get away from that as soon as possible. Therefore, it is in our common interest that we get rid of Russian gas, that we do not bind ourselves to new rogue states. It is in our common interest that we expand renewable energy as soon as possible, install heat pumps, strengthen our electricity grid, install solar cells and wind turbines. We have to take on that responsibility. Let's do it as soon as possible. Let us adopt a new law on renewable energy to kick-start the green transition.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, this climate summit in Egypt was indeed a disappointment, taking into consideration that we did not manage to agree on the reduction targets that we need, we did not manage to increase the speed of the climate action sufficiently. We did manage one positive thing, which was the compensation fund that the rich countries have to pay to the less rich countries, compensating them for the climate damage which is being done, which is mainly our responsibility in the rich world historically, in a historical perspective. The EU has been much criticised. I think the EU did play a positive role. I think the EU was really the only actor who took responsibility to increase among few actors, but one of the greatest powers that increased its reduction target and also put the fund on the compensation question on the agenda. That was the EU’s contribution. I think we need to see much more of that positive contribution from the European Union because we need to speed up action. The climate targets that we have are way too low. If we also look out in the world, Russia climate neutral by 2060, China 2060, India 2070 – 20 years too late. That’s not good enough. The EU needs to inspire. The EU also needs to push by saying we want to trade with you, but only if you also increase your reduction targets and do more. And that’s the legislation that we work on now and we will need to get that done as soon as possible.

Madam President, today, I feel embarrassed. Today, I feel ashamed. Today, I feel sad. I feel embarrassed, ashamed and sad because what might very well be the darkest moment in the history of sports is taking place right now as we speak – the World Cup in Qatar. And we should not be silent about that for the next 3 000 years as somebody wants us to be. Because since Qatar was handed the World Cup, more than 6 500 migrant workers have lost their lives, because it’s illegal to be in a union or to be homosexual in Qatar, because human rights are violated every single day, and FIFA and the Qatari regime don’t seem to care at all about it. Today, I feel certain that if we want things to change, we need a fundamental reform of FIFA. Mr Infantino, do us all a favour, step down now.

Mr President! For decades, we have known that we are moving towards a climate catastrophe. We know the consequences, but we have refused to face them. We can see that climate change is not just about the future, it is about the present. It's a reality. Forest fires, floods and droughts clearly show a planet that has begun to speak out. But what we are experiencing these years is only a foretaste of the all-encompassing catastrophe towards which we are heading if we do not change direction and if we do not do so now. When the countries of the world meet at COP27 in Egypt, that is exactly what it will be about. How do we keep climate change at a level that does not result in a climate catastrophe? The Paris Agreement sets a goal of a maximum of one and a half degrees of global warming. We know that anything above that level will have fatal consequences. That is why our task in Egypt is to make sure that climate change does not increase any more than that. “Keep 1.5 alive” for the sake of the planet and for the sake of our children and grandchildren.

Madam President, I thank you, colleagues, for backing this deal with a broad majority. Thank you to the shadows. We have made an agreement, which is good for the climate and bad for Putin. And I would like to request the referral back to the committee for interinstitutional negotiations according to Rule 59(4).

Mr President, thank you very much for this debate. I think it has been extremely positive, really. I think the debate shows that there’s a great consensus amongst the political groups that we need more ambition on energy efficiency. And I hope and I also think that it will result in support for the text which is on the table, which has some broad appeal, I think. I want to thank, in particular, Pernille Weiss from the EPP, Nicola Danti from the Renew Group, and not least, Jutta Paulus from the Greens. They are the people that also backed this agreement, along with me, and I think that if we stick together like we’ve done – I mean, we have our different points of view on different aspects, but I think we’ve managed to make an agreement where we take into consideration the different perspectives that we have and we’ve managed to increase the ambition level, basically. I think it was a good proposal that the Commission put on the table. I think our agreement is even better. The Commission proposed, originally, to have a target of 36% then raised the target to 39%, in relation to REPowerEU, and we raised it another notch to 40%. Now these percentages might seem like a small deal, but actually, a 40% target will have the effect that we can cut gas emissions by 190 billion cubic metres annually. We can cut gas imports by that number. That equals three and a half times Nord Stream 1 capacity. So, three and a half times Nord Stream 1 capacity, less gas imports – this is the potential of this deal. I think we have a good result here and I look forward to voting on Wednesday and to the further negotiations with the Council.

Mr President, Europe’s energy system is under severe pressure. We have to go back to the 1970s to find a comparison to what is happening right now. The combination of Putin’s chokehold on gas supplies, the most severe drought on record, and the failing of the conventional power fleet are creating the conditions for a perfect storm. Businesses, households, governments – they are all being hit. What can we do about it? Well, for years, some of us have been saying that the safest, cleanest and cheapest energy is that which you don’t use. Today, this is truer than ever, but Europe has been sleeping at the wheel. Yes, there have been EU—wide energy—saving goals for the past decade, but they have been voluntary and with mixed results at best. Investment in energy efficiency increased, but energy use fell by only 4% between 2010 and 2019. Without realising, this continent has been cruising on autopilot into deeper and deeper dependency on imported energy. Now we have the crisis, and governments are acting. They are increasing efforts to ramp up renewables and energy efficiency. At a dramatic speed, they’re rolling out urgent energy—saving plans. These policies are needed. These policies can address the immediate challenges of price spikes and inflation and import dependency. But what about the longer term? What will happen next? Well, that is up to us, my friends. We have the opportunity now to set a straight way out of energy dependency, creating a solid way of getting rid of Putin’s natural gas well before 2030, because this is what an ambitious energy efficiency directive can deliver. I believe that we have such an agreement on the table this week that we can adopt: a directive setting a 40% target for energy efficiency in 2030 compared to the 2017 baseline scenario, a target which will be binding for both the EU as a whole and for the individual Member States. To deliver on these ambitious targets, the negotiating team have strengthened the directive in many aspects. Let me outline some of the core issues. We have yearly energy savings on 2%, raising the energy—savings obligation from the Commission’s 1.5% proposal. We have two milestones: in 2025 and 2027, measuring our way towards 2030, so we can see if we are on track and if we’re not, we’d better act on it. We have agreed on a 3% renovation rate for public buildings. We have an agreement to prioritise the people who suffer from energy poverty, as they are the ones that need energy—efficiency measures the most because they have the hardest economic situation. We’ve strengthened the ‘energy efficiency first’ principle, creating more comprehensive governance, and we have agreed that all municipalities with more than 35 000 inhabitants need to make heating and cooling plans to get the most efficient solutions. Furthermore, we have agreed on energy—efficiency schemes for datacentres, making sure that they don’t waste the heat but use it to warm up buildings. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have an ambitious text on the table. I look forward to the debate here tonight. I look forward to hearing from the negotiating team that I have negotiated with because they are the ones that are making the difference.

Madam President! Today, in the European Parliament, we say 'yes' to the introduction of a minimum pan-European corporate tax rate of 15%. We say yes to stopping the race to the bottom and the extreme tax speculation that takes place under the guise of just being free competition. We have discussed this before, but now it is serious thanks to Aurore Lalucq's report, for which we will vote 'yes'. The European Commission is with us. 137 countries are with us. It is historic, which is why I would like to ask the last countries that are still hesitant to back it up. It is Poland that we are talking about here, and I would like to say: Dear Poland, last year we signed up to the need to introduce a minimum corporate tax. Don't you think it's time to live up to that intention now? The longer we take time, the more it costs us. The aggressive tax juggling costs us between 1200 and 1400 billion kroner annually. This is money we could spend on green transition and recovery. So, dear Poland, please do not block. Let's get started on adopting the minimum tax now.

Madam President, the EU is the world’s biggest loser when it comes to losing money to tax havens. Actually, we lose around EUR 380 billion a year, according to international studies, because multinationals and wealthy individuals are shifting their wealth to tax havens around the globe. But these tax havens are not just distant palm islands as you see in the movies. Actually, three out of four euro are lost in tax evasion to countries inside the European Union. Some say this is just competition, but is it truly fair competition that a few gigantic companies can choose freely themselves how much they want to pay in tax, because surely it’s not the German or the French or the Danish or the Dutch Parliaments that decide their tax rates. They decided themselves. Imagine how much we could invest in schools, hospitals and green transition. No one is benefiting from this but the tax evaders. This is why we must have a minimum tax level and we should have it now.

Mr President! Commissioner, please! Honourable colleagues! We have been discussing the gas market for a long time in this Chamber, and whether Russia is playing by the rules that the rest of us are playing by, or whether they are manipulating gas prices. An important discussion, but it seems completely superfluous and obsolete now, because it has become clear to all of us that Russia does not play by any rules whatsoever. Neither in the energy market, nor when it comes to the most fundamental rules on the territorial integrity of nation states. We need to move away from Russian gas, and things need to move fast, and today the Commission has put forward a plan. I think it's good. In one year, we can reduce gas dependency by two-thirds. We have to do that. It is about investing in renewable energy, and it is about increasing energy efficiency by insulating our houses and exploiting surplus heat, so that we can save energy instead of importing Putin's black energy.

Madam President! I fear that we will not be able to start producing green electricity fast enough. I am simply afraid that if we do not really speed up, then over the next many years it will be black, expensive power from coal power plants that reach our sockets. Fortunately, we have the options and solutions. I myself come from Denmark, from Northwest Jutland, a place called Thy. We call it Cold Hawaii because there are a lot of windsurfers playing around on the waves up there, and I can sign that there is plenty of wind that we can use. We are in the process of building energy islands out at sea to produce power, but also to distribute the green power among the countries. I think we are sending out two clear signals with our strategy. First, we need to speed up the pace. We need up to 79 gigawatts, more than the 60 gigawatts proposed by the Commission by 2030. Secondly, we need to expand the infrastructure so that we can distribute the green electricity to all the countries of Europe. Let's put my fear to shame. Let's show that we mean it now.

Madam President! Extremely high temperatures, no room to move, no access to food and drink, broken legs, constipation, illness and stress. These are the conditions today for a large proportion of the over one billion animals transported on long animal journeys every year in the EU, often in densely packed lorries. Honestly, is there anyone in here who can look in the mirror and have a good conscience if you put your teeth in a pork roast, where you know that the pig has been out on transport for days under these conditions? At least I can't. And this is simply cruelty to animals in many cases, and that is why it is so important that we get a new law for animal transport in the EU. First of all, we must demand a ceiling of eight hours as the maximum limit for the transport of animals. Much can be done to improve animal welfare during the journey, but ultimately the length of the journey is crucial, which is also why many, both experts and animal welfare organisations, support the eight-hour proposal. Secondly, we must demand that neither pregnant animals in the latter part of their pregnancy nor young animals that have not been weaned from their mother should be transported. Very young animals, like newborn animals that can't drink themselves, rely on their mother for nourishment. They will starve and thirst on animal transports if you send them on long animal transports where they cannot eat themselves. We have to stop that. Finally, we should not export animals – live animals – to countries where we cannot guarantee animal welfare. We must have a list of the countries to which animals can be exported and the countries that are not on the list, we cannot guarantee animal welfare. Exports have to stop. This will, of course, mean that agriculture will have to do it differently today. Obviously, that is why we are making new legislation in the European Union. We want some change. Let us start that change today and let us adopt an ambitious proposal on animal transport.

Mr President! Commissioner, please! Did you see Disney cartoons, Dumbo, when you were a kid? The story of the little elephant cub with the big ears makes a big impression on many children, and especially the scene where Dumbo is separated from his mother. Unfortunately, it's not just in cartoons that little baby elephants are separated from their mother. This is also the reality in many of Europe's circuses. The wild animals in the circuses live in sad conditions. Little cubs are removed from their mother far too soon, and like Dumbo, who was dressed as a clown and forced to perform, many of the animals live a stressful life with hard training and long performances. Many also live in overly small cages and in an environment that is very far from their natural habitat. In the travelling circuses, the animals are forced out on far too long journeys. As a result, the animals become stressed and sick. Some of the animals react to the stress by becoming aggressive and thus also dangerous to people - both the employees of the circus and the spectators. It's not supposed to be like that. We need a ban in the EU on keeping wild animals in circuses. 18 countries in the EU, including my own country, Denmark, have already introduced such a ban. And a majority of Europeans think a ban is a good idea - 65% support a ban. A ban could help to prevent the illegal trade in wild animals. That is why I urge - and many of us here in the European Parliament and in the Commission do - to come up with a proposal prohibiting the keeping of wild animals in circuses. The circus animals, the wild animals, deserve better.

Mr President, I would like to congratulate the Commissioner on a great speech. Madam Commissioner. You were right on the money with your priorities. Becoming energy-independent, increasing renewable energy and increasing energy efficiency are the main priorities, and you were spot on. Then we can discuss if the glass is half-empty or half-full, reading your report. We have increased the renewable energy and, right now, the electricity production from renewables is larger than that from fossils – that’s great – but only by 1%. That could be better. Also, when it comes to energy efficiency, we do not reach the goals that we have set. In the current directive we must do that better. Friends, that’s up to us. We are negotiating the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) right now and in the coming months. Let’s make it better. We have the opportunity now.

Mr President! Have you ever tried to get a job done by your boss without a deadline or a deadline far, far in the future? Such a task you just have to solve when it fits in. We all know what could happen to such a task. It's being downgraded. Every time the boss asks if it's on the stairs, you just have something else, and the task may end up not being solved. COP26 shows, unfortunately, that a part of the world's countries treat the climate crisis as such a task. Russia and China will be climate neutral by 2060, India by 2070. But it is our efforts over the next 10 years that will determine whether we are able to keep the temperature increases to a maximum of one and a half degrees Celsius. These are not targets for 2070. With the current effort, we are moving towards a temperature increase of 2.4 degrees. It is a world of floods, droughts, hundreds of millions of climate refugees. This must not become a reality. The EU was a very positive actor at the COP and a model. But the EU should use its economic muscles as the world's largest trading bloc in the coming years to push those countries that do nothing. We both know that we are leading by example, but we also know what we are saying. We are imposing a climate tariff on those countries that do not act, and so we must spend the next time pushing those countries that do not act. That is our most important task.

Mr President! Dear colleagues, Commission! The COP 26 meeting in Glasgow is the most important meeting in the world. This is now our chance to increase our level of ambition, to do more to reduce CO2 emissions. We know that the current efforts are totally inadequate. With the current efforts, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we will end up with a temperature increase of more than three degrees by the end of this century. That would have disastrous consequences, and that is why we need to use this opportunity. One of the first things we need to do – and an outcome that I think is absolutely necessary at COP 26 – is to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. We know that, according to the International Monetary Fund, every minute – every minute – is given EUR 9 million in support of coal power, in support of fossil energy. In 2018, it was €50 billion that was given to fossil energy in subsidies. We need to phase that out. The EU must take the lead. We need to push for an end to this coal bullshit.

Mr President! In 1991, the world's first offshore wind farm was established. It was called Vindeby and it originated off the coast of Lolland – a small island in Denmark. At the time, many people thought it was crazy to support such projects. There had to be massive state aid, it could not run around financially without help. Today we have come much further. We create offshore wind farms, even energy islands in the North Sea, and offshore wind can compete with fossil energy, and in many cases it can put fossil energy on the price. But when you develop new technology, it requires support and help in the beginning, and therefore it is a long-term investment to support energy, sustainable energy, so we can live up to our commitments to the climate. Today, we need new technologies in particular, such as renewable hydrogen and carbon capture and storage. Renewable hydrogen, which enables us to fly and transport in a sustainable way, and carbon capture and storage, which enables us to reduce CO2 emissions from, among other things, heavy industry. I think it makes sense for the Commission and the Commissioner to present new rules on state aid for renewable energy and energy efficiency. As rapporteur on the Energy Efficiency Directive, this means that it is also really important to support a significant source of CO2 reduction. But I would also like to point out to the Commission and the Commissioner that it is very important that we do not support fossil energy. Low carbon, hydrogen – rather encountered renewable hydrogen. Don't fall into the trap of shutting ourselves down, locking ourselves into a fossil energy system that will cost us dearly in the long term. It hopes that the Commission will take this on board.

Madam President! Rising energy prices, and gas prices in particular, are hitting consumers across Europe. The Spaniard who bought an electric car and put it in the charger. The Romanian, who is to have his house warmed up. The Dane, who turns on the meat pot. We are in a situation that can be fatal, and in some cases this means that you have to choose between heating up your house or having hot dinner. This, of course, is completely untenable. We have a market, but it is not self-evident that everyone plays fair in the market. I believe that the European Commission must have a serious talk with Russia, because why do Russian gas imports fall when we need it most and when we are willing to pay for it? The EU must make greater demands, strengthen market rules and ensure that those who produce the gas do not use it politically. First of all, I believe that this crisis shows that we need a strong green transition. This crisis is not due to too much greening, it is due to too little. That is why it is absolutely crazy, I think, to listen to those colleagues who accuse the Green Deal of being to blame for this situation. On the contrary. We need to increase renewable energy, because it is cheaper, and we need to increase energy efficiency. Every time we increase energy efficiency by one percent, gas imports decrease by 2.6 percent. So let's take this as a sign that we need to make a strong agreement on the Fit for 55 package under the Green Deal.