What Charlie spoke about.

12

Sep

2023

EN Speech

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Iran: one year after the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini (debate)

Mr President, one year has passed since the murder of Mahsa Amini. During that time, we witnessed the greatest uprising the Islamic Republic has ever seen: protests worldwide for ‘women, life, freedom’. Out of fear and desperation, the regime attempted to suffocate the burning embers of hope, imprisoning bereaved family members and friends for simply gathering near the gravesites of the mullahs’ v…

11

Sep

2023

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, Islamists and Islamic states are attacking free speech in Europe and some are waving the white flag. Denmark’s proposed ban on Quran burnings was praised by the Turkish Government. The speaker of the Arab League urged European states and the EU to adopt similar laws. Pakistan called Denmark’s bill a step in the right direction – a step, ladies and gentlemen. 97 % of mosques surveyed …

14

Jun

2023

EN Speech

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Make Europe the place to invest (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, why should anyone do business/create jobs in Europe? Seriously? Regulations: the EU is suffocating businesses; 6000 legal acts from this mandate alone. Energy: unpredictable, impractical, expensive green energy is your solution. Overregulated, ageing, indebted, uncompetitive economies without access to cheap energy, inevitably deindustrialised. While we’re de…

14

Jun

2023

SV Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of recent steps towards concluding the Migration Pact (debate)

Mr President, thank you very much. Madam Minister, colleagues! Last week, the Council agreed on a compromise on the migration pact, a compromise that was on a very, very delicate thread. The Council pleads, among other things, for swift expulsions of migrants coming from countries without a state of war, without threats to their lives, for migrants without grounds for asylum to be able to be depor…

12

Jun

2023

SV Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, thank you very much. Member States have now agreed on a counter-offer in the negotiations on the EU migration pact, and it rejects the coercive redistribution of migrants proposed by both Parliament’s Tomas Tobé and Commission’s Ylva Johansson. Parliament's majority, as we recall, deleted the entire portal paragraph on the fight against illegal immigration. calls for more coercive…

10

May

2023

EN Speech

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Externalising asylum applications and making funding to third countries conditional on the implementation of return agreements (topical debate)

Madam President, colleagues, how can we deter illegal migration and deaths at sea, and provide protection for those in need? Well, by relocating the entire asylum process abroad, as Denmark is doing with Rwanda. The far-right government of Denmark. Oh, wait: it’s a Social Democratic liberal government. You don’t have to be a conservative to pursue reasonable migration policies, but you do have to …

9

May

2023

SV Speech

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Schools scheme for fruit, vegetables, milk and dairy products (A9-0096/2023 - Carmen Avram)

Madam President, thank you very much. Fruit is good, but it is not EU fruit support. EU support for school fruit does not exist to encourage schoolchildren to eat more fruit. It is about lobby groups having succeeded in inducing Brussels to spend EU money, tax money, on subsidising orchards, resulting in overproduction. But what will the EU do with all this fruit? What you do is either pay for the…

8

May

2023

SV Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, thank you very much. The Swedish Democrats have started a debate on how our country should negotiate in the EU. Social-democratic, moderate and liberal leadership sides recognise the problems we point to, such as over-regulation, micro-management and protectionism. But they do not come up with a single proposal that would actually limit the transfer of power from the Riksdag to Bruss…

20

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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Decision to enter into interinstitutional negotiations: Asylum and migration management (A9-0152/2023 - Tomas Tobé) (vote)

Madam President, dear colleagues, this proposed pact is not equipped to deal with today’s migratory pressure, let alone higher numbers of future arrivals. By working with the left, Mr Tobé’s report removes instruments necessary to combat illegal migration, retains forced solidarity and reinforces pull factors. Don’t take my word for it: Swedish Greens celebrated the inclusion of their ‘broader con…

19

Apr

2023

SV Speech

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Combating discrimination in the EU - the long-awaited horizontal anti-discrimination directive (B9-0201/2023, B9-0202/2023)

Mrs. Taman! The resolution we adopted today on the anti-discrimination directive, drafted, among other things, by the environmental party Alice Bah Kuhnke, is so flawed that it is astonished. The authors of the proposal argue that discrimination is increasing in the Union. Bring out the evidence! They want to rush through a decision before the end of the year, which is completely unrealistic. They…

19

Apr

2023

SV Speech

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Guidelines for the 2024 budget - Section III (A9-0124/2023 - Janusz Lewandowski)

Madam President, thank you very much. The Social Democrats claim to have tightened migration policy – but today when we voted on how the European Commission will spend the budget next year, the Social Democrats voted against our demands for funding physical border barriers, against making aid conditional on effective implementation of return agreements and against criticism of Clowns Without Borde…

19

Apr

2023

SV Speech

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Deforestation Regulation (A9-0219/2022 - Christophe Hansen)

Madam President, thank you very much. The EU Deforestation Regulation aims to promote sustainable forest management and reduce climate emissions, but will have many unintended negative consequences. This is an expensive and inefficient method of reducing emissions. Non-compliant companies will instead sell to other regions. The regulation increases the regulatory burden on companies to secure supp…

19

Apr

2023

SV Speech

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The risk of death penalty and execution of singer Yahaya Sharif Aminu for blasphemy in Nigeria

Madam President, thank you very much. Yahaya Sharif-Aminu has been sentenced to death for sharing an audio message that was considered to offend the Muslim prophet Mohammed. The European Parliament has previously condemned death sentences for blasphemy, for example when a Christian couple was accused of sending blasphemous text messages. The view of blasphemy has wide application in Sharia. Blasfe…

18

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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The need for European solidarity in saving lives in the Mediterranean, in particular in Italy (debate)

Mr President, EU Minister Roswall, after a surge in migrant arrivals, Italy has declared a state of emergency. Now, is the EU Parliament’s migration pact the solution? The Tobé report requires that Member States pledge to resettle migrants. Most of the Member States pledged to resettle 8 000 migrants, as you may remember, via the voluntary solidarity mechanism. Less than 500 have been relocated. B…

17

Apr

2023

SV Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner Šuica! Have you heard of the demonstration trains in Sweden? I assume you have done so because one of your main priorities is the union of work and family life. Have you heard what the firefighter Madelene Olsson has said, whose partner is also a firefighter, and I quote: “For those of us who have a small home, it would not be possible to reconcile f…

29

Mar

2023

SV Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner Johansson wants to see government scanning of all messages on all platforms and in all messaging apps. The current chat control received such harsh criticism that a sunset clause was introduced, but it is at least voluntary. New chat control will be managed by a newly established EU centre with no specific focus on child protection. The risk of purpo…

29

Mar

2023

SV Speech

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 23-24 March 2023 (debate)

Madam President, thank you very much. After the Council meeting, the Government declared Kristersson that the Union's competitiveness is at the top of the agenda. A little hope after a term of office with over 6000 new acts from Brussels. But the only concrete conclusion that EU leaders reached was that they would discuss competitiveness once a year. No one who has followed the debate on the EU's …

15

Mar

2023

SV Speech

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Adequate minimum income ensuring active inclusion (B9-0099/2023, B9-0116/2023)

Mr President, thank you very much. The same year that the European Pillar of Social Rights was adopted in Gothenburg, the European Parliament found a problem and called on Member States to introduce ‘adequate minimum income’. Then the Minimum Wage Directive became law, against the will of Sweden and Denmark. To sprinkle salt on the wounds, Commissioner Schmit promised to tackle the inadequacy of m…

15

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Iran: in particular the poisoning of hundreds of school girls

Mr President, the Islamic Republic is an evil republic. The mullahs and/or their henchmen have poisoned thousands of schoolgirls in 11 provinces as part of an unconscionable and despicable tactic to suppress pro-democracy protests. These girls are not mere numbers, another statistic, but individuals – as valuable to their families as my own four daughters are to me. They have, or rather should hav…

15

Mar

2023

SV Speech

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Deaths at sea: a common EU response to save lives and action to ensure safe and legal pathways (debate)

Mr President, thank you very much. Once again, for the fifth time, we are debating tragic deaths at sea between Africa and Europe. However, the truth must be said: Boat migrants will continue to die as long as the EU rewards illegal migration with livelihoods and welfare. Migrants are often from Bangladesh, whose population has grown by more than 40 million in the last 20 years, or from Pakistan, …

14

Mar

2023

SV Speech

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Energy performance of buildings (recast) (A9-0033/2023 - Ciarán Cuffe)

Madam President, thank you very much. Millions of households are struggling with inflation and high electricity bills. At the same time, the Commission is calling for further binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions. Sweden will be hit harder than other countries. We have already significantly reduced our emissions, and all cheap measures have already been implemented. Therefore, it will …

14

Mar

2023

SV Speech

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Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) (A9-0161/2022 - Ville Niinistö)

Madam President, thank you very much. Centralist environmental populism – that is what this proposal is about. We Democrats can't support that. That is why we voted against the LULUCF directive on land use and forestry. Forests are not mentioned in the EU treaties. The Directive therefore infringes the principle of conferral of powers and the principle of subsidiarity. A growing forest binds carbo…

14

Mar

2023

SV Speech

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Binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States (Effort Sharing Regulation) (A9-0163/2022 - Jessica Polfjärd)

Madam President, thank you very much. A planned economic utopia – the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive can be summarised. The goal is to make all buildings emission-free. Well done, but unrealistic. Trying to improve the energy efficiency of more than 30 million buildings in the short time specified in the Directive will be costly. Price tag for the Commission proposal: €275…

14

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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EU-Armenia relations (debate)

Madam President, firstly, I would like to congratulate the rapporteur on an excellent report which clearly distinguishes between aggressor and victim. Azerbaijan’s hostile acts continue unabated. The reopening of the Lachin corridor, blockaded by so-called environmental activists from Azerbaijan, is paramount. Baku insists that ‘the legitimate demands of the representative of the Azerbaijani civil…

13

Mar

2023

SV Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, thank you very much. The Conservatives promised rigorous controls. The Social Democratic Minister for European Affairs described the Coronavirus Fund’s contribution as ‘well-targeted support’. SD's warnings that they risked washing 150 Swedish tax billions were taken lightly. No, the Coronavirus Fund would kick-start the economy, halt the climate crisis and speed up digitalisation. M…