Speeches

Colleague, one more time. Would you really like the Commission to hire non-profit organisations linked to the PfE Group to lobby against or for the migration pact? Would you really like us to spend some of our money in a direction that is contrary to the interests of the European Union? And how do you look at the fact that one of those nonprofit organizations that have been funded labels you as an enemy of the project? Green Deal?

I totally agree with the point you said. I am for transparency everywhere. Also, really, if you have a transparency register here in European Parliament, everybody has to register, and there is no difference between NGOs or some commercial lobbyists. Of course, for me it's really necessary to have the same level of the information. With my background, I took PhD studies, and you can find a lot of information around the world. Use this information, and please work much more with the universities: they have much expertise and they have people who are absolutely independent.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, no one is saying that non-profit organisations steal or that non-profit organisations should not be part of the legislative process. But let's do it transparently. Let's not make it so that one of the taxpayers' money in the European Commission commissions a study that confirms his point of view. Let's do this in a way that we can really rely on that data. I have repeatedly called on Frans Timmermans, not only here in plenary – Daniel, you can record it all and you can look at it – to add studies to some of his green policies. He always said there were studies. I've never seen these studies. He never delivered the studies. Or maybe he supplied me with material when I asked him about the environmental impact of lead in patrons, so he supplied me with a study written by BirdLife. This is precisely the example where we cease to believe in European democracy. We cannot simply commission studies here to organizations that are friendly with us. We need an independent European institution that assesses those proposals and tells us it is one way or another. And I think it was scandalous to ignore this for a long time. We must now do everything we can to get back to transparency and the rule of law.

May I ask you one thing? I wonder what the former head of Frontex did to prevent this from happening. He sits in your ranks today as one of your MPs. Why wasn't he the one who initiated some important, I would say, solution? And the second thing I want to tell you. Have you ever been to the border? Have you ever patrolled the borders of the European Union? I was guarding them, and believe me, I was fighting those smugglers, and a number of those smugglers were stopped.

If you have followed the order, at the beginning of every intervention you need to say your paragraph why you are speaking. If you want one-minute speech, you have Monday evening and you can present it everything what you want. Colleague, please follow this.

Madam President, Commissioner, disabled people do not need our sympathy, they need concrete actions that we, as the European Union, will begin to take. They do not need us to talk about discrimination in the long term, but they need us to remove the barriers that prevent them from education, from entering the labour market and from living in a normal and dignified way in the 21st century in the European Union. Accessibility is a right, not a privilege. Unfortunately, every country that fails to support these people is stigmatised by one thing: it cannot cope with the basics. They can't support these people enough to give them real freedom and justice. Today is the day when we have to remember this and we have to say here across the European Union that fewer words and more action are needed.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am glad that we can discuss the situation in Kyrgyzstan today, because, as former Chair of the Delegation for Central Asia, I have long been careful to have very deep and very balanced relations with these countries. Of course, the situation in Kyrgyzstan is not easy. On the one hand, there is the threat and pressure from Russia to keep Kyrgyzstan one of the cooperating countries with this republic. There is also pressure from China, and there is also increased pressure from the Islamists in the south of the country who are trying to control the young generation. In addition, the Kyrgyz government is trying to find a way to govern this country. I have to be clear. The situation that is is worrying. The resolution, which we wrote together across the European Parliament, calls for the promotion of democracy, human rights and pluralism in Kyrgyzstan. Temirlan Sultanbekov, the leader of the Social Democrats in Kyrgyzstan, was arrested and charged with buying votes on the basis of a recording that probably came from the secret services. But no one knows the true origin of this recording. Of course, we perceive and do not want to interfere in the process of investigation, but on the other hand, we do not want to see the repetition of certain ways of acting, as we know from other post-Soviet republics. New laws that have been passed in Kyrgyzstan in recent years, such as the Foreign Agents Act, are often used to suppress opposition and freedom of speech. That is why the European Union calls on the Kyrgyz Government: Let's work together more and find a way to deal with each other's issues.

Dear Mr Volgin, I come originally from an aristocratic family. We have a very clear memory of all times, and especially we have an allergy of Communist times – that everything was changed. My father doesn't want to study. We were really under pressure from the Communist regime. Look at the members of my family – by Nazis they were killed; by Communists, they were put into prison. Of course, the Russians said what the truth was from our history and what it was then. Now it's repeating the same propaganda and saying who is the aggressor and who is not. I fear it, really, I fear it very bad, if I hear in the European Parliament that Ukraine and someone from the Ukraine is part of their regime. I absolutely disagree.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by responding to Mr Volgin, who gave a speech that was cut out of a Russian journal. Do you really think, Mr Volgin, that in the 21st century someone will believe the lies spread by Russian propaganda? Even a small child can look in the search engine and can see what the Budapest Agreements were. What was this agreement on the integrity of Ukraine when it handed over nuclear weapons to Russia? And who guaranteed it? United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Unfortunately, the situation today is as it is. Yes, many countries owned other countries, but today we live in the 21st century. We live in respect for history and for what we have committed ourselves to through many agreements. And I really refuse to listen here to the lies about who, what, how he did in Ukraine. I refuse to let anyone refer to the democratic government in Ukraine as a regime. I think you're really confusing the House. Such talks can be heard in the Russian State Duma, but not in the European Parliament. We have made this resolution in the European Parliament because we want to draw attention to the case of the Crimean Tatars. We want to show that these people are being locked up and tortured, that these people are really fighting for their freedom and democracy. And it is absolutely nonsensical to distort historical events in any way. And it is absolutely senseless not to speak of these people as victims of bullying, victims of despotism and victims who fight for their ideas, for freedom and democracy.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, are we really so naive as to let foreign agents work in our universities? Are we really stupid enough to let ourselves be robbed of the greatest wealth we have through spyware and the insolent behavior of third powers? Ladies and gentlemen, let's not be naive. The most important thing and what we pay for here, what we call for, is innovation, new technologies, is our knowledge. It is necessary to fight against those who shamelessly steal them. We need to target those who exploit the academic environment to spread hatred against us, to incite the manipulation of facts. We need to fight those who come not to share our values with us, but to steal our values, to fight against our values. And these values that we have, they want to spread hatred and propaganda of third countries through them.

Mr President, Commissioner, I just want to say that in the 21st century, seeing footage of someone being beaten because they are Jewish is something disgusting, inexcusable. You can't excuse it with a human word. It's just a monstrosity, and I don't want to live in a world like this. I don't want my children to be raised to watch the horrors. And thank you to all of you who have condemned this, because this is a red line that has been crossed. We really need to restore Europe's pride and security. Every citizen of the European Union of Jewish origin must know that there is no place in Europe for intolerance of Jews, no place for intolerance of their origin, their religion, and that they are free to live and raise children there. And I think that must be the main thing message This is what we are doing here in the European Parliament.

Mr President, let me start by thanking the European Court of Auditors first. Its audit standards are very high and I thank you very much for representing us in the European Union in a body that is trying to compare its methodology with internationally recognised standards in all developed countries of the world. The European Court of Auditors states that the error rate for budgetary expenditure is 5.6%. The European Commission, on the other hand, says that only 2%. And we, the members of the Committee on Budgetary Control, are then to give discharge to the European Union. This situation is untenable. For years, the European Commission has promised to align its error methodology with that of the European Court of Auditors. For years, the European Commission has promised to make amends, but the deed has escaped. We simply need the European Commission to realise that the money it pays out under the annual budget is disappearing somewhere and we often don't know where. We often pay for roads that lead nowhere, and the European Parliament sees it, the European Court of Auditors sees it, but the European Commission continues to say that everything is fine. It's not okay. But we want the European Commission to reflect on this debate and change it, because we consider the current situation to be unsustainable in the long term.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it is quite unbelievable that in the 21st century, someone is afraid to wear a cross in public or that they are afraid to send their children to school. This week I had the opportunity to speak with the Jewish community. They told me about repeated attacks against their children and adults. They're just scared. They are afraid to live in the European Union, in 21st century Europe. And that's a bad thing. The burning of churches, the attacks on synagogues and the attacks on representatives of churches within the European Union are certainly a problem that we must urgently address. It is inconceivable that in the 21st century, when the European Union takes on the role of defender of freedoms and democracy, we are faced with such hate speech. I personally feel that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. Every citizen, regardless of his or her religion, should have the right to practice his or her religion as long as it is in accordance with the law, without fear of violence and without fear of discrimination. We must unequivocally and harshly condemn any form of religious hatred, whether directed against Christians, Jews or any other group.

Madam President, I would like only to explain to new colleagues that a point of order is a special procedure where you can react to some order that we will discuss here, not for political speeches. If you want to take the floor for political speeches, you can use the one-minute speeches.

Madam President, Commissioner, you know, it is unbelievable what is happening here at this time. Who is to blame for this situation? Who is a terrorist? Let's be clear! When someone commits a terrorist act, they are a terrorist. Hamas has committed an act of terrorism, they are terrorists. And I'm really surprised when someone in the 21st century supports terrorists. He takes the propaganda in European cities that experienced World War II and goes with this propaganda proclaiming that Hamas is a fighter for the freedom of the Palestinian people. That's not true. My grandfather was in a concentration camp. I have several family members who were murdered by the Nazi regime. Comparing Israel to the Nazis is absolutely, absolutely unacceptable. And I would really like to call on you, on the left and on the right, all of you who have quite extremist views here, to drop them. This war is not a war for us in the European Parliament. We should contribute to peace, to the real defeat of terrorism and to the solution of the two states, Israel and Palestine, once and for all.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your joint work on this report. It is necessary to control the indebtedness of the Member States. On the other hand, there is also a need for some flexibility in how to respond today to the international situation, in particular to the defence investments that all Member States need and need. Today, Member States need to invest in security. Years have evaded this duty, and now we must face up to this duty. The next step must therefore be to be able to get European banks to support investment in our collective security, that is to say, in defence. The future of Europe, its prosperity and our responsibility to future generations rest on defence.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this debate. I think it shows those emotions that are associated with the Euro 7 standard. The Euro 7 standard is a compromise between nature conservation and maintaining the competitiveness of European industry. The introduction of the Euro 6 test condition and its maintenance, thus avoiding high costs for European industry, is good news. On the other hand, however, the Euro 6 standard will be supplemented by stricter limits for the two most important air pollutants, namely nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. No one wants to live in a polluted environment that destroys these substances. The Euro 7 standard will thus not be an attempt by the Greens to destroy the European car industry, and I am glad that common sense prevailed over ideology in this report. I wish this Parliament would continue in this direction.

Mr Glück, I would like to ask you a question. Did I understand that you admit that there might not be a ban on internal combustion engines if technology were found to remove CO2 from the exhaust of these engines, as Toyota has recently presented? Thank you for your reply.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, negotiating the European Semester is always challenging. Each political party is trying to assert not only its social but also its economic priorities for the coming period. It's always tougher before the election. In this annual report, it is crucial that we strike a balance between economic and social priorities. And we did that this year. Ladies and gentlemen, on the one hand, we demand job creation, support for medium-sized and small enterprises, and also a reduction in bureaucracy. We show that we care about European companies and we want the best conditions for them to continue to grow and be competitive. On the other hand, we want to help people who find themselves in difficult life situations, such as people with various forms of disabilities, single mothers or socially excluded groups. We have often talked here, for example, about Romani people who live in very poor conditions in most Member States of the European Union. The European Union has faced a number of crises over the past few years, and it is essential that we do not add an additional burden to our citizens, but rather show that we are here for them and that we are ready to help them. I would therefore like to thank my colleagues from the other factions with whom we have negotiated this report. It was a long but fair deal. I firmly believe that the key amendments will pass in such a way that the European People's Party can support this report.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the economy of the European Union is the second largest economy in the world. In order to ensure that it works in the future, we need to guarantee a sufficient skilled workforce. We must address these shortcomings above all by employing our people. Many young people struggle to find long-term employment in the European Union, such as in southern countries such as Spain. However, there are also cases where we can use qualified foreign workers to fill vacancies on the labour market. Each Member State should have the power to choose how many workers it needs, taking into account its needs. The European Union can help synchronise administrative processes, requests from third-country workers to make the whole process less bureaucratic and, above all, transparent. It is also important to ensure certain rights for third-country workers. No one wants foreigners in the territory of a democratic and free European Union to be exploited by the mafia and criminal organisations and held in conditions that correspond to the Middle Ages rather than the European norms and standards of the 21st century. Qualified workers from third countries can benefit the European economy. However, they must follow our rules and meet the needs of our economy. And that is what the whole debate is about today, and I firmly believe that we can all agree on these principles in this room.

Mr President, Bucha, Mariupol, Bachmut, these are the names of the Ukrainian cities that we have all learned to pronounce gradually here in this room, because these are the cities where the incredible atrocities of the Russian army have been committed. Rape, looting, murder is a demonstration of Putin's regime. A regime that threatens not Ukraine, but the whole of European democracy. Ladies and gentlemen, we have been talking for two years about the need to support Ukraine. So let's do something about it. There's no more time for unnecessary chatter, but it's time for real action. To show Ukraine that we keep our word and that we count on Ukraine as a future Member State of the European Union.

Mr President, Commissioner, NGOs are an important part of our public life. They protect democracy, help those in need and ensure the accountability of public institutions. That is why it is necessary to prevent those who abuse this status of NGOs from attacking our rules and values in any way. That is why the European People's Party, in cooperation with experts and people from the European Commission and the European Court of Auditors, has long sought to establish transparent rules and funding for non-profit organisations. The Qatargate affair has shown us the weakness of non-profit organizations, and we must not let this weakness continue to bubbling here and leave it to various people, organizations and states who do not believe in the principles of democracy. This is why the European People's Party calls for transparent rules for non-profit organisations.