What Siegfried spoke about.

1

Apr

2025

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 20 March 2025 (debate)

Madam President, colleagues, to everyone here in the House who wants to weaken Europe we say very clearly, the pro-European parties here in the European Parliament are united in strengthening Europe, in defending the European Union. What the Eurosceptics advocate for ‑ a weak Europe ‑ only serves the Russian Federation and autocratic regimes around the world. We want a strong European Union capabl…

31

Mar

2025

EN Speech

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Guidelines for the 2026 budget - Section III (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, Mr Jungbluth, our duty here in the European Parliament is to protect the citizens of Europe. And I am afraid that your speech here does not provide any additional protection, any additional certainty and any additional security to the people of Europe. This is the difference between pro-Europeans and between sceptics, extremists and anti-Europeans. We want to solve p…

12

Mar

2025

EN Speech

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100 days of the new Commission – Delivering on defence, competitiveness, simplification and migration as our priorities (topical debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, in the past 20 years, the European Union was good and the European Commission played an important role in reacting to crises: the economic/financial crisis, the migration/refugee crisis, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and then the illegal and illegitimate invasion of Russian armed forces into Ukraine. But very often the European Commission has ignored topics which wer…

12

Mar

2025

EN Speech

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Action Plan for the Automotive Industry (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, the automotive industry accounts for millions of jobs in Europe, much of the taxes and also a big part of our exports. It is in our fundamental interest that it does well here in Europe. Every car manufacturer that you meet and visit will proudly report to you how they reduce CO2 emissions and how they invest more in renewable energies. I think, toda…

11

Mar

2025

EN Speech

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White paper on the future of European defence (debate)

Mr President, it looks like Mr De Masi's only concern is that we stop helping Ukraine. You cannot make up your mind whether Putin is strong or whether he is weak. The only thing that you care is that we stop helping Ukraine, which is, in fact, exactly what Mr Putin wants. This is exactly why we should continue to support Ukraine, because that is in the fundamental interest of European citizens. An…

11

Mar

2025

EN Speech

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European Council meetings and European security (joint debate)

Madam President, President of the European Council, dear colleagues, unfortunately, our long standing partner the United States of America is disengaging from Europe. It is disengaging in terms of security and defence, it is disengaging in terms of trade and economy, and it is disengaging in terms of defending democracy, rule of law and human rights. We do not want this to happen. We regret this. …

10

Mar

2025

EN Speech

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Establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Republic of Moldova (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, thank you for this debate in which we showed clearly all here in the House almost, that we understand the importance that the Republic of Moldova has for the European Union, for our safety, for our stability, for our prosperity. We have worked together. I would like to first and foremost thank my co-rapporteur Sven Mikser on behalf of the AFET Committee, but also …

10

Mar

2025

EN Speech

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Establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Republic of Moldova (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, Commissioner, today we are sending a very strong signal. We are sending a very strong signal to citizens of the European Union, but also to citizens in our immediate neighbourhood in candidate countries: Europe is delivering! Tomorrow, we are going to have the final vote here in the plenary of the European Parliament on the EUR 1.9 billion growth facility for the …

22

Jan

2025

EN Speech

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Presentation of the programme of activities of the Polish Presidency (debate)

Madam President, I welcome Prime Minister Tusk back to the European Parliament. It is our common task to provide certainty to the people of Europe. It is our first and common obligation to provide safety, security and prosperity to the people of Europe. This is what they expect from us. My main message to you today is that security and prosperity in Europe are connected. These have to be our prior…

21

Jan

2025

EN Speech

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Geopolitical and economic implications for the transatlantic relations under the new Trump administration (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, for many decades, the United States of America has been by far our most important partner: our most important political partner in defending the multilateral world order and our most important economic partner – together, we represent more than 30 % of global trade and our economies represent more than 40 % of the global economy. The United States of America has been…

18

Dec

2024

EN Speech

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Preparation of the European Council of 19-20 December 2024 (debate)

Madam President, security will be the main topic for our discussions and our decisions in the next months. Security is the main concern of the people, providing security is the main duty of national and European institutions, and security is essentially linked to prosperity and jobs in Europe. We have to be aware that Russia and other autocracies are challenging our security and our democracy. The…

17

Dec

2024

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Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)

Madam President, Executive Vice-President of the Commission, dear colleagues, the reality is simple, clear and we have to recognise it: Russia and other autocracies are attacking the rule of law, they are attacking human rights and they are attacking democracies around the world but they are also attacking democracies in EU candidate countries and also in EU Member States. We may not like it, but …

27

Nov

2024

EN Speech

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Presentation by the President-elect of the Commission of the College of Commissioners and its programme (debate)

Madam President, President von der Leyen, welcome back to the European Parliament. We have 26 members of the European Commission who have successfully passed the hearings in the European Parliament with large majorities. Today we are giving – with a large pro-European majority of democratic forces – the support and the vote to this European Commission. We are going to work together as the European…

26

Nov

2024

RO Speech

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Full accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area: the urgent need to lift controls at internal land borders (debate)

14

Nov

2024

EN Speech

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Enhancing Europe’s civilian and defence preparedness and readiness (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, during the European election campaign, we have seen clearly that citizens in Europe prioritise security and defence. People of Europe want to feel safe within the borders of the 27 Member States of the Union, and they expect us to do more in the area of security and defence. We are facing many risks: autocrats outside of the European Union are cooperating stronger…

13

Nov

2024

EN Speech

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EU-US relations in light of the outcome of the US presidential elections (debate)

Vielen Dank, Frau Präsidentin, dear colleagues, the United States of America are our most important partner and ally when it comes to security, to defence, to the economy, but also to politics. The United States of America and the European Union have together defended democracy for many decades. We have together defended the rule of law and we expect to do this together. We expect the United State…

23

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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Managing migration in an effective and holistic way through fostering returns (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, Russia and Belarus are exploiting migrants in an attempt to destabilise the European Union. They are sending people illegally across the border into the European Union, challenging, threatening our security. This is a danger for the security of the European Union. We need to recognise this and we need to act on this. Anything illegal has to be tackled. The Europea…

22

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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Establishing the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and providing exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, we need to say the truth. There is only one responsible for the suffering, for the damage caused to Ukraine and to the people of Ukraine, and that is the aggressor, that is the Russian Federation, and the job of the European Parliament is to be united against this. Today we have the opportunity to prove our commitment to the people of Ukraine. Establishing this loan …

9

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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Presentation of the programme of activities of the Hungarian Presidency (debate)

Madam President, Prime Minister, dear colleagues, we are here to discuss the Hungarian Council Presidency, the relations between the European Union and Hungary, and about European values. The truth is, the Council Presidency is always an opportunity for a country to present its people, to present its traditions, to present its regions. Unfortunately, the current Hungarian Government is missing out…

8

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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Strengthening Moldova's resilience against Russian interference ahead of the upcoming presidential elections and a constitutional referendum on EU integration (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, over the course of the last three years, the Republic of Moldova has made remarkable progress on its path towards European integration. The people of Moldova have spoken clearly in previous presidential and parliamentary elections in saying they want the country to reform, to modernise, and they have said clearly they see European integration as the cou…

8

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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Preparation of the European Council of 17-18 October 2024 (debate)

Mr President, colleagues, look, the priorities of the European citizens are now clearer than ever. People expect safety, security within Europe and people expect prosperity, a perspective that they can prosper here in Europe, that jobs are safe, stable and well-paid. And I believe, Commissioner, Council representatives, I believe these are exactly the topics that the European Council now has to di…

18

Sep

2024

RO Speech

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The devastating floods in Central and Eastern Europe, the loss of lives and the EU’s preparedness to act on such disasters exacerbated by climate change (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the main message we are sending this morning from the European Parliament is that the European Union is helping. The European Union will help people affected by floods, help businesses, help local authorities. We see the situation in Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and the message is as follows: We ask the local authorities to inte…

18

Jul

2024

EN Speech

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Statement by the candidate for President of the Commission (debate)

Madam President, President von der Leyen, dear colleagues, the world is looking at us today. This is why I say ‘let us rise to our task today’. Today is a day to put differences aside. Today is a day to be united and aware of our responsibility. Today we need to defend Europe from those who take their orders from Moscow and Beijing. With Ursula von der Leyen, we have a candidate ready to serve Eur…

11

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Attempts to dismantle Rule of Law and media freedom in Slovakia (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, the European Union is a Union based on rules and it is based on values, and these rules are meant to serve the people in every corner of the European Union. The common rules and the common values that the Union is based on are the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression, the freedom of people to say what they feel, what they want, to support whom they want, t…

13

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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Allegations of corruption and misuse of EU funds in Spain during the pandemic (topical debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, corruption needs to be investigated everywhere, not hidden. And those who are investigating corruption, they need to be protected, they need to be supported, not threatened or intimidated. This should be valid everywhere, in every single corner of the European Union. Now let me say very clearly that the European Parliament is very concerned with the recent developmen…