What Anja spoke about.

17

Jan

2023

NL Speech

Watch

Question Time (Commission) - Food price inflation in Europe

Mr President, Commissioner. Food is a human right and we need to ensure that everyone has access to healthy food. The Commission's study shows that there is a risk that rising food prices will cause people to eat unhealthily. We must, of course, prevent that. Healthy and sustainable food should be the cheapest option. This can be done by removing VAT on fruit and vegetables across the EU. How will…

23

Nov

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Protection of livestock farming and large carnivores in Europe (debate)

Mr President, more than 150 years after wolves were exterminated with the hunting rifle in large parts of Europe and due to the loss of their habitat, some wolves have found their way back to the Netherlands. This is good news for our nature. They are also beautiful animals. Today we were able to admire the first images of playing cubs in Drenthe. Really great! Despite this, some farmers, hunters …

19

Oct

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Global food security as follow-up to the G20 Agriculture Ministers meeting (debate)

Mr President, enough food is produced worldwide to feed everyone. But then we all have to make different food choices and distribute the food better. So we do not achieve that by having Ukrainian grain ships come to the Netherlands to fatten our poultry, while people die of starvation all over the world. We do not achieve this by using three-quarters of our agricultural land to feed billions of an…

6

Oct

2022

NL Speech

Watch

The urgent need for an EU strategy on fertilisers to ensure food security in Europe (debate)

Mr President, the current energy crisis makes it painfully clear how polluting fertiliser production is. Yara's fertilizer plant in the Netherlands alone chases 2 billion cubic meters of gas through it every year. This leads to a significant contribution to global warming and a record electricity price. But there are more disastrous consequences of the fossil addiction of agriculture. The depletio…

5

Oct

2022

NL Speech

Watch

The Dutch childcare benefit scandal, institutional racism and algorithms (debate)

Mr President, a core task of the government is to protect the individual from the power of the majority. The Dutch government has failed in this. That is heartbreaking for all those thousands of parents and children who faced severe financial and emotional damage. It also results in citizens no longer trusting the government. This trust can only return when the government acknowledges its own mist…

4

Oct

2022

EN Speech

Watch

Key objectives for the CITES CoP19 meeting in Panama (debate)

Madam President, I welcome the Commissioner and the Minister. In these times of climate and environmental crisis, we need to urgently step up the protection of the most endangered animals and plants. Crucially, this means that we need to protect more species via the annexes of the CITES convention, and we need to increase enforcement and tackle wildlife crime. I am very glad that my colleagues in …

3

Oct

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Striving for a sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture: the way forward (debate)

Mr President, fish farms are the mega stables of the underwater world. Just like in mega stables on land, animals in fish farms are locked up in too small spaces at the same time. Just like in mega stables on land, animals in fish farms are kept in such a way that they cannot show their natural behavior and their lives are one great agony. As in mega stables on land, the accumulation of large quan…

3

Oct

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Momentum for the Ocean: strengthening Ocean Governance and Biodiversity (debate)

Mr President, seas and oceans are essential for life on earth. Nevertheless, we use the ocean as a garbage can, as a hunting ground and as an industrial site, and we drill the seabed in search of gas and oil. What actions is the European Commission taking to successfully amend the Global Convention for the Protection of International Waters as soon as possible? How far has the Commission come with…

12

Sep

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Deforestation Regulation (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, forests are essential for all life on earth. They provide us with oxygen, regulate the climate and rain patterns, and host the vast majority of biodiversity. But our forests are under serious threat worldwide. The production and overconsumption of meat, dairy and eggs is the main cause of deforestation. Because all those farm animals must be provided with animal feed. K…

5

Jul

2022

EN Speech

Watch

Question Time (Commission) Increasing EU ambitions on biodiversity ahead of COP 15

Well I would prefer to give up my time for a second question. Maybe another MEP can ask a question.

5

Jul

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Question Time (Commission) Increasing EU ambitions on biodiversity ahead of COP 15

European agriculture, in particular intensive livestock farming, plays an important role in the loss of biodiversity. For decades, the focus has been on growth and intensification of livestock farming through subsidies, by governments, by banks. The Netherlands is now one of the countries that finally realizes that the amount of nitrogen that ends up in nature reserves must be drastically reduced.…

6

Jun

2022

EN Speech

Watch

Question Time (Commission) Reducing the use of pesticides and strengthening consumer protection

Yes, thank you. I will try in English then. As long as the cumulative effects cannot be assessed – and it will take some time and it is complex, I heard – in the meantime, to protect consumers, are you willing to allow only one pesticide per crop to prevent a cocktail effect? Or, another possibility to protect consumers is to fully inform them through the label. So are you willing to put all the p…

6

Jun

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Question Time (Commission) Reducing the use of pesticides and strengthening consumer protection

Mr President, Commissioner, thank you for your answers. According to the Commission, the assessment of cumulative effects is complex and may take a long time to be implemented. If we really want to protect consumers from the cocktail effect, we can do two things: allow only one agricultural poison per crop or inform consumers directly about the pesticides used through labels. Is the Commission pre…

6

Jun

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Question Time (Commission) Reducing the use of pesticides and strengthening consumer protection

Mr President, if you make a smoothie with, for example, kiwi, pear or cherries, you will not only get enough fiber and vitamins, but also an unhealthy cocktail of pesticides, which to an increasing extent consists of the most harmful agricultural toxins. These poisons should have been banned a long time ago. However, recent research has shown that they are being used more and more. Apart from the …

5

May

2022

EN Speech

Watch

Building of a wall on the Polish – Belarus border in the Białowieża primeval forest (debate)

Madam President, the Białowieża forest is an incredibly precious natural site. Protected by the Natura 2000 and World Heritage regimes, it is one of the last old-growth forests in Europe. It is home to thousands of different species. The Białowieża forest is an irreplaceable area for biodiversity conservation, due to its size, protection status and substantially undisturbed nature. And precisely t…

2

May

2022

NL Speech

Watch

EU action plan for organic agriculture (debate)

Mr President, we are constantly crossing the boundaries of the earth. Two weeks ago, in the Netherlands, we made up all the raw materials that the earth can offer us in one year. This is not the time to be lax in the hope that the next generations will come up with a solution. Intensive agriculture leaves billions of animals suffering, relies heavily on agricultural poison and fertilizer, destroys…

2

May

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (debate)

Mr President, for decades we have been poisoning our environment, and therefore ourselves, with chemicals that remain toxic forever. We need to get rid of this polluting legacy. For far too long we have used very dangerous substances in fire retardants, non-stick coatings and post-its. I am therefore pleased that the Commission and Parliament want to set stricter standards for these substances. It…

23

Mar

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Need for an urgent EU action plan to ensure food security inside and outside the EU in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, nature is essential to our existence. Nature is irreplaceable. Nature is essential to our food supply. These are the scientific conclusions of the IPBES. It is contradictory and irresponsible that the European Commission is victimising precisely this indispensable nature under the guise of food security. Once again, the Commission is pumping millions of euros into the livestock indus…

14

Feb

2022

EN Speech

Watch

Implementation report on on-farm animal welfare (debate)

Madam President, the rapporteur announced at the start of the negotiations that he wanted an objective debate without extreme positions. Is it possible for an active cattle farmer to write an objective report on animal welfare on farms, solely based on facts instead of his personal opinions? Clearly not. This report is not objective. It is not science-based and not even about animal welfare. It is…

20

Jan

2022

NL Speech

Watch

Protection of animals during transport - Protection of animals during transport (Recommendation) (debate)

Mr President, every year, some one and a half billion animals are transported live over long distances through Europe or to countries far beyond it. That is an average of four million animals per day. As I say this sentence, a thousand animals are loaded into trucks to start their day-long and harsh journey. After a year and a half of research, the Committee of Inquiry into Animal Transports comes…

16

Dec

2021

NL Speech

Watch

An EU ban on the use of wild animals in circuses (debate)

Mr President, lions jumping through hoops, elephants standing on their hind legs and hippos sitting on a stool. That is the unnatural behavior that we teach wild animals with extremely violent training methods under the guise of entertainment. And if the animals do not have to show their tricks, they are locked in far too small cages or are chained and isolated in their trailers. They do not get a…

24

Nov

2021

EN Speech

Watch

Outcome of the COP26 in Glasgow (debate)

Mr President, we desperately need a food revolution. Globally, food and farming systems contribute up to 30% of our greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to an even bigger proportion of biodiversity loss. Why is this ignored in the global climate negotiations? Again, COP26 failed to address this crucial issue. Again, the big cow in the room was ignored. We cannot save the climate crisis if we do…

23

Nov

2021

NL Speech

Watch

Common agricultural policy - support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States and financed by the EAGF and by the EAFRD - Common agricultural policy: financing, management and monitoring - Common agricultural policy – amendment of the CMO and other regulations (debate)

Mr President, today we are voting on 270 billion in European agricultural subsidies, for more mega stables, for more agricultural poison and for more pollution. Many farmers, environmental organizations, climate activists have turned against this agricultural policy, because with this disastrous plan, the Green Deal becomes a Black Deal in one fell swoop. The future of farmers, animals, nature and…

19

Oct

2021

NL Speech

Watch

The Right to a Healthy Environment (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, the right to a healthy environment is a human right and it is high time that the European Union and the United Nations also enshrine this right in their charters, as so many countries have already done. However, we need to deepen this fundamental debate on rights that are endangered by the way we deal with the earth. Because what should be the consequences if …

18

Oct

2021

EN Speech

Watch

Farm to Fork Strategy (debate)

Madam President, no action is no option. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science—Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) have forewarned, if we do not take action now to halt the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity, this will undoubtedly lead to higher food prices and less food security worldwide. If we want the farm …