Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, it is not only the ocean that is at a crossroads: The same is true of our fisheries. The Ocean Pact should recognise fisheries and aquaculture as cornerstones of the blue economy. These sectors are essential for food security, food sovereignty and the resilience of the European Union. We must ensure that fishing is not further displaced by offshore wind energy. Fair maritime spatial planning is crucial to maintain access to traditional fishing grounds. Sufficient funding for innovation and modernisation of ships is essential for energy-efficient, low-emission vessels and the sustainable transition to AI-supported and selective fishing gear in a technology-neutral manner. I would like to inform my colleagues about this. Also for modern ships of family companies of more than 24 meters. Good words alone are not enough. We need concrete action to ensure that our fishermen survive in our coastal regions, of which they are the beating social and societal heart.

Water is life. Freshwater storage and flood prevention are indispensable. But nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are also vital as building blocks of plants. Europe depends on imports from mining and CO2-intensive production. Farmers want to use these nutrients more sparingly; they want to improve crop uptake and prevent further leaching by closing cycles. However, the current strategy for water resilience mentions filtering techniques and recovery from urban wastewater, but leaves natural animal manure undiscussed, while this pure brown gold offers much more opportunities. Colleagues, therefore support the proposals of the Committee on Agriculture, embrace animal manure and green fertilizer substitutes to prevent leaching, CO2 capturing in grassland, producing biogas for sustainable energy independence and unnecessary CO2-avoid emissions. The EU has been refusing to recognise RENURE for too long. Colleagues, we show the shared interests of farmers, citizens, water quality and climate. We have brown gold in our hands.

Mr President, Commissioner, 110 years ago the Armenian genocide took place. 1.5 million Armenians were murdered because of their identity and faith. Also Arameans, Pontic Greeks, Chaldeans. This is not a completed past tense. Even today, Christians, Alawites, Yazidis and other minorities in the Middle East are being expelled and massacred. In Nagorno-Karabakh, as in recent years, Armenian Christian heritage is still being systematically destroyed. After 1915, the world was silent. Perpetrators remained unpunished and new genocides followed. Right, here in Europe too. "Never again" is an assignment, not a slogan. The EU must protect minorities and condemn persecution more actively. This starts with recognition of the genocide by all Member States and by Turkey. Without recognition there is no justice, without justice there is no peace and no reconciliation. "Never again" is now.

Mr President, Commissioner, thousands of alawites have been murdered by jihadist militias linked to the new rulers in Syria. Women and children have been driven into the mountains. Whole families have been massacred, including Christians. Yet the European Union is inviting this new Syrian regime on Monday as if nothing had happened. That, like the European foreign diplomatic service's press statement last weekend, is outrageous. While we invite those responsible, Russia can present itself as a humanitarian shelter at its Khmeimim military base. This is a morally bankrupt policy. A new flow of refugees is imminent. As long as the Islamist rulers in Damascus do not stop this sectarian and genocidal violence against non-Sunnis and do not punish perpetrators, no sanctions should be lifted, nor donations made. Europe must not engage in cynical politics that sacrifices Alawites, Shiites, Armenians, Aramean Christians, Kurds, Druze and Yazidis.

Mr President, Commissioner, the Commission is finally acknowledging the problems of our ailing industry. However, the Clean Industrial Deal should not become a clean out deal for our industry. Highly innovative plans, but without pragmatic solutions in these unconventional times. A 90% CO2-A 2040 reduction target of €1 600 billion per year is not green growth, it is economic self-destruction. European energy prices will not fall in this way, but will rise further. Europe's industrial backbone, of our family businesses is bent under bureaucratic and price ballast. Mr President, technology neutrality. The combustion engine deserves restoration. It is time for a fundamental review of the Green Deal. It is not the reality that needs to adapt to Brussels, but Brussels needs to adapt to the changed reality.

Mr President, Europe is finally regaining some control over its borders. Stricter return options and the option of deportation centres outside the EU are steps in the right direction. But let's be honest: This is just the beginning. It still deserves tightening up. What we need is a decisive and effective return system that does not slow down, but actually ensures return. This means better cooperation with countries of origin. Anyone who refuses to cooperate on return should feel that in their wallet. Mandatory recognition of return decisions by all EU countries. This should not be a no-obligation, but should be a hard deal. Legally unambiguous regulation of asylum reception in safe third countries. That debate has been going on for too long, while other countries are showing that it works. Commissioner, I wish you every success. Setting boundaries is essential to maintaining support.

Mr President, it is positive that the Commission is finally slowly recognizing that the Green Deal has pushed us through some elements, that there has been too much regulatory burden and that our competitiveness is suffering from this. But let us not forget that this proposal can only be a first step. It has just been emphasised by other colleagues that we need to move forward. We'll have to reconsider. We need a revision of the Nature Restoration Regulation and not only of the CSRD, but also of other legislation that hinders our farmers, gardeners, fishermen, but above all our SMEs. I therefore call on the Commission to show greater ambition in the coming period. This is a very good proposal, but it does not go far enough. You are on a better path. As we say in the Netherlands: Better half-turned than completely lost. I wish you every success.

Mrs. Strolenberg, we need to reconsider. I just said: EUR 1 570 billion in expenditure for a modelled temperature reduction of 0.00135 degrees. Farmers do not notice such a difference.

Mr President, Commissioner, the United States has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement. In the meantime, the European Commission wants an interim CO2setting a 90% target for 2040, an ideological air castle. As of 2030, no less than EUR 1 570 billion in expenditure will be needed each year, almost 10% of our European GDP for a temperature reduction of 0.00135 degrees. Who bears the burden? Farmers, citizens and businesses. The Green Deal always turns out not to be a deal. The rigid adherence to suffocating green laws, such as the absurd ban on the combustion engine, undermines our European competitiveness and inhibits innovation. Instead of learning lessons, politicians are sitting here giving lessons to the US government. As the U.S. grows, so does our competitiveness. Europe regulates artificial intelligence. The US and China are building companies that are changing the world. Europe makes green rules, they make billions of companies. We have to adjust ourselves, not just cosmetic postponement, but a fundamental revision.

Mr. Gerbrandy, you were just talking about threats and a lack of realism. I think that there are major threats from the fact that some parties, including yours, do not want to go back on the wrong path. Those who need a compass for competitiveness have lost their way. How are you going to sell that we will have to spend 1570 billion euros per year from 2030 on the CO2‐to meet the 2040 target and reduce emissions by 90%? How are you going to explain that, as a liberal party? You're in front of the taxpayer, aren't you? You only put more pressure and regulatory burden on the taxpayer.

Mr Everding, I'm here, up here. You have just spoken out again against factory farming, as you call it – and wrongly! Do you know that your policy of expelling farmers from Europe and our increasingly sustainable livestock farming are contributing to deforestation elsewhere in the world? People continue to eat animal protein. So how do you actually do holistic politics? Or is it actually Not-In-my-backyard-Policy – NIMBY? Because that's not sustainability, what you're proposing here.

Mr President, it appears that the European Commission has spent years with taxpayers' money on environmental activists. Through secret subsidy clauses, a green lobby had to influence the European Parliament to support Mr Timmermans' Green Deal. The bottom stone must be turned upside down in this green lobby scandal. Parliament's democratic legislative process may have been unduly influenced by the previous Commission through subsidy clauses, with taxpayers' money. In a democracy, it is unacceptable for the executive power to influence and manipulate the controlling power. Do we – the Commission believes – believe in the separation of powers, the ‘trias politica’? There has been a lot of talk about the rule of law. So let us respect them and get to the bottom of this scandal and tackle it.

Ms Mendes, do you agree that we do not debate on financing of NGOs as such, but about the integrity of EU laws made in this House by this House? That executive power has been financing lobbyism towards us as a controlling power? Do you know what the trias politica means?

Mr Diepeveen, I fully endorse your point. Many polarising statements have been made, including by your group. We're always catching each other's fleas. Can we solve this problem by reaching out and working together on innovative solutions, including the concept of safe third countries, to counter this type of illegal migration and human smuggling?

I just wanted to ask Mr Waitz whether he distances himself from the extreme utterances made this morning and allegations about Musk being a Nazi and using a Nazi salute, because that's not helping the US‑EU alliance either. And that does not help to bring down the tone of the debate. So how does Mr Waitz see this? Because he's making new allegations against many oligarchs, against political groups. But shouldn't we try to avoid such extreme allegations, which are also fake news? In fact, the ADL just this morning refuted these claims.

I just wanted to ask you: you once again reiterated the false or too-early claims that Mr Musk made a Nazi salute yesterday. The protection against defamation is also one of the rights we have to protect in this House. So I would like you to distance yourself from your accusation that Mr Musk made a Nazi salute. Let's await his explanation first, before these left-wing groups make false accusations against a member of the US Government. Let's lower the tone of the voice.

Mr President, I am actually shocked. I have heard demands here from the left and the green groups to turn off social media. That's the wrong way! The lack of digital and social platforms from Europe was just highlighted. This is due to our legislation, the GDPR legislation. And then, at the same time, we have a European Commission that has launched influencing campaigns aimed at citizens of my country. Let's stick to our own laws before we point to America, Donald Trump and social media. In many countries, social media is the last free means for citizens to express themselves. Do we think about that enough in this house? How do you feel about that?

Mr President, I would like to ask Mrs Ballarín Cereza what she actually thinks of the fact that it has now come to light that the European Commission itself, based on politics and faith and in violation of existing legislation, has carried out a targeted campaign of influence in the Netherlands, on Dutch citizens, for its own legislative proposals. Quod licet iovi, non licet bovi. Do you not mind that in the Netherlands, in my Member State, the Commission itself has done what others are accused of doing and what the law does not allow? Should we not, first of all, also adhere to this legislation in these institutions themselves, before you call for further tightening in censorship or accuse other parties?

Mr President, drinking water is vital for every citizen. Drinking water requires a good quality of drinking water sources, in the ground and on the surface. Let us honestly name the historical and current sources of pollution upstream and in deltas. Everyone has to do their part. Substances of very high concern should be prevented, as should the increase in human medicine residues. Where is EU support for pilot projects? The EU must learn from frontrunners. Investing in water treatment technology. Space for the application of more animal organic manure, linked to as much permanent grassland as possible, is essential for water quality, leaching prevention, carbon sequestration and soil quality. This fact should guide EU policy. No mention of livestock farming. Give space to green fertilizer substitutes and precision fertilization across Europe. Problems with exceedances of sewage treatment in urban areas or natural seepage of phosphate should not be unjustifiably blamed on the countryside. Measuring is knowing. More innovation and filtering. This provides clean drinking water.

President, ‘Biodiversity, hunting and rural areas’. That is the name of one of the oldest and most valuable intergroups in our Parliament, which has existed since 1985. We need to work harder over the next five years for a better European policy on biodiversity, hunting and rural areas. Countryside, good wildlife management and conservation of nature are high on the agenda of citizens. These citizens also include farmers, hunters, landowners, inhabitants of estates and inhabitants of our countryside. Highlighting the wolf problem, the rural turmoil and the opportunities and bottlenecks of the European agricultural policy in a more timely manner than the other European institutions was an important point of the intergroup. Farmers, hunters, gardeners, estates, landowners and forest managers have a crucial role for the countryside in the Netherlands and in Europe. Biodiversity, hunting and countryside, they belong together. Will we keep them together in the next five years? Support this intergroup and also those for the preservation of our sustainable European livestock farming.

Mr President, the UN Biodiversity Conference was concluded without agreement on Saturday 2 November. An early exodus of delegates left this UN conference without a quorum for decision-making. The recognition of indigenous peoples and traditional environmental knowledge in future decisions on international nature conservation, all of which deserves support. The recognition of the great value of biodiversity for innovation in biotechnology and medicine is fully justified. However, what is not discussed in this hemisphere is the loss of biodiversity and nature in third countries outside the European Union: in the rainforests of South America, in Asia and in Africa. Precisely by driving away our productive Dutch and European farmers and gardeners by an impracticable green, European and additional national policy. Deforestation and loss of biodiversity in the aforementioned continents are the hidden consequence here. Mr President, Commissioner, in order to preserve global biodiversity, we need more food production in rural Europe, more young farmers and gardeners, more use of our existing European agricultural land for sustainable food production. Not less, but more food production. Not a failed Green Deal in our European countryside, but a European Farmers Deal.

(NL) Mr President, Commissioner, ‘Jew hunt’: It's on my retina and burned into my hearing. No, we are not here today because of football supporters, not because of political criticism of Israel. Scolding at the opening of the Holocaust Museum, at commemorations of 7 October, and now an organized hunt for Jews in Amsterdam. We also hear from Antwerp and other European cities about threats and violence against our Jewish fellow citizens. The ‘yes, but’, the ‘yes, but Israel’, does not fit in with this anti-Semitism. There is no apology whatsoever for threats or violence against Jewish institutions in Europe. With the perpetrators and advocates of this violence, we are not allowed to drink tea in Europe. We must punish them everywhere in Europe with the full force of the law and prevent future outbursts. Mr President, we must state the facts. The threatened and defaced Jewish shops, synagogues and schools are nothing less than manifestations of anti-Semitism, on the streets of Europe, in 2024. It should fill us all with deep shame. Therefore, now more than ever, full solidarity and more protection for our Jewish fellow citizens.

Mr President, Commissioner, realism please. The reality is that the EU's emissions are only 6% of global emissions. The reality is that our energy prices are two to three times higher than in the US and China. The reality is that, despite our ambitions, we have become too dependent, even on renewable forms of energy. The reality is that we need nuclear energy, green gas and waste heat, no climate emergency or ill-considered bans on natural gas and internal combustion engines. There are no government leaders in Baku. President Trump's victory forces us to conduct a fundamental reality check of our European and global climate policy. It's realism.

Mr President, Commissioner, we have no control over the current migration flow. In 2023, more than 1 million asylum applications were lodged in the European Union. Open borders, soft procedures and failing return policies have made Europe too attractive. As a result, so many have made that dangerous crossing and many have died. The chaos at our internal borders in the Schengen area is the direct result of leaking European external borders. Frontex needs to be strengthened, not only through the expansion of troops, but especially in terms of competences. Frontex should play a coordinating role in expulsion and return, in external border barriers. But this alone will not solve the migration crisis. BBB calls for further tightening of the asylum policy. Move the asylum procedure and reception to safe third countries outside the European Union. This is the only way to reduce the influx and the victims of the dangerous crossing to Europe. Mr President, strictly guarded external borders, clarity and migration deals save lives. No words, but more and faster action.

(NL) Mr President, on 7 October 2023, it was 11 September from Israel. Israel had not even begun to bury the victims of this pogrom, or Hezbollah attacked northern Galilee from Lebanon. Tens of thousands of Israeli civilians have been displaced for a year. Every country has the right to defend itself when it is attacked, including Israel. Proportional, according to the law of war. Hezbollah's rocket attacks are the cause of the Israeli bombing. The missile attacks from Iran itself are fuelling concerns about the escalation of this conflict, which has terrible humanitarian consequences for Lebanese and Palestinian civilians. BBB calls for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to this conflict. This cannot be done without the immediate release of the Israeli hostages by Hamas. A ceasefire in Lebanon in accordance with UN Resolution 1701 remains necessary, as does the disarmament of militants in the south. To this end, international partners should sufficiently strengthen the regular Lebanese army. Only in this way can people in the region live together in peace and security.