What Jiří spoke about.

7

Apr

2022

CS Speech

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The situation of marginalised Roma communities in the EU (debate)

Mr President, I would also like to express my support for the urgency of this topic. Even the debate here, the emotions, show how serious and important this topic is, but the main thing to emphasize is that there are between 10 and 12 million Roma living in Europe, who are our fellow citizens. They are Europeans who have huge social problems, and we simply have to deal with it, it is our duty. We …

6

Apr

2022

CS Speech

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The Schengen evaluation mechanism (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, I want to welcome and support this report. I am very pleased that we will have a new evaluation mechanism of Schengen law, the Schengen acquis. In my country, the Czech Republic, I see the emotions it evokes when one of the Member States violates the acquis and there are incidents at internal borders, which often also violate the rights of citizens of our countries. Thi…

10

Mar

2022

CS Speech

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The situation of journalists and human rights defenders in Mexico

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to support the motion for a resolution here. I think it is extremely important to respond to the situation in Mexico. This is all the more important because Mexico is our key partner in Latin America. It is a long-term trade, political partner, a major country, and the situation in Mexico has recently deteriorated significantly in terms of h…

10

Mar

2022

CS Speech

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Transparency and administrative standards - the treatment of public access requests based on Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me say a few words on this subject. We have moved from a general debate on the transparency of European Commission documents to a concrete case. First of all, I would like to thank the Vice-President for the introduction, where she clearly described the Commission's efforts to make certain processes transparent, to introduce and strengthen a public portal, e…

9

Mar

2022

CS Speech

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A new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020 (continuation of debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the floor on this extremely interesting report. Certainly the topic of health and safety at work is an important topic that we have to follow also at the level of the European Union. But perhaps my opinion will be a little different from that of the representatives of the left, what the European Union is supposed to regulate in this area. I think w…

9

Mar

2022

CS Speech

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General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030 (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to support this 8th Environment Action Programme. It happened here several times in the debate, our planet is dying, there are huge changes in the climate, we need to find a solution. I will only hope that, in practice, these solutions will not harm European industry and lead our citizens into energy poverty. We should also see this and look for …

9

Mar

2022

CS Speech

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Batteries and waste batteries (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I want to contribute to this rich debate and I also want to support this proposal for a regulation. I agree with what my colleagues here have said in that long debate in defence of and support for this proposal. For me personally, besides the environmental reasons, there is a very strong geopolitical reason, which we all feel, and which is being debated on va…

17

Feb

2022

CS Speech

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Political crisis in Burkina Faso

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to support the motion for a resolution on Burkina Faso. The whole debate that is going on here clearly shows that this is not just a problem of a particular military coup, even though we rightly condemn it and call for a return to democracy and a peaceful dialogue between the newly established military government and the population, but it c…

17

Feb

2022

CS Speech

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The death penalty in Iran

Mr President, I am very pleased to be able to comment on this point. I have been pursuing the death penalty for years in my political activities, fighting against it, and I must say that what is happening in Iran at the moment is totally unacceptable. And that number, which has been repeated here, 275 executions last year, is really unprecedented. In addition to China, the death penalty is most us…

17

Feb

2022

CS Speech

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The recent human rights developments in the Philippines

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to support the motion for a resolution prepared by the draftsmen. I want to thank you for your excellent work. The Philippines is very sad. It is an example of how, under the guise of fighting drugs, it is possible to start, in principle, almost a civil war. Extraordinary violence, thousands of extrajudicial executions, killings of journalists, poli…

16

Feb

2022

CS Speech

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One youth, one Europe (topical debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for speaking in this very interesting debate. I listened very carefully to the speeches of most of my colleagues, there were a number of interesting suggestions. It is good that today we are discussing the problems of specifically young people. Personally and from my own political practice, I see three key themes where the EU could help young people. F…

15

Feb

2022

CS Speech

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A statute for European cross-border associations and non-profit organisations (debate)

Mr President, on behalf of our Group of the European People's Party, I want to express my support and my joy at what the proposed material looks like. We have ideologically supported this initiative of the rapporteur, we are glad that at the end there is a compromise that is voteable for us, as adopted by the JURI Committee. In general, I want to say that it may be a bit of a pity that we are disc…

15

Feb

2022

CS Speech

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Implementation of the Toy Safety Directive (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I have listened very carefully to the whole debate and I am very pleased that on such a sensitive matter, which has a strong ethical character, we all agree, in principle, that such regulation, such legislation, is extremely important. It is about the health of our children, and at a time when this directive has been in force for almost a decade, it is logical t…

20

Jan

2022

CS Speech

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

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the question of the handling of live animals is, in my opinion, a moral question, a question of human morality. They are living creatures. It is not an ideological question, it is not a question of the right or the left. In my opinion, the debate on how to deal with live animals does not stand up to economic arguments. That, in my view, is a shameful argument…

19

Jan

2022

CS Speech

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Political crisis in Sudan

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me briefly present this motion for a resolution and ask for your support. It is an extremely important motion for a resolution in which we express our unequivocal support for the Sudanese people who are fighting for their freedom and democracy. The situation in Sudan is very tense, since October last year, when the country's prime minister was overthrown, th…

16

Dec

2021

CS Speech

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

Mr President, Commissioner, as has already been said, more than a million Europeans have signed this citizens' initiative. I am very sorry that, in your speech, you stated in an essentially alibiistic manner that bans on the use of animals in circuses in individual Member States are sufficient. I do not agree with this, nor do those who signed it. For your information: According to activists, ther…

24

Nov

2021

CS Speech

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Fundamental rights and the rule of law in Slovenia, in particular the delayed nomination of EPPO prosecutors (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me make a few remarks on this subject. I often speak here as a defender of the rule of law, I consider it extremely important for the European Parliament to pay attention to this topic, and I am also happy for today's debate. It should be noted at the outset that the key problem that we are debating here today, and that is the Slovenian Government's approach…

10

Nov

2021

CS Speech

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Disclosure of income tax information by certain undertakings and branches (debate)

Madam President, as shadow rapporteur for my EPP faction, let me comment on the text. I want to say that we are ready as a faction to support this motion in the form of a resolution by the two committees responsible that have discussed this text. Let me say that I personally welcome the fact that, after so many years, we have finally managed to move this material, and that this is another concrete…

21

Oct

2021

CS Speech

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Insurance of motor vehicles (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me also comment, in a few words, on the compromise reached on the revision of the motor insurance directive. It has been four years since the Commission presented this initiative to Parliament, and I must say, as shadow rapporteur, as I have followed and participated in the process, that it has been an extremely difficult process. And I want to thank the rap…

20

Oct

2021

CS Speech

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The first anniversary of the de facto abortion ban in Poland (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to speak here against the ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court, which severely restricts a woman's chances of opting for abortion. On the one hand, abortion really belongs to the national policy of individual Member States, but on the other hand, it must be said that the freedom of women to choose is a universal right of women who are n…

19

Oct

2021

CS Speech

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The Rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law (debate)

Mr President, honourable colleagues, Prime Minister, using justice for political struggle is a game of fire. I say this as a man who has been Minister of Justice in the Czech Republic for years. I am really sorry that the Constitutional Court in Poland delivered this politically motivated judgment. This verdict is not the natural outcome of a specific litigation that would eventually end up in you…

5

Oct

2021

CS Speech

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Disinformation and the role of social platforms (debate)

Madam President, I welcome this debate today. I am a great supporter of freedom of expression, but unfortunately we are living at a time when we are witnessing the targeted spread of disinformation, hybrid wars, attempts to influence, manipulate public opinion and thus weaken our democracies. The time is different, the champion in this is Putin's Russia. I see it here in the Czech Republic trying …

16

Sep

2021

CS Speech

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EU transparency in the development, purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, I do not want to interrupt your crocheting, but let me say an important thing here. In addition to the reasons that have already been put forward by colleagues, why contracts and the entire process of renegotiating contracts that guarantee vaccines for Europe should be transparent, it is also the fact that, at a time when the whole process was not yet very transparent a…

15

Sep

2021

CS Speech

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Reversing the negative social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I have listened very carefully to the whole debate and I thank the Commissioner for his comments. He talked about vulnerable people here, as did some of you about women, young people. I certainly agree with this, that is the area on which we should focus, but I would like to add to this debate the idea that I personally consider even the smallest entrepreneurs, …

15

Sep

2021

CS Speech

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Identifying gender-based violence as a new area of crime listed in Article 83(1) TFEU (continuation of debate)

Madam President, when I was Minister of Justice in the Czech Republic, I was dealing with the fight against violence against women, and I know very well that this is an extremely serious crime that is often not punished. Women-victims are afraid to turn to the police, their pleas are often downplayed by the surroundings, and the court proceedings themselves often do not end with a conviction of th…