What Thomas spoke about.

17 Sep

2026

EN Speech

Protecting people’s health against toxic substances (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, an apple a day keeps the doctor away: this is what we're telling our children every day. And actually, vegetables and fruits should be a healthy choice. But unfortunately, more and more residues and PFAS are found on vegetables and fruits. In fact, we are using these substances in agriculture with pesticides, and we are contaminating not just our children, but our whole…

15 Sep

2026

DE Question

Devastating heatwaves, wildfires and droughts in Europe: lessons from summer 2026 (debate)

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Madam President, Mrs van Leeuwen, as you rightly said, across Europe, crops have dried up, animals have had to be slaughtered as a matter of urgency because there was simply no food left, and our forests have burned down. Thousands of farmers are affected by the consequences of the climate crisis. Do you agree with me that we must use our tax money above all to support European farmers in adapting…

9 Jul

2026

DE Speech

An updated regulatory framework for wool (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner! And thank you to all the colleagues who found their way to the plenary during this last debate on the last day before the summer break here in Strasbourg. We are discussing one topic - wool. It can be said, yes, how detailed we want to address the issues here now, but wool is a central issue that has many implications for our agriculture. Farmers in disadvantaged areas …

7 Jul

2026

EN Speech

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

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Mr President, Taoiseach, Commissioner, first of all, thank you for your preparation already towards this presidency. I see you are very active already in preparing and your people are around also talking to many of us. I have three wishes to you to send in your direction. Ireland is hosting family farming and Ireland is hosting relatively small and medium-sized farming. We are negotiating the comm…

16 Jun

2026

EN Speech

An EU future for the Western Balkans (joint debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, investing into reconciliation and investing into good bilateral relations is not an easy task. My very own country, Austria, needed 40 years to admit that we were co‑perpetrators of the Nazi regime and it took us many, many years to invest into good neighbourly relations, to rebuild our relations to our neighbours. This was not an easy exercise because th…

16 Jun

2026

EN Speech

An EU future for the Western Balkans (joint debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, for hundreds of years the whole region has been the playground of foreign powers and, unfortunately, it is still again the playground of foreign powers. We have to acknowledge that that region was always part of Europe culturally, historically and economically. Yes, in the 90s there was a missed opportunity on turning the countries towards the European Union, as other E…

21 May

2026

EN Speech

Need for an adaptation of the EU legal framework on sustainable biofuels (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, every proposal to reduce our dependency on fossil fuel is welcome, but we cannot overlook realities. In a post‑fossil bioeconomy we need biogenic CO2 chains to produce plastic, to produce clothes, to produce chemicals. And the bad news is, the amount of biomass is limited. This is just a matter of fact. In the moment when we talk about edible goods, to use edible goods …

19 May

2026

DE Speech

Presentation of the Fertilisers Action Plan (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner! After Lukashenka's brutal crackdown on the democracy movement in Belarus, we debated here and stated: Oh, we depend on fertiliser imports. We have debated, we have adopted resolutions; Not much has happened. After Putin's invasion of Ukraine, this illegal and war criminal war, we have stated: Oh, the gas we use to produce artificial fertilisers ourselves is being use…

29 Apr

2026

EN Answer

EU strategy in response to the ongoing Middle East crisis, its implications on energy prices and the availability of fertilizers (joint debate)

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This is an excellent example of fake news. The Greens are standing up for a sustainable forestry, for forestry that does not destroy the soil, that is sustainably providing us and is resilient in times of climate crisis. And sorry colleague, you are very much advocating for the monoculture strategies of the past. Sorry to say, to produce grains with artificial fertilisers, with pesticides, with tr…

29 Apr

2026

EN Speech

EU strategy in response to the ongoing Middle East crisis, its implications on energy prices and the availability of fertilizers (joint debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, good morning, colleagues, we are once again in a fossil crisis. We once again realise that we are dependent on crazy, theocratic mullahs. We once again realise that we are dependent on a Russian war criminal. And we also realise that we are dependent on our former US friends that are unfortunately unreliable, and that have co-caused the crisis of today. So good morning,…

10 Mar

2026

EN Speech

EU enlargement strategy (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner Kos, more than ever, it is time for European nations to stand together. If we want to defend our European way of life, if we want to defend our rule‑based order, this is what we have got to do: stand together. And there's more understanding for that than I have ever experienced. What is the common interest and what is the actual strength of the European Union? Yes, it's …

12 Feb

2026

DE Speech

Cooperation among enforcement authorities regarding unfair trading practices in the agri-food supply chain (debate)

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12 Feb

2026

EN Speech

Recommendation to the Council on EU priorities for the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (debate)

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Mr President, we have the Rule that there are no political banners allowed in front of plenary or inside of plenary. This Rule counts for everyone, no matter what political opinion you have, and the ushers have confiscated the banner. Please, Mr President, respect our Rules. It's not a question of political opinion. This Rule counts for everyone here in the House. So just don't say, 'Well, this is…

11 Feb

2026

EN Speech

Accession of Montenegro to the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters - Accession of the Republic of Albania to the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (joint debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner Kos, yes, clearly, we also welcome the accession of Montenegro and Albania to the Hague Judgments Convention. It is a welcome step. Let me take the example of Montenegro in following up on developing a proper rule-of-law state: good cooperation with Eurojust, good cooperation with Europol, court of auditors functional, special prosecutors can work. They have proven this …

22 Jan

2026

EN Speech

Joint action addressing the increased use of death penalty (debate)

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Madam President, there are more than 28 000 people currently waiting on death row, so this is not just a few single cases – and these are just the ones we know about. Is a death penalty a punishment? No, it's pure revenge. How shall I explain to my children and grandchildren that physical violence is never a solution and killing a fellow human being is unacceptable for everyone, whoever it is, whe…

20 Jan

2026

EN Speech

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Cyprus Presidency (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, President of the Council, Commissioners, Europe needs to grow up now. We need to stand firm for our values on the global scene. We need to stand firm for human rights. We need to stand firm for democracy. It is going to be your role as the Cypriot Presidency to organise this greater unity that we see now upcoming in the European Union. It is also your role to portray the European …

15 Dec

2025

DE Speech

Amending certain CAP Regulations as regards the conditionality system, types of intervention in the form of direct payment, types of intervention in certain sectors and rural development and annual performance reports, data and interoperability governance, suspensions of payments annual performance clearance and controls and penalties (debate)

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Madam President, It has not been mentioned here yet, but there is a simplification for organic farms. Organic farms will in future be regarded as holdings that automatically comply with all environmental rules of the European Union. Yes, of course, because organic farms follow rules that are much stricter. And these are the best controlled foods we have on the market. And we don't have to repeat t…

7 Oct

2025

DE Speech

Common agricultural policy (joint debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner! We still lose 800 farms every day in the European Union. And I would like to express my thanks for Commissioner Hansen's proposal to massively simplify the reporting requirements for agriculture under ten hectares and also to expand the possibilities of paying lump-sum payments here. This will support our small-scale agriculture. I would also like to express my gratitud…

9 Sep

2025

EN Speech

Wave of violence and continuous use of force against protesters in Serbia (debate)

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Madam President, Madam Commissioner, I want to turn to the Serbian people. If you want a future for your children, and if you want to have a proper income, if you want to have functional institutions and good healthcare, if you want to have an independent justice system and serious and fair elections, please realise that you have to overcome your current authoritarian rulers. No matter if you want…

10 Jul

2025

DE Speech

Post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner! Drought, extreme heat, floods and then hail – this is the reality that our farmers are currently working with outside. They are the first to be affected by the effects of the climate crisis and species loss, coupled with unfair prices, with prices often below production costs, with a preponderance of supermarkets. This generates 800 farms every day that close in the …

8 Jul

2025

EN Speech

2023 and 2024 reports on North Macedonia (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, thank you, colleagues, for your contributions. Just to make one thing clear, this is a report of the European Parliament on the state of accession of an accession country called North Macedonia. This is what it should talk about and this is what we tried, together with my shadow rapporteurs, to portray in this report, with the good and the needed reforms, with the pr…

8 Jul

2025

EN Speech

2023 and 2024 reports on North Macedonia (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, North Macedonia is a fantastic country north of Greece, south of our wonderful Strasbourg here. North Macedonia is a country that came through the Balkan wars of the 90s without massive outbreaks of violence. Even though this country is a very diverse country that is constituted of different peoples, different ethnicities and different religions, still th…

19 Jun

2025

EN Speech

Protecting bees: advancing the EU's New Deal for Pollinators (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, yes, indeed, our pollinators are declining. And why is it so? It was just mentioned by the far right: it's because of chemical pollution, because of pesticides. Well, the Commission came up with the so-called Sustainable Use Directive to reduce pesticides. But do you remember why it failed? It was very much on the right side of the House that the Sustainable Use Dire…

19 Jun

2025

EN Speech

Institutional and political implications of the EU enlargement process and global challenges (debate)

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Mr President, Madam Commissioner, in times of rising authoritarianism, in times where we see brutal warfare in our immediate neighbourhood on European soil, if we European states want to defend our way of life, the rule of law, democracy, human rights, we have to stand together and we have to speak with a united voice. And yes, for this, we need to rethink whether majority voting in terms of forei…

17 Jun

2025

EN Answer

2023 and 2024 reports on Montenegro (debate)

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Thank you colleague Sokol for this question. And yes, the Montenegrin voters have elected their representatives and it's not my role to comment on this. And what I see up to now is that the government, with its majority that also includes Serbian representatives, is delivering legislation on a daily basis. But we also see that sometimes there are some obstacles coming in the way, and they might al…