What Thomas spoke about.

17 Jun

2025

EN Speech

2023 and 2024 reports on Montenegro (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, yes, Montenegro is still the frontrunner and has a realistic chance to join the European Union until the year 2028. Yes, the government is delivering EU acquis legislation at a very high pace. And yes, Montenegro is a state on the Balkans that has kept good neighbourly relations very much in the past, and I very much recommend to invest time and effort to also do this i…

8 May

2025

EN Speech

80 years after the end of World War II - freedom, democracy and security as the heritage of Europe (debate)

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Madam President, colleagues, the Second World War was raw brutality. It was demonisation and dehumanisation of big parts of society. It was devastating warfare, total destruction and mass murder. That's what it was. Fascism didn't happen overnight. It was carefully woven into parts of society or into society, piece by piece, many years before the Nazis took over Germany and Austria, driven by blin…

6 May

2025

EN Speech

2023 and 2024 reports on Kosovo (debate)

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Mr President, Madam Commissioner Kos, Kosovo has developed towards a modern rule of law state and is still developing towards a modern rule of law state. And yes, there are still things to do, and they are not yet there. But they are developing really well. It's a country with 100 % foreign policy and security policy alignment, which is really impressive in this Balkan region. It's a flourishing d…

13 Mar

2025

EN Speech

A Vision for Agriculture and Food (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, you expect us farmers to produce cheap for the global markets. You expect us farmers to produce affordable food for our citizens. You expect us farmers to produce extra cheap raw material for the food processing industry and for the retailers in the European Union. That's why farmers need income support from taxpayers' pockets. This income support should be based on the…

13 Feb

2025

EN Speech

EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, has the Commissioner been listening to the family farmers on both sides of the Atlantic that urge us not to sign this trade agreement? Or have you been listening to the big land‑owning oligarchs that are teaming up with the agrochemical multinationals that run thousands of hectares‑big farms, spreading pesticides that are banned in Europe with aeroplanes? Have you be…

12 Feb

2025

EN Speech

Collaboration between conservatives and far right as a threat for competitiveness in the EU (topical debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, as an Austrian, I am once again reminded of the darkest times of the last century. Once again, the Christian Democrats and conservatives are allowing the extreme right to take power. At this very moment, there are negotiations still going on about making the extreme-right leader of Austrian FPÖ the chancellor of one of our European Member States, and they ar…

21 Jan

2025

DE Answer

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

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I don't think you listened to me. I talked about how dangerous it is for our democracy to give you power. Take a look at our beautiful Hungary together – my grandfather is Hungarian: the restriction of media freedom, the restriction of freedom of expression, the restriction of the independent judiciary. Look at your hospitals that are completely on the ground. Look at your education system, look a…

21 Jan

2025

EN Answer

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

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I don't know what Mr Musk meant with his move, but to me, as an Austrian, it looked like a Hitler salute. And to many citizens, it looked like a Hitler salute. I don't know what he meant with it, and I cannot judge this, but what I see is that terms that were used in Nazi Germany and Nazi Austria are getting normalised. Our candidate for the extreme right is calling himself 'Volkskanzler'. That's …

21 Jan

2025

DE Speech

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

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Mr President, Commissioner! I think it has been clear since yesterday that we cannot rely on the US as a partner or even friends in terms of security policy or trade policy. But what has also been clear since yesterday is that the US will make policy for the super-rich and especially Musk and Trump for further enriching themselves. And Trump joins his colleagues, the autocrats Xi Jinping and Putin…

19 Dec

2024

DE Speech

Commission’s plans to include the revision of the outstanding proposals on animal welfare in its work plan for 2025 (debate)

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Thank you, Madam President. And also thank you very much to our Commissioner Várhelyi for being here today in this debate – unfortunately not many MEPs, but the public is very interested in this issue: Well over 80% of the European population wants improvements in the area of animal welfare. In this respect, this should be a clear mandate for all of us to work on it. And many farmers also welcome …

18 Dec

2024

DE Speech

Challenges facing EU farmers and agricultural workers: improving working conditions, including their mental well-being (debate)

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Mr. Chairman! Commissioner Hansen! If my colleagues in the dairy industry get up every morning at 5 a.m. and then find that the milk is no longer being picked up – for cost reasons – then that creates frustration. And when you see that the price of milk also falls below the production costs, then that creates very great frustration. And if you are still in a pinch, because you bear the entire entr…

18 Dec

2024

EN Speech

Preparation of the EU-Western Balkans Summit (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, yes, it was a wake up call to see the Russian army invading Ukraine. It was a wake up call also for some of our governments that did not have the priority when it comes to enlargement of the Western Balkan countries - some of them have finally realised that the Western Balkans is not somewhere at the outskirts but in the inner yard of the European Union. And I ver…

27 Nov

2024

EN Speech

Topical debate (Rule 169) - Budapest Declaration on the New European Competitiveness Deal - A future for the farming and manufacturing sectors in the EU (topical debate)

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Mr President, yes, if you read the Budapest declaration, you have to go all the way through the bullet points to the last bullet point, which is finally touching agriculture. And yes, it says we need a resilient and sustainable agriculture. And, God's sake, it says farmers need a proper income. But isn't that in contradiction with point 11, open trade policy? And unfortunately, you missed the word…

23 Oct

2024

EN Speech

Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (A10-0004/2024 - Li Andersson) (vote)

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Madam President, on our screen it was showing amendment 36, so it was unclear what we are voting on. Can we please repeat this vote?

19 Sep

2024

DE Answer

Droughts and extreme weather events as a threat to local communities and EU agriculture in times of climate change (debate)

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Good morning, Mr. Colleague! I am not surprised that you have no idea what measures are being taken. It is your group that does not appear here in Parliament at work, but all you are doing here is sowing hatred and discord. You don't even work here. The measures that the Greens have put in place in all the countries where they govern are the expansion of renewable energy, fewer fossil fuels, more …

19 Sep

2024

DE Speech

Droughts and extreme weather events as a threat to local communities and EU agriculture in times of climate change (debate)

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Mr President, Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski! March 2024: Winter drought in Spain; Only 16% of the water reservoirs were filled. Then July 2024: Heat wave in Romania, more than 40 degrees, 90% of the harvest of sunflowers and maize destroyed. Sicily: extreme drought; Sicily becomes a desert. Last week: country below in Poland, Czech Republic, Austria; Tens of thousands of citizens have los…

16 Sep

2024

EN Speech

Outcome of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner McGuinness, welcome, colleagues, back from the summer. For some of us it was not so easy to reach Parliament these days, literally speaking from an Austrian perspective. But we're actually debating the dialogue today, and I think it's a good sign that when people sit down and talk to each other, we even find a lot of common ground. So this is a pathway out of polarisatio…

24 Apr

2024

DE Speech

The attack on climate and nature: far right and conservative attempts to destroy the Green Deal and prevent investment in our future (topical debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner! From theory to practice: My farm is located in the south of Austria. In 2022, we had to deal with a massive drought. In 2023, a hurricane dragged a swath of devastation through my forest. Last Sunday we had 30 degrees plus – mid-April, in the south of Austria. It's been snowing since yesterday. As I stand here in front of you and speak, the forest breaks down in my home…

11 Mar

2024

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, thank you, as we sign up to the actual motion from the EPP, but we would like to ask a split vote on the addition of Renew because we are in favour of having a resolution, but we’re not in favour of enlarging the scope to generally ensure stability of the EU agricultural production, because banning foodstuffs from Belarus and from Russia has a security aspect – it has an aspect th…

28 Feb

2024

EN Speech

Deepening EU integration in view of future enlargement (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, yes, this report that was built with a big consensus between the political parties is also pointing out on the criteria that we need to apply when it comes to new membership candidates. Yes, there’s also geostrategic reasons for us to speed up the candidacy process, but we, in this report, state very clearly that Copenhagen criteria have to be the basis of n…

26 Feb

2024

DE Speech

Tackling the inflation in food prices and its social consequences and root causes (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner! About a quarter of food inflation comes from food speculation. But by this I do not mean trading on the stock exchanges, but betting on rising or falling prices. The Commission has promised to look at this and to do something about it. My specific question is: What did you do about it, or what do you plan to do? About 10 percent of the price increases can neither be exp…

6 Feb

2024

EN Speech

EU2040 climate target (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, I miss dedication to end fossil fuels until 2040. I also missed an ambition to end fossil subsidies until 2040. I miss a goal of 100 % renewables until 2040, even though renewables are the cheapest form of energy for our citizens and for industry, and they are that form of energy that makes us independent from fossil autocracies. By the way, it keeps the money of energy…

6 Feb

2024

DE Answer

Plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed (debate)

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Ms Šojdrová, firstly, I referred to products in the supermarket and not to the issue of seed labelling. And secondly: It is not my opinion, but that of the European Court of Justice. 2018 the judgment: New genomic techniques are also genetically modified organisms. Read the court ruling of the European Court of Justice, where you will then learn what the realities look like.…

6 Feb

2024

DE Speech

Plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner! So you want to ban GMO-free production in Austria? Mind you, a country that is 100% GMO-free, conventional and organic. So you want to contaminate organic agriculture with genetic engineering? Mind you, a production method that works as close to nature as possible. Genetic engineering is the opposite of natural. So you do not want to apply your own precautionary prin…

17 Jan

2024

EN Speech

Situation in Serbia following elections (debate)

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Madam President, there’s clear evidence of electoral fraud, and we have clear evidence of additional voters being brought in by buses into Belgrade. Even dead people have voted, and there’s clear evidence that this fraud was well organised, well ahead of the elections. These elections were not just influenced: they were clearly stolen. Hundreds of thousands of Serbian citizens have been protesting…