What Martin spoke about.

13

Dec

2023

DE Speech

Watch

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 14-15 December 2023 (debate)

Madam President, The outdated European debt rules prevent us from investing in the future. In times of social inequality, economic slump, climate change and war, a brutal brake on the future is being imposed on all EU countries by the German traffic light government. That is why, Mrs von der Leyen, to your surprise, but also to my own surprise, I must confess, I propose that we together exert poli…

4

Oct

2023

DE Speech

Watch

Decent Housing for All (topical debate)

Madam President, What is currently happening on the European housing markets is nothing less than a social catastrophe for the tenants, especially because the large housing corporations with their uninhibited gold rush pull the last cent out of the tenants' pocket. For years, rents have been rising unchecked, while wages and incomes are lagging behind. In many cases, housing becomes unaffordable. …

13

Sep

2023

DE Speech

Watch

State of the Union (debate)

Madam President, Political success is not measured in beautiful Sunday speeches, Mrs. von der Leyen, but in the reality of life of the majority of people. You always like to use big words in your speeches. Today, the reputation of history has been sought. Some time ago we talked about Man-on-the-Moon-Moment in climate protection, social justice, tax justice, animal welfare, respect and dignity. Th…

14

Jun

2023

DE Speech

Watch

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of recent steps towards concluding the Migration Pact (debate)

Mr President! If you have to listen to the inhuman nonsense of the right here, then you can get pretty nauseous. But you only get really bad when you know that the European governments want to translate this contempt for people in need into politics and throw themselves in the dust before the extreme right and their xenophobia. It gets even worse when some of the governing parties - dear Terry, yo…

9

May

2023

DE Speech

Watch

This is Europe - Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz (debate)

Madam President, Chancellor Scholz! People are longing for answers because of the ever-increasing social injustice, and unfortunately you did not address this issue at all in your speech. Exploding food prices, rising rents, one in four children in the European Union is growing up in poverty, and 54 million people do not know how to pay their energy bills. On the other hand, wealth grows immensely…

15

Mar

2023

DE Speech

Watch

Conclusions of the Special European Council meeting of 9 February and preparation of the European Council meeting of 23-24 March 2023 (debate)

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission von der Leyen! I would like to address a topic that you have unfortunately not touched upon in your speech so far. Let's take a look at the latest figures on poverty: Over 20 million children in the European Union are affected by poverty. In front of the food outlets, record queues are forming all over Europe, while the major energy and food compa…

15

Feb

2023

DE Speech

Watch

A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age (debate)

Madam President, This is a nightmare for all transatlantic Europeans. Joe Biden relies on protectionism and , and his IRA is an attack on the industrial base in the EU and thus the economic viability, because he actively relies on luring industrial production from Europe to the US via aggressive tax dumping. And all that comes to mind for the Conservatives – as is currently the case in the debate …

2

Feb

2023

DE Speech

Watch

Preparation of the EU-Ukraine Summit (debate)

Madam President, I have now listened very carefully to all the previous speakers. After all, it is a question of war and peace in Europe that we are discussing here, of life and death in our immediate neighbourhood. I must confess that I am quite appalled at how little in all the speeches made so far has played a role in the effort to return to peace in Ukraine as soon as possible. Of course, Russ…

15

Dec

2022

DE Speech

Watch

90 years after Holodomor: Recognising the mass killing through starvation as genocide (debate)

Madam President, Holodomor is one of the most horrific crimes of Stalinism. It killed millions of people, mainly in Ukraine, but also in the North Caucasus, the Volga region, the Southern Urals, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan. This crime arose from the political decision of the then Soviet leadership under Stalin to enforce the industrialisation of the country and the collectivisation of agricultu…

14

Dec

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 15 December 2022 (debate)

Madam President, In the winter of 2020, over 35 million Europeans in the EU were unable to pay for their electricity or heating, and this winter it will be many million more people. Unfortunately, the heads of state and government are still arguing about how effective measures can be taken, what those can look like that can help people in this existential crisis for many over the month. There are …

13

Dec

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate) (debate)

Mr President! While many people are currently struggling to carry home the essentials of food in their bags, a greedy group of MPs and staff from this house are dragging suitcases full of bribes around the area. This is the picture that will remain of this shocking scandal. We cannot yet estimate the extent of this bribery scandal. But in order to prevent further damage from this institution, maxi…

19

Oct

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 20-21 October 2022 (debate)

Madam President, The problems we are talking about here have been the same for many months. People are groaning under the exploding energy and food prices. But instead of providing a quick remedy, the heads of government in the Council have been fighting fatally for months, and the Commission, too, has so far shone rather with hesitant action and inadequate proposals. This is especially fatal for …

5

Oct

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Russia’s escalation of its war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

. – Madam President! This war must be ended as soon as possible. Russia's illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine, partial mobilization and threats to use nuclear weapons have contributed to a massive escalation of the conflict. Putin ignites and plays with the fire in which many more innocent people will die if this damn war is not stopped as soon as possible. That is why we demand an end to the R…

8

Jun

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Conclusions of the special European Council meeting of 30-31 May 2022 (debate)

Madam President, The food price explosion is a serious problem, especially for lower-income households and families. The price of butter increased by 40% last year and the price of fruit and vegetables by 20%. The prices for bread go through the ceiling, and the doner around the corner now costs 6 euros. I do not want children to be sent to school at the end of the month without break bread, becau…

4

May

2022

DE Speech

Watch

The social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine - reinforcing the EU’s capacity to act (debate)

Madam President, In the train stations across Europe, countless volunteers welcome millions of refugees from Ukraine – people seeking protection, but also housing, income, jobs, millions fleeing a brutal war and the destruction of their homeland. Millions of tons of grain are currently blocked in Ukraine. The harvest is threatened. In a supermarket near me around the corner there has been no sunfl…

3

May

2022

DE Speech

Watch

This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi (debate)

Madam President, Prime Minister Draghi! The Italian government is taking decisive action against Russian oligarchs and freezing their possessions and assets. However, in order for you not to remain seated on the maintenance costs for the frozen possessions, the goods must be confiscated, expropriated and used for other purposes. I want the oligarch villas to be made available to Ukrainian refugee …

5

Apr

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Question Time (Commission) - von der Leyen Commission: Two years on, implementation of the political priorities

Yes, very gladly, because again I do not share these answers and at this point also consider them unsatisfactory, because the global minimum taxation is based on the tax rate of 15 percent and, for example, small and medium-sized enterprises in the European Union have an average tax rate of 23 percent. So multinational companies are better off here than the crafts, for example, or the companies th…

5

Apr

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Question Time (Commission) - von der Leyen Commission: Two years on, implementation of the political priorities

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission! First of all, let me say that my group has been very supportive of this Question Time. For two reasons: Firstly, this gives you the opportunity to take stock of the political situation and, secondly, it gives us Members the opportunity to better exercise our democratic control over the Commission. I have a specific question for you relating to a …

9

Mar

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Debate with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas - The EU's role in a changing world and the security situation of Europe following the Russian aggression and invasion of Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, Welcome, Madam Prime Minister! The attack on Ukraine in violation of international law has deeply shaken many people. Many are currently afraid that this war could capture other countries and lead to an escalation between nuclear powers. We must do everything we can to ensure that this scenario does not occur and that this war in the heart of Europe is brought to an immediate end.…

16

Feb

2022

DE Speech

Watch

EU-Russia relations, European security and Russia’s military threat against Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, Europe is looking into the abyss of a war between Russia and Ukraine, the price of which would first have to be paid by the civilian population. From the outset, the key to overcoming this crisis, which challenges and threatens the entire European peace order, has been diplomacy, de-escalation and mutual verbal and military disarmament. This applies not only to the current efforts…

19

Jan

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Digital Services Act (continuation of debate)

Mr President! Years of inaction by lawmakers and the passivity of regulators have led to the development of digital surveillance capitalism, driven by the profit interests of Facebook, Google and Co. The Digital Services Act, which is exactly the law we are discussing here and now and today, is intended to put an end to this digital state of nature. Consumers must be protected, businesses must be …

18

Jan

2022

DE Speech

Watch

Election of the President of Parliament (announcement of results)

. – Madam President! Congratulations on your birthday! This is actually a nice coincidence that your birthday and your choice fall on one day. I suppose you're going to celebrate twice as hard today. Dear Roberta, you will also be accompanied very constructively by our group in your work, and I would like to congratulate you on the election on behalf of my group. The footsteps you follow, the line…

17

Jan

2022

EN Speech

Watch

Memorial ceremony for President David Maria Sassoli

– Madam President, dear family and loved ones of David, dear colleagues, let me start on a more personal note. The ceremony today is very moving because we are not only commemorating our President of the European Parliament, David Maria Sassoli, we are also commemorating a colleague and a friend whose optimism, openness and will for cooperation will be deeply missed. David’s entire work has been b…

14

Dec

2021

DE Speech

Watch

Digital Markets Act (debate)

Madam President, The Digital Single Market needs a structure that protects, on the one hand, innovative smaller companies and, on the other hand, users from the crushing dominance of monopolies. There is good news in this report: faster legal procedures in the event of non-compliance by the groups, appropriately high fines and the possibility of structural interventions in order to safeguard the m…

13

Dec

2021

DE Speech

Watch

The 30th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its importance for the future of Russia and Europe (debate)

Mr President! December marks the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the Soviet Union. And actually, it is time to take a differentiated look at European history and the lessons to be drawn from it for the present. Unfortunately, however, in the light of the debate so far, I have to say that some of my colleagues are not concerned with differentiation, but with unilateral partisanship. Once again,…