Speeches

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Today we are talking about the EU's response to the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the European Parliament responds to the rampant fourth wave and the new variants of the virus, we are witnessing, ladies and gentlemen, right on our own. Record incidences and a partial state of emergency in the intensive care units apparently do not scare anyone here. As usual, Parliament moved from Brussels to Strasbourg for four days this month with thousands of Members and staff. This deeply questionable ritual is no longer just an outrageous waste of tax money in these difficult times, but in these times it is also an attack on public health. While everywhere in Europe the measures are tightened again and fundamental rights of people are again restricted, the EU Parliament happily tours the country and thus organizes its very own Superspreader event. That's the sheer mockery. However, citizens have to be even more derided when Commission President von der Leyen now calls for an EU-wide vaccination obligation. Didn't the Commission's failure to procure vaccines just a few months ago prove that a delegation of measures to protect the population from the dangers of the virus at EU level is anything but a model of success? Has this failure been forgotten? Should the next fundamentally wrong transfer of competences to the Commission provide the next proof of this? But above all: A general obligation to vaccinate is certainly not the solution – not nationally and certainly not Europe-wide. The introduction of a vaccination obligation against this virus is not medically expedient, legally an inadmissible interference with fundamental rights and ethically simply indisputable. Politics must create trust, not destroy it. Threats, exclusion and coercion, as we are all experiencing at the moment, are completely counterproductive. Those who demand compulsory vaccination do not help to combat the pandemic, but continue to divide our society and trample citizens' civil liberties underfoot. I say it clearly: Anyone who wants to be vaccinated must have the opportunity to do so at any time and anywhere. Anyone who chooses not to do so has the inalienable right to do so. That's why we say: Yes to self-responsibility, yes to freedom!

Mr President, Commissioner and Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen! By the 26th Once upon a time, we all witnessed the great spectacle of the ‘World Climate Conference’. In order to discuss in a media-effective way how we can save the climate of our earth, some participants had to fly in to Glasgow by private jet. But to whom do I say this: Ms von der Leyen is well known to appreciate the advantages of this less climate-friendly means of transport, even on ridiculously short distances. Now, how can the results of COP26 be summarised? The increasingly disorientated politics bends irrationality and scaremongering of the Fridays-for-Future kids. A few countries want to save the world's climate in an unprecedented hubris by virtually systematically ruining their economies, while by far the world's largest issuer, China, continues not to think about limiting itself at all. I say it very clearly: We do not need scaremongering, a hundredth climate conference, absurd XY-degree targets, but we need innovation, technological progress and above all prudence to reduce CO2 emissions in the long term. It should be known by way of example what a technical masterpiece state-of-the-art diesel engines are, how far this technology is superior in terms of efficiency and ecology to other drive technologies. It is insane to break this technology out of political arbitrariness. The future does not belong to any ideologically motivated prohibition mischief, but to a clever and complete openness to technology. The current massive subsidy-driven e-car hype will only cause an incomprehensible shaking of the head about this mistake of our time in two decades. It is economically, ecologically and even socially nonsensical and counterproductive. My party and I have always been committed to state-of-the-art nuclear power as a source of energy. I therefore expressly welcome the fact that more and more countries in Europe are realising that we cannot do without them if we want to reduce our CO2 emissions while ensuring a reliable and affordable energy supply. New, safe and efficient reactors that are almost completely residue-free are indispensable for this. A simultaneous phase-out of nuclear power and coal-fired power generation, as Germany insanely aspires to do, will in any case lead us to disaster. Anyone who seriously believes that the energy supply of modern industrialized countries can be ensured solely with wind and solar energy has lost nothing, but really nothing, in environmental and energy policy.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. China's unbridled economic and military expansionist drive is without a doubt one of the greatest threats to our Western community of values. It is therefore very welcome that we are talking today about intensifying EU-Taiwan relations. Both EU Member States and Taiwan in particular are suffering from the global power aspirations of the totalitarian regime in Beijing. Here in Europe, the People's Republic of China deliberately leads entire nations into economic and technological dependence and then uses it with all its might to exert political pressure. Taiwan, meanwhile, is facing ever more blatant military aggression by Beijing. The question of a possible reunification of the two states is certainly not to be answered by us Europeans, but certainly much less by military force. We are convinced of Taiwan's right to self-determination, and we have a strong interest in peace and stability in the Far East. We must not shrug our shoulders when China threatens to do so. No, the People’s Republic of China is not a fair partner, not economically – China’s less squeamish rise in recent decades, which does not comply with the rules of fair competition, has already cost many thousands of jobs, especially in Germany – and certainly not politically. Taiwan, on the other hand. It is therefore good and right for us to further develop our trade relations with this high-tech country. As a trading partner and bastion of freedom and democracy, it deserves our sincere support.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen. Do you even notice this in our well-climated Brussels glass stamps? Millions of people in the EU are afraid of the coming winter. And this fear has concrete reasons. Already in the past cold and snowy winter, millions of citizens could no longer afford to heat normally. Quite a few sat freezing in unheated dwellings because they could no longer pay the energy prices. This unacceptable situation threatens to worsen again. In Germany, heating costs rose by 33 percent in September compared to the same month last year. Electricity prices continue to rise astronomically, and the current energy crisis, to be clear, is largely politically indebted. This crisis is the result of the disastrous energy policies of the EU and national governments. Around three quarters of the electricity price in Germany is determined solely by taxes, levies and network charges. In the course of the so-called energy transition, prices are deliberately artificially increased – for climate protection purposes! Such victims are unavoidable – victims which, of course, hardly affect the decision-makers themselves. And so we are heading for a dark and cold winter for millions of Europeans. Dear colleagues in our well-tempered plenary, I would like to make a proposal to you: Let's be climate-protecting exemplary and in solidarity this winter. Let us simply stop the heating of all parliamentary premises from November to March to get an impression of how the victims expected by the people feel in concrete terms. Well, venerable Greens and gathered Climate Savior bureaucrats, how would that be?

Mr President! One minute, three short thoughts. Firstly: This house applauds new own resources that you propose. I'm saddened by this. There should be protest votes. But unfortunately, we are essentially dealing with budgetists and redistributors here. The second thought: European youth – a lot of talk here – should be free and not be guided through their youth on the backbone of any programme. Let them do it. They can do this without the EU, and they can do it much better themselves. I am very sorry that young people are leaving this country and leaving this EU. They don't go to EU countries. Many well-educated young people leave the EU – this is particularly stark in Germany. Third thought: If you really want to prevent overexploitation of nature, and I believe you do, then you have to take a different approach. This is not possible with wind energy. And, Mrs. von der Leyen, it's not possible with e-mobility either. If you really look at the consumption of resources, you will be surprised. Wind energy is catastrophic. This can be done offshore – completely excluded in the country. You can thus not ensure a permanent energy supply, it is overexploitation of nature. That's the problem.

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission! There is no need for an anointing State of the Union speech for the citizens of the EU, as you have presented us with another one today. What your speech provides in terms of content are, without all the false pathos and soberly considered, never-before-seen spending orgies to the supposed forced happiness from Brussels. Green Deal, Fit-for-55, Reconstruction Fund – these are all ciphers for even more central government, for even more absurd and meaningless subsidies, for even more bureaucracy and even more gangling of citizens. And citizens should pay for this with their own hard-earned money – through the introduction of EU taxes as well as through EU debt, which is not provided for in the European treaties for good reasons. But that doesn't bother you in your de facto socialist exhilaration. You want to save the world, don't you? They want to restore the global climate to Europe. What a hubris! And you want to rebuild Europe as if it were destroyed by COVID, as it really was after the Second World War, but not today. However, you obviously don't care in your insatiable greed for still more power and even more control over people's lives. Have you ever come up with the idea that the citizens of the Union want one thing above all else from the EU, namely to be left alone, apart from a few undisputed real tasks? To be able to keep your hard-earned money yourself, instead of throwing it in the throat of Moloch Brussels in the form of additional taxes, or to take on debt for meaningless projects in which their children and grandchildren will still have to pay off? It speaks volumes when, as always, you, Mrs von der Leyen, receive the greatest support from the left half of this Chamber. It is very convenient for you that in Germany there is a government of red socialists, green socialists and expropriation euphoric communists ante portas. This is likely to fuel your spending and redistribution orgies even further. Your Green Deal, Frau von der Leyen, your Green Deal is not a deal! A deal requires the consent of two free contractors. But: It is an unprecedented attack on the economic foundations of our continent. So the EU wants to save the whole planet on its own! The Europeans out there are allowed to pay the bill for this gigantic hubris. We Germans are already learning today what the absurd parallel phase-out of coal-fired power generation and nuclear energy means for individual households. Germany already has the highest electricity prices in Europe thanks to Mrs Merkel's completely messed up energy transition. More and more people can no longer afford the electricity, heating or gasoline for the way to work. A bitter taste for our neighbours. Yes, listen carefully, with the Green Deal this applies to your countries too, ladies and gentlemen. Madam President of the Commission, I tell you very clearly: You, the EU and especially our home country Germany are on a capital and historical erroneous path. If Europe is to be preserved as a prosperous, economically successful continent and at the same time your goal of massive CO2 reduction is to be achieved, then neither with planned economic experiments by the EU Commission nor with pseudo-ecological approaches by the so-called Greens, which destroy our landscape with thousands of wind turbines as sacred buildings of their green creeds. This means that we are only heading for blackouts and energy rationing. But: At the same time, this is only possible with high-tech. It doesn't come from Brussels. And it can only be done with the full use of nuclear energy – the most modern nuclear energy of the fourth generation. Your self-praise speech is therefore terribly wrong. With your course, Mrs von der Leyen, you are literally leading Europeans into a cold and dark future. No, the EU is not fit. She is now a sick patient who lacks insight into her own illness as a necessary basis for any recovery. This applies to all areas, including those that I am unable to address here due to time constraints: COVID policy, for example, or the catastrophic errors of migration policy. With the disturbing complacency that speaks from your speech, Mrs. von der Leyen, you are not meeting the great challenges of the coming generations. On the contrary, unfortunately. In a quarter of a century, I predict, in a quarter of a century, the political errors of our time will only be shaken in the head. And in order to recognize this already today, one does not have to be a prophet at all, but only master the handling of data and facts, then one understands this.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Once again, Hungary is the target of an EU campaign against its sovereignty. Pretext this time: The Hungarian Child Protection Act. Many of you have been so busy waving the rainbow flag in recent days that you obviously haven't found time to really look into this Hungarian law. If you did, you would see: It does not discriminate against homosexuals in any way. It is certainly not homophobic. And no, it is not hateful either, but it is against the sexual abuse of children. So please stop spreading nonsense about this law. I would like the EU, but also many national governments, to show such determination in protecting our children as the government in Budapest demonstrates. When the European Commission speaks of principles and treaties, the first principle of the treaties is subsidiarity. And so it is clear: It is not for the EU and its institutions to interfere in democratic decisions taken in the Member States. The Hungarian parliament has lawfully and democratically enacted the law. The EU must accept this, whether it suits it or not. Hungary, Poland, the infringement procedure against Germany – it cannot be overlooked at all: The EU centralists are becoming more and more aggressive. They are more and more openly reaching for power centralization. And it is precisely this striving for power that is an unacceptable attack on the Europe of Adenauer, Schuman and de Gaulle, on the Europe of the fatherlands. Human rights in Hungary and Poland are certainly not in danger, democracy in Europe is already in danger if the EU does not immediately respect the decisions of parliaments and courts in the sovereign Member States. Mrs. von der Leyen has to let herself be said: It is not some Hungarian law that is a disgrace, but its power-hungry assault on our sovereign nations.