What Bernd spoke about.

7

Jul

2026

DE Speech

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EU-Mexico (joint debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Globally, we live in economically turbulent times; The water is stormy. And of course Mexico is experiencing this very, very strongly. Mr. Trump has negatively impacted Mexico's economy eight times over the past year with various tariff threats and measures. There was a dispute over the distribution of water. How can you do that these days? Ther…

15

Jun

2026

EN Speech

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EU-US trade deal (joint debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, now we are concluding the debate, and I thought, 'Which rock song could be the best for concluding this debate?' First, I thought of The End by The Doors. But I think this is not the right one. The right one is by Emerson, Lake and Palmer: From the Beginning. Because we are starting now with a legal text where the European Parliament is guaranteeing to the citiz…

15

Jun

2026

DE Speech

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EU-US trade deal (joint debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Now we are on the eve of the vote on the EU implementation part of the Scotland deal. If you come from the coast, from the sea, you know a bit about sailing and ships. Then it is completely clear: A handshake or a joint statement It is not enough to run a ship. Clear guidelines are needed and clear legislation is needed. That is why I am also proud…

28

Apr

2026

EN Speech

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Generalised scheme of tariff preferences (A9-0147/2022 - Bernd Lange) (vote)

Madam President, dear colleagues, we are here for the adoption of a compromise of a trilogue, which took time: four years. Now, we have a reasonable outcome, which is a clear signal to our partners worldwide that we are a reliable partner and we really want to give the poorest countries of the world access to our market, but not without any conditions. We made clear that they have to respect human…

26

Mar

2026

EN Speech

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Non-application of customs duties on imports of certain goods (A10-0070/2026 - Bernd Lange) (vote)

Madam President, dear colleagues, as the famous lobster deal, we adopted it in 2018, the first time. We should go ahead and negotiate with the Council. Therefore, I ask you to give the approval for going into interinstitutional negotiations based on Rule 60(4).…

26

Mar

2026

EN Speech

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Adjustment of customs duties and opening of tariff quotas for the import of certain goods originating in the United States of America (A10-0069/2026 - Bernd Lange) (vote)

Madam President, thanks a lot for the strong vote and for the strong mandate. I ask now to go to interinstitutional negotiations based on Rule 60(4).

26

Mar

2026

EN Speech

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Adjustment of customs duties and opening of tariff quotas for the import of certain goods originating in the United States of America (A10-0069/2026 - Bernd Lange) (vote)

Madam President, dear colleagues, I guess now it's really time to make a clear statement of the European Parliament in the direction of the United States that we are sticking to a deal, but with clear conditions – preconditions, suspension conditions and also a limited time for the whole exercise. I am really a believer. I am a believer in the power of the Parliament. If we stick together, we can …

26

Mar

2026

EN Speech

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EU-US trade deal (joint debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, thanks a lot also for the support for my report. Perhaps at the end of this debate I will quote another song – a famous song: I'm a believer. Yes, I'm a believer in the power of the European Parliament. We have the power to secure a system which is predictable and stable in the future. Therefore we need six 'S's: we need a sunrise clause; we need a suspension clause,…

26

Mar

2026

DE Speech

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EU-US trade deal (joint debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to discuss four points with regard to the two reports. The first – and I quote a song from the past good times of rock music: Don't let me be misunderstood. It is clear to me that a deal is not an agreement. An agreement, which we negotiate, is about commitments, about commitments, about Safeguards, including a dispute settlemen…

11

Mar

2026

DE Speech

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Multilateral negotiations in view of the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, 26 to 29 March 2026 (debate)

21

Jan

2026

DE Speech

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European Council meeting (joint debate)

Mr President, Madam Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Mr President Costa, ladies and gentlemen! I'm from Northern Germany, and there's a saying that says: If you feel the wind of change, then some are looking for a safe haven and others are re-setting the sails. I believe that, given the global situation, there is no safe haven and the ducking away from conflict does not help. In this respect, lad…

26

Nov

2025

EN Speech

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Implementation of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (debate)

Madam President, Maroš, dear colleagues, one year ago we were in London and we compared the new openness in the relation between the European Union and the United Kingdom with the creation of a new, wonderful, successful pop song. We felt the vibes – they were really good. And the music – it was really good and wonderful. But the text was missing. Now, one year after, we're looking again to this w…

25

Nov

2025

EN Speech

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Effective use of the EU trade and industrial policy to tackle China’s export restrictions (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, I recently had a discussion with the CEO of a big German company, and he told me I was a bit naive towards China. And I said to him, this was not naive: it was the economic strategy of your company. And that's the reality. European companies earned a lot of money over years, over decades in China, because wages are so low and the environmental obligations are so low.…

8

Oct

2025

DE Speech

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Withdrawal of the European Union from the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) (A10-0186/2025 - Bernd Lange) (vote)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, It is unusual for us to leave an international organization. But many other partners such as Thailand, which are now the largest rubber producers, have left this organization. Only 10 percent of the producers are still there, and that's why it makes no sense to be in this organization anymore. And that's why I recommend leaving.…

10

Sep

2025

DE Speech

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Implementation of EU-US trade deal and the prospect of wider EU trade agreements (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister! We don't make any trade was. This is really the starting point in the United States. We see that we have come into a situation where we have been virtually blackmailed, also with the question of our security partnership. Fortunately, the time of kings is over, where kings make treaties without questioning the population. Now is the time of Parliament. And Maro…

9

Jul

2025

DE Speech

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EU-US trade negotiations (debate)

Mr President, Madam Minister, Maroš! Tariffs are unjustified – as the Minister has said again – and that is why we must formulate our ideas clearly. And if, Maroš, there is now a deal in the air, then the criteria must be clear, which we as a parliament can accept at all. I think it's clear: With a deal, tariffs must immediately drop significantly. Secondly: It is clear that we have an Stand-still…

8

Jul

2025

DE Answer

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Preparation for the 2025 EU–China Summit - Tackling China's critical raw materials export restrictions

Fortunately, dear colleague, we have significantly enlarged and improved the toolbox in recent years: We have the international Procurement instrument created what we are applying now; we have this Foreign-Subsidies‐instrument adapted, which we also apply and which has led to a significant improvement in the conditions of competition; and we have this anti‐Coercion‐instrument Even in the pocket, s…

8

Jul

2025

DE Speech

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Preparation for the 2025 EU–China Summit - Tackling China's critical raw materials export restrictions

Madam President, Madam Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Recently I had a discussion with a chairman of a large company who told me: We were a bit naive about China. I told him that we were not naive, that was economic policy. Labour costs were low and, above all, environmental requirements were low. That's why all raw material processors are currently in China. Lithium – 70% is proces…

8

May

2025

EN Speech

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Suspending certain parts of Regulation (EU) 2015/478 as regards imports of Ukrainian products into the European Union (A10-0059/2025 - Karin Karlsbro) (vote)

I strongly oppose this request. First, we discussed it quite seriously in the INTA Committee, secondly there is a really urgent need, because the current regulation is expiring on 5 June, and, thirdly, this is a strong sign of solidarity with Ukraine and we support it.…

6

May

2025

DE Speech

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A unified EU response to unjustified US trade measures and global trade opportunities for the EU (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! There are three “ver-’. We must defend, disseminate and negotiate. Defend against illegal tariffs – and I think it is good that you want to use all the tools, Commissioner. We need to broaden: our basis with reasonable trade agreements, fair partnerships with many countries of the world. I also think it is good that you have brought news, including…

11

Mar

2025

DE Speech

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Clean Industrial Deal (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The analysis of Clean industrial deals I agree, but I do not have a bit of detail. You have rightly said that energy prices are a key competitive moment. Does that mean you want to change the aid scheme? Does that mean you want to make electricity price compensation? So I want to have a little more meat on my bones. And then there is external se…

13

Feb

2025

EN Answer

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EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement (debate)

Saskia, you are not correct. Indeed, I am really proud, as the Commission took over my proposal for a binding, strong sustainability chapter in June 2022. And in this agreement, in the proposal by the Commission, the requirements, the obligations for sustainability are binding. The only issue is how we can really sanction this. And there we have some differences. Let's see how Parliament will deve…

13

Feb

2025

DE Answer

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EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement (debate)

I just spent two hours discussing with the farmers last week. It's about important facts. And if you look at the fact that German and European agriculture has had a surplus of EUR 65 billion in exports, it shows that they also have an interest in exporting. Or that we have opportunities for dairy products, for cheese, for alcoholic beverages, especially in the Mercosur sector. And one has to say a…

13

Feb

2025

DE Speech

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EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner! My dear colleagues! I find it dishonest to stand here with an index finger and say that the world should recover from the European nature without making reasonable agreements with other partners on an equal footing. And this is exactly what we are doing, so that we want to implement the same goals together with the governments of Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and Argenti…

11

Feb

2025

DE Speech

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Preparedness for a new trade era: multilateral cooperation or tariffs (debate)

Madam President, Mr. Minister! Commissioner! Dear colleagues! Even Isaac Newton knew that an action always triggers a backlash. And of course we are now experiencing that too. I read President Trump's order this morning. It basically put its 2018 tariffs back into full effect and abolished all exceptions, including our quotas of duty-free imports. By the way: by the way, also against Ukraine, whic…