What Heléne spoke about.

22 Nov

2022

SV Speech

Gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. Seven out of ten are men on the boards of the largest listed companies in the EU. Seven out of ten are men. This is not because men have unique management skills, but because in practice they have set quotas for themselves. But now it's over. At last, we are getting a directive that will contribute to more gender equality and…

21 Nov

2022

SV Speech

Prevention, management and better care of diabetes in the EU on the occasion of World Diabetes Day (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. Nowhere in the world is type 1 diabetes as common among children and young people as here in the EU. This is an understatement of today's prevention efforts. Now we need to speed up. We need to prevent smoking, reduce alcohol consumption and eat more healthily. The EU has a role to play here, for example by making the labelli…

9 Nov

2022

SV Speech

Esports and video games (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. It started as an activity for a few people, but in a few decades it has become a common medium used in the EU by every second person between the ages of 6 and 64. We see it on smartphones, computers and game consoles. Computer games and esports have grown into a huge industry, and this development deserves our full attention. I …

9 Nov

2022

SV Speech

REPowerEU chapters in recovery and resilience plans (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. The increase in energy prices has increased Russia’s fossil fuel revenues from the EU by over EUR 100 billion. REPowerEU must be used to break the fossil dependency, because Putin should know that it is stopping more fossil revenues from the EU. This is why it is so important for the whole of the EU to rapidly increase renewable…

19 Oct

2022

SV Speech

Whitewashing of the anti-European extreme right in the EU (topical debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. The Commission and the Council! “The Sweden Democrats have a nationalist background and a deplorable past. They stand for things I don't stand for. They have a different view of culture and equality. The words come from the Swedish Liberal Party leader Johan Pehrson in a TV interview. The same party, the Liberals, has now entered into an agreement with this far-r…

19 Oct

2022

SV Speech

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

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Madam President, thank you very much. Commission, Council! Democracy, peace and freedom – these are three obvious values of our EU. Since Russia started its brutal war against Ukraine, our task of defending these values has become more important than ever. We are in the most serious security situation in a very, very long time, and we need to continue with strong sanctions against Russia's unaccep…

18 Oct

2022

SV Speech

Setting up a comprehensive framework for missing children and missing persons at risk (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Commissioner Johansson! They still have nightmares, and right now they say they never want to return to Ukraine again. The words come from a mother from Ukraine who fled with her children to Sweden. Ever since the war broke out, Ukrainian children have endured things that no child should have to experience. Already in March, we Social Democrats issued clear de…

18 Oct

2022

SV Speech

UN Climate Change Conference 2022 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt (COP27) (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Our Commissioner! Already at today's 1.2 degrees global warming, we see heavy floods, heatwaves and droughts. We are on our way to 2.7 degrees Celsius, and it is devastating both for our nature, for vulnerable groups and for a peaceful and safe world. We're in a hurry. We need to raise our targets at COP27. The EU must lead the way, show how solar, wind, water an…

5 Oct

2022

SV Speech

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

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commission, Council! Russia’s ruthless war is affecting Ukraine’s population every day, threatening Europe’s peace and security. As Russia escalates, we Social Democrats believe that the Commission's call for unity and solidarity is crucial and that Commissioner Johansson's guidelines on visas are reasonable. In this security situation, it is critical that the le…

3 Oct

2022

SV Speech

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - Serious cross-border threats to health (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. The pandemic is not over yet, but in the EU, thanks to vaccines, we have hopefully put the worst behind us. In a European Health Union, we now have new tools to prevent the next mutation of the coronavirus or an unknown virus from becoming a new pandemic. If Member States can share data early on, we can predict the next step,…

14 Sep

2022

SV Speech

State of the Union (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Madam President-in-Office of the Commission, Crises, climate, pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and now also an energy crisis – crises that require common solutions, political courage and clear leadership. I expect the Commission to live up to all this. Support for and solidarity with Ukraine must continue. This is important because we see women and children s…

6 Jul

2022

SV Speech

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

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Madam President, thank you very much. Commission, please. The Prime Minister! I am pleased to read that the three Presidencies, France, the Czech Republic and Sweden, will work for greater gender equality. At the same time, I am very concerned that gender issues are not highlighted as a sufficiently clear priority in the Czech Presidency. The threat to gender equality and women's human rights is v…

5 Jul

2022

SV Speech

EU action plan for the social economy (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. 2.8 million social economy actors create jobs for millions of people in the EU. This includes, for example, the small country store that supplies the village with groceries or the cooperative kindergarten that takes care of the children. With investments in the social economy, there are great opportunities to create more jobs, s…

8 Jun

2022

SV Speech

Global threats to abortion rights: the possible overturn of abortion rights in the US by the Supreme Court (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Once again, conservative forces are trying to limit the right of girls and women to control their own bodies. Once again, in another country, people's fundamental rights are being violated. Thousands of women die every year as a result of unsafe abortions. Millions of women are being treated acutely in hospitals. We know that abortion bans do not prevent abort…

8 Jun

2022

SV Speech

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

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Mr President, thank you very much. The Commission and the Council! More than a hundred days and the war in Ukraine is still ongoing. The EU is more united than ever and now we must continue to put pressure on Russia. The sixth package of sanctions, with a ban on oil imports, is therefore extremely important. Although not all oil is covered by the halt, it is still an important step to reduce Putin…

5 May

2022

SV Speech

The impact of the war against Ukraine on women (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner Johansson, thank you for your strong commitment to women and girls in the war in Ukraine – families waking up to planes and bombs falling, fear of your own family, but also over access to food, lack of medical care, a closed school and a destroyed playground. But Ukraine's women and girls worry about more than that. They fear the Russian soldiers who…

5 Apr

2022

SV Speech

EU Protection of children and young people fleeing the war against Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioners! When the theatre in Mariupol was bombed, a little girl was hidden in concrete and dust. She miraculously survived, but she hasn't spoken since. The war in Ukraine is a brutal war against our children. In mid-March, we Social Democrats therefore issued clear demands to protect the children affected by the war. I and we are grateful that today we are…

23 Mar

2022

SV Speech

Debriefing of the European Council meeting in Paris on 10 March 2022 - Preparation of the European Council meeting 24-25 March 2022 (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Article 2: ‘All children have the same rights and equal value.’ Article 3: “Children’s best interests shall be taken into account in all decisions concerning children.” The Convention on the Rights of the Child contains human rights for children, and all EU Member States are committed to them. We heard that a Ukrainian child flees Ukraine every second. Russia’…

8 Mar

2022

SV Speech

EU Gender Action Plan III (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. March 8 is an important day, a day to highlight the successes of women's rights, but it is also a day to highlight all the challenges and injustices that remain. Most of all, however, it is a day when we will raise our ambitions. We will stick to our goals and make sure that we actually act. We know that women's rights are human…

7 Mar

2022

SV Speech

Role of culture, education, media and sport in the fight against racism (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. The Commission! Every human being is unique, but human dignity is equal. All people, regardless of colour, ethnic and cultural affiliation or religion, have the right to be treated with respect. Nevertheless, racism and discrimination on grounds of ethnicity are still prevalent both within and outside the EU. This is totally unacceptable. The EU anti-racism ac…

1 Mar

2022

SV Speech

Russian aggression against Ukraine (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commission, High Representative! Yes, there is war in Europe. Bombs fall, civilians are murdered, homes become ruins and children cry. Putin's invasion can only be described as cold-blooded. The Russian government is solely responsible for this human suffering. But the EU is more united than ever, targeting the largest and most severe sanctions in its history. Uk…

17 Feb

2022

SV Speech

Protection of workers from the risks relating to exposure to carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxins at work (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner Schmit! As a social democrat, it goes without saying: No one should have to die from their work. In Europe, 10 people die every hour from cancer caused by dangerous substances and medicines at work. That's a hundred thousand people a year. It is about nurses, who care for cancer patients and who are at risk of getting cancer because of their job. It …

16 Feb

2022

SV Speech

The EU priorities for the 66th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner Dalli! The climate crisis is the biggest challenge of our time and we know that women and girls are being hit harder by the crisis, but at the same time they are showing leadership in the climate transition. Despite this, we do not take advantage of women's and girls' skills, knowledge and commitment when we are about to change. Women are also underr…

16 Feb

2022

SV Speech

One youth, one Europe (topical debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. The pandemic has been a particularly difficult time for children and young people. Many dreams have come back. Many have lost their jobs, others have seen their study or travel opportunities cancelled, and particularly affected are children and young people coming from already vulnerable environments with weaker social safety ne…

15 Feb

2022

SV Speech

Strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer(debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. 1.3 million people die from cancer every year in Europe and far more are diagnosed. Each of us in this room is affected by cancer. The disease does not only affect those who receive a diagnosis. It affects relatives, friends and society at large. The report calls for concrete action at all levels, and that is a good thing. Th…