Speeches

Madam President, thank you very much. Today, the verdict has fallen on the governments of Poland and Hungary. It was about time. Today's court decision is about us Europeans finally standing up for the peoples of Hungary and Poland, and not their governments. Today's court ruling shows that the human rights and freedoms of Polish and Hungarian citizens are important to all of us, concern all of us. The elections in Hungary, Commissioner, are right behind the door here. Is the Commission going to act and cut off the flow of money for Viktor Orbán, or will our money continue to finance a despot that no longer shares our common European values? Let me be clear. No matter what nonsense or abominable greetings you are doing, right-wing populists, you will not be able to frighten us into silence. We liberals will not be silenced when human rights are violated. We liberals will not back down from the battle for equal rights and dignity for all in the European Union.

Mr President, thank you very much. Even before the pandemic, violence against women was far too widespread here in the EU. One third of all European women have been subjected to some form of violence, i.e. one in three women in this room and across the EU. Every day, a woman dies from domestic violence. This pandemic has allowed domestic violence to flourish freely, and some conservative forces have taken advantage of the pandemic to further curtail women’s human rights. The Istanbul Convention's goal is to protect women from violence, but it is portrayed as gender propaganda and a threat to the nuclear family. The Polish government, led by the Law and Justice Party, is, as the first European country, about to leave the Convention. Instead of working against all forms of violence against women, the same government has proposed to introduce a national register of pregnant women, thus institutionalising violations of women’s human rights – the same government whose strict abortion laws have led to the death of a woman. Commissioner, this is not a gender equality problem for the EU in our society – this is a disgrace for us. I expect concrete action so that we can put an end to violence against women across the EU.

Madam President, we are 27 Member States in the European Union. Our region ranks as one of the most prosperous and wealthiest regions in the world. Our Member States are always ranked as some of the best countries to live in and work in worldwide. Our economies are strong thanks to our businesses and their workers, who continue to improve our daily lives. But the truth is our economies are facing challenges that we have not experienced before. Today, a challenge that is becoming more and more pressing is the demographic shift in our continent. The shift will exert greater pressure on public budgets when it comes to funding while fewer people will be working to generate tax revenues for social security systems in the budget and more people dependent on social security systems. You do not have to be a mathematician to understand or realise that the sums don’t add up. The mismatch of skills on the Member States’ labour markets causes our economies to lose over 2% of productivity every year. Businesses are struggling to find adequate skilled workers within our Member States or within the Union. When our companies and businesses struggle to find skilled workers, they struggle then with growing and expanding. That means losing out on creating more jobs, opportunities and on tax revenues to fund our welfare services. The demographic and economic challenges that our Member States are facing is an urgent issue. We need to address it properly and with adequate solutions. To properly address the issue of mismatch of skills and difficulties in recruitment of workers, the EU needs to become a more attractive region. A more attractive region and the notion of becoming attractive for labour migrants of all skill levels who are considering moving abroad for work. But how do we become as a region more attractive? How do we avoid falling into economic stagnation? How do we tackle our demographic challenge? In my report, I have included several proposals that provide solutions to these problems. With the talent pool, third-country nationals will be able to register and express their interest in migrating to the EU. Employers will be able to quickly search and find the workers with the right set of skills that they need. This will improve matching of the labour markets of the EU Member States and meet their different needs and even help businesses grow. In this report, I have also addressed the issue of medium- and low-skilled labour migration, and it is simply because of the fact that over 13% of key workers in our societies are labour migrants, especially in the agricultural and health sectors. The businesses of our Member States have large differences in terms of needs, and that is why we need an admission scheme for all skill levels. We cannot, to be honest, speak of creating opportunities to fill vacancies in the labour market without also addressing the issue of exploitation and abuse in our labour markets of labour migrants. Seasonal workers are often prone to be exploited by their employers. By allowing them to leave an abusive employer and find a new one without having their work permit revoked for a three-month period, we will give them an option to leave an exploitative employer without having the risk of losing their legal right to stay within the EU. Council representative, dear Commissioner and dear colleagues, in the debate on labour migration let us not forget one thing. Labour migration means that a person arrives in the EU, in a Member State within the EU, and starts working directly, pays their taxes, and contributes to funding our welfare states and being an active part of our societies. It should not be compared or mixed up with other parts of migration or asylum policies, as a well-functioning legislative framework for labour migration can be described as a triple win: a win for European businesses, a win for the employee, and a win for the Member State. I would like to take this opportunity as well and thank my dear shadow colleagues with whom we have been negotiating to achieve this file. They have been very constructive, and although we sometimes had some difficult discussions touching upon sensitive issues, we have always shared a common goal and it is to find a final agreement, even if we had to make some difficult compromises. I do hope that you all will vote in favour of this report.

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. Dear colleagues, Today, the debate about the EU's external border authority, Frontex, is not about being or not being. We all recognise the importance of the existence of this authority, this European authority financed by European taxpayers' money. This is not an attack on the agency. This is a sensible way of demanding accountability from its management. Today, the debate is about how the EU's face towards our immediate neighbourhood works, or rather does not work. When I was elected to this house in 2019, I asked about this discharge. What is it, how does it work? I then got the answer that this is something that we only do alongside what we do otherwise. I accepted that answer then, but not today. I will not accept that answer today. Today, this feels like a heavy responsibility: that we who are directly elected should show that we are using one of our democratic tools to demand accountability, as citizens demand accountability from us every day. Frontex is an authority that has had many internal problems. I don't know where to start. First, we had the very serious accusations directed against the authority that it was involved in pushbacks of the asylum seeker. The investigations that were made into what happened land in a word-to-word situation. It could not be proved that pushbacks It had happened, but neither had it happened. Since then, the question has just been dropped. Then there is the whole situation where they would hire officials to ensure that the EU's fundamental rights are respected in the exercise of its authority. They were supposed to hire 40 more in the spring, but failed there as well. A few months ago, they had barely hired half and blamed various reasons as they always do. Now I mention only a handful of worries and a handful of the things that the authority has had problems with during Leggeri's time. For that reason, I cannot stand behind giving Frontex discharge this time, and the lack of ambition and willingness to actually show that it is genuinely concerned about what it is accused of, makes it very difficult ... (The President took the floor)

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. The Prime Minister! What we're talking about today is your people. What we're talking about today is how your government consistently dismantles the rule of law and how courts are turned into political megaphones. How you and your party are dismantling media pluralism. It is you and your government who argue that Polish women do not have the right to control their own bodies. It is you and your government who believe that rainbow families are not as valuable as your own family. It is you and your party who believe that LGBTQ people should be banned from certain places in Poland. The Prime Minister, in this house, it is the interests of the Polish people that we have in mind. In this house, it is their human rights, the human rights of the Polish people, that we are fighting for. The Polish people belong in the European Union. The question is, will you and your party do it? Commissioner, thank you very much. You have the tools. You have the support of this house. Use them. It's time to turn words into action and that now.

Madam President, thank you very much. Madam Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you very much. Now the constitutional justice system in the United States has come to life and announced that this appalling abortion legislation is being temporarily stopped. Now let's hope that the Supreme Court also wakes up from its conservative hibernation and realizes that banning abortion is not only a violation of women's human rights, but also quite stupid to be honest. In all ages, women have found ways to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy. To ban abortion is actually to ban a safe abortion for women's health, nothing else. Let me say this again. A woman's right to control her own body is a human right. It is not a question of opinion, it is not a question of negotiation. But let's not think for a second that this is just going on elsewhere. It is also happening here in our Union and in this House. A couple of weeks ago, the Visegrad countries gathered for a summit where it was free to put the responsibility for the continent's survival on us uterus carriers. I blame myself for it and say: Keep your paws away from our right to control our own bodies. My uterus owes you, or you, or anyone else, nothing.

Madam President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. What we see happening in Tigray is an unimaginable tragedy, an unimaginable evil and an unimaginable passivity from the outside world. Many times we have said: Never again, never forget. But equally, for almost a year we see how the civilian population of Tigray is attacked in cold blood, how rape is used as a weapon, how child soldiers are sent into certain death, how starving people have to sell their bodies to get some food and water. According to Human Rights Watch, this is a war crime. Those responsible must be held accountable through an international independent investigation. It is unbelievable that the UN has not used its Responsibility to Protect mechanism to protect the civilian population. The EU is Ethiopia's largest donor, and it is committed to doing so. We must use all our common weight to immediately force Ethiopia to open up Tigray for humanitarian aid before it is too late.

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. On my wall calendar it says the year 2021. Nevertheless, when it comes to the rights of citizens with disabilities, in some places the Union feels more like the 1950s. The coronavirus pandemic has hit our societies hard. But it has hit even harder a certain group in our Union, namely people with disabilities. And now that we are moving towards greater freedom of movement and lifting restrictions, this very group of citizens continues to be discriminated against. The problem is no longer that we are in a bad situation. The problem is that in several parts of the Union there are countries that are worsening the situation of people with disabilities, such as access to healthcare, such as preventing the spread of the coronavirus among this group of our citizens. Countries such as Bulgaria and Romania should step up and fully comply with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It would give our citizens an opportunity to report any violations of their rights in their home countries. It is time to call for real action, once and for all. Ending all forms of discrimination, guaranteeing the right of everyone to participate and stand as a candidate in democratic elections, and fully enabling all citizens to exercise freedom of movement within the Union. Only then will we have a Union without restrictions and with free movement for all our citizens.

Madam President, thank you very much. The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan is a failure of the free and democratic world. To call the international withdrawal led by the United States a failure would be the understatement of the century. whereas the terrorist organisation Taliban has already systematically and calculatedly started dismantling human rights, erasing women from public spaces, targeting journalists and torturing them; Next up are the minority groups, which make up Afghanistan's historical and social fabric. Many years of commitment and work by the international community, Afghan organisations and citizens have been totally demolished. We need to take time for reflection and ask ourselves the following questions: Was there a betrayal of the Afghan people? What did we do wrong? We have the opportunity, as a Union, to fight for the most vulnerable in Afghanistan, but we must ensure that no money goes to the bloody hands of the Taliban. We must have a clear strategy and a long-term plan for humanitarian aid. It is not possible to legislate the Taliban or remove them with a press release from the Commission ... (The President interrupted the speaker.)

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen. When Poland and Hungary wanted to join the EU, you committed to certain values. You entered the European Union by fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria. It's not an entrance ticket. It is an agreement that must be complied with, day after day. You entered the Treaty of Lisbon with your eyes wide open, where the second article already guarantees the human rights of all our citizens in the European Union. Values about the rule of law, women's autonomous right to control their bodies, LGBTIQ rights which are also human rights. Mr. Minister. I have to say it again in front of everyone. Swedish taxpayers' money should not go to authoritarian governments that systematically violate the rule of law, systematically discriminate against LGBTIQ people, dismantle media freedom and build corrupt systems. My Europe should not be an ATM for Orbán in Hungary or Kaczyński in Poland or any other illiberal leader in the EU. It is time to show action, Commissioner. The EU must make the democratic lock on the EU budget a reality and cut off money for authoritarian states that do not respect the human rights of their citizens.