What Hildegard spoke about.

24

Apr

2024

DE Speech

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The attack on climate and nature: far right and conservative attempts to destroy the Green Deal and prevent investment in our future (topical debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. The staging of the Greens for this plenary debate really shocks me, because they still haven't understood it after five years: Climate and environmental protection can only be achieved with broad social and parliamentary majorities. They obviously want to split. Ursula von der Leyen in 2019 with the Green Deal the priority has been set correctly, and we have tak…

28

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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Regaining our competitive edge - a prosperous EU in a fragmented global economy (topical debate)

Mr President, Commissioner! With the single market, its diverse industrial structure, its skilled workers and its innovative SMEs, Europe is in principle in a good position to compete internationally. But this competition is much more intense and the demands on our industry have become much greater. In order to keep our planet worth living, we have to produce differently. In order to defend our fr…

27

Feb

2024

EN Answer

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War in the Gaza Strip and the need to reach a ceasefire, including recent developments in the region (debate)

Ms Incir, I don’t know if you listened to my speech. I didn’t talk about UNRWA at all. Let’s talk about what I’ve said. The most important thing is that we have a stronger role as the European Union. What I have seen in both regards – with regard to the situation in Gaza, with the civilians, and with regard to the hostages – we are not doing enough, and this is what I’m calling for.…

27

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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War in the Gaza Strip and the need to reach a ceasefire, including recent developments in the region (debate)

Mr President! Plenary session after plenary session we discuss the situation in Gaza, but unfortunately Masse does not make a class. I have the impression that only the well-known positions for one's own satisfaction are exchanged, instead of finally working in the sense of a stronger foreign policy role of the EU. There are two things that I find increasingly unbearable: First, the fate of the ho…

26

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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Need to overcome the Council deadlock on the platform workers directive (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner! Thousands of Berliners work via online platforms as suppliers, drivers or domestic helpers. In the EU, the figure is 28 million, with a strong upward trend. It has turned out that it is often unclear whether platform workers are self-employed or working as workers. I therefore very much support the fact that the EU Commission has formulated criteria to distinguish betwe…

6

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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State of play of the implementation of the Global Gateway and its governance two years after its launch (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, As a geopolitical actor, Europe must offer solutions to problems that bring progress to our partners and new allies. Global Gateway should be the better antidote to China's new Silk Road. The good news is: The structure of the Global Gateway initiative stands. It took two years, but now the Board is established with Commission and Member State representatives. T…

6

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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EU2040 climate target (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner Hoekstra, ladies and gentlemen! Climate neutrality by 2050 is our common goal. That goal remains. We Christian Democrats and I personally as a mother want to preserve our livelihoods and those of our children. It's not about whether, it's about how. It's not enough to just put a number in the shop window. In order to achieve further drastic CO2 savings, the framework con…

17

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Geothermal energy (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Climate neutral, inexhaustible, baseload-capable – these are just three of the many benefits of geothermal energy. And that is why geothermal energy should play a much more important role in Europe's energy supply than before. This own-initiative report is the right first step. We as the EU must be fast now, because geothermal energy has long since arrived in…

17

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Norway's recent decision to advance seabed mining in the Arctic (debate)

Dear Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen! Deep-sea mining is an extremely complex matter and that is why we as a Parliament have so far positioned ourselves in such a way that we want to wait for further scientific findings. The International Maritime Authority has also been working on guidelines for a very long time, which are now announced for 2025. Since last week, we have had the situation that…

15

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Ozone depleting substances - Fluorinated gases regulation (joint debate - Gas emissions)

Mr President! The fluorinated greenhouse gas SF6 is 25,000 times more harmful to the environment than CO2 when it enters the atmosphere. Our European medium-voltage grids alone contain 8,600 tonnes of this gas. This is equivalent to the Netherlands' annual CO2 emissions. As early as 2016, we as the EU signed an amendment to the Montreal Agreement to reduce the production and use of these highly po…

15

Jan

2024

EN Speech

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Order of business

Madam President, I would like to join my colleague Michael Gahler. The agenda is very, very full, and even if this might be an important issue, it’s not an urgent issue. So I would also like to ask to postpone this debate to one of the next plenaries in February.…

14

Dec

2023

DE Speech

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Outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (COP28) (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, COP28 is over – time for us to evaluate it. I think we should do this calmly in committee with all the colleagues who have participated, and also with Commissioner Hoekstra. As a diplomat, I say: COP28 is a value in itself. It is good to talk regularly with the whole world about the goal of climate neutrality and more and more about energy and technology. Whethe…

12

Dec

2023

DE Speech

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Need to release all hostages, to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire and prospect of the two-state solution (debate)

Mr President, Honourable High Representative, ladies and gentlemen! It is very important that we talk about the release of the remaining hostages in this plenary session, and that we talk about it precisely in the order and the wording of the title of the debate. 'Need to release all hostages to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire and the prospect of the two-state solution'. Because the issue of host…

12

Dec

2023

DE Speech

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Framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner Breton, ladies and gentlemen! Habemus EU Raw Materials Act! Together, and I would say with a lot of women’s power, we have managed to bring the issue of raw materials supply from the expert niche to the centre of our EU industrial strategy, sending clear signals to the global economy: that we, as the EU, take action in the future, including by raising our domestic potent…

11

Dec

2023

DE Speech

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Small modular reactors (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, If you want a very good example of what the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Energy and Research is actually doing, you have a very good example in this initiative, which we, as the EPP, have been instrumental in initiating and for which our colleague Franc Bogovič is responsible. We operate within a clearly defined framework in EU energy policy. …

11

Dec

2023

DE Speech

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The European Elections 2024 (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear citizens! Europe must become more democratic. Your voice, dear citizens, must count more. Especially in the case of the institution that proposes all the laws: at the European Commission. I am firmly convinced that: In order to give more weight to the will of voters in the occupation of the EU Commission, we must expand and consolidate the Spitzenkandida…

22

Nov

2023

DE Speech

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Reducing regulatory burden to unleash entrepreneurship and competitiveness (topical debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, We are in the last year of a legislature in which there has been a massive increase in new regulations. Yes, some were justified because we have legally enshrined our climate goals, as well as the necessary instruments. We had to change our energy supply due to the war, and new product specifications were also necessary for a more resource-efficient economy. …

21

Nov

2023

DE Speech

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Packaging and packaging waste (debate)

Mr President! Dear Commissioner Sinkevičius, you mentioned at the beginning of the debate that we will only achieve our goal of reducing packaging waste by expanding reusable options. In this context, I believe that it is very important to use standardised life cycle assessments. There is no shortage of studies. Each manufacturer produces its own, often with the desired results. That is why I appe…

20

Nov

2023

DE Speech

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UN Climate Change Conference 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (COP28) (debate)

Madam President, It is again a climate conference, and this time we know that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, as envisaged in the Paris Agreement, will no longer be possible. We have to adjust to over two degrees of warming, with all the consequences. For me, actions count more than words. Last week's announcement that the industrialized countries have finally reached their goal of providi…

17

Oct

2023

DE Speech

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2022 Report on Montenegro (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! It is a good thing that we are talking about Montenegro today, because Montenegro is at the crucial stage of forming a government and reconstituting parliament these days, at last, it must be said. I personally do not want to hide my concern about the participation of openly pro-Serbian and pro-Russian forces. From this, in my view, there is an …

13

Sep

2023

DE Speech

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Framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud that we are acting. Tomorrow we will conclude a two-and-a-half-year process with one result: Our parliamentary position on the EU Raw Materials Act, with which we will significantly improve the security of our raw materials supply. As early as 2021, we as Parliament took the initiative and, wit…

12

Sep

2023

DE Speech

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Sustainable aviation fuels (ReFuelEU Aviation Initiative) (debate)

Dear Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The Sustainable Aviation Fuels Regulation is a very important part of the Fit for 55 legislative package. With a binding roadmap, we are tackling the necessary decarbonisation of air traffic in the European Union and at the same time sending much-needed market signals. As you know, our European aircraft operators and airports face relentless international c…

12

Jul

2023

DE Speech

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Delivering on the Green Deal: risk of compromising the EU path to the green transition and its international commitments (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, As an environmental politician, as an industrial politician, but above all as a Christian Democrat, I immediately come up with three important points about the risks of the EU's path to climate neutrality. We will jeopardise this path if it does not become a business case for European industry and the economy. If the reorientation associated with h…

13

Jun

2023

DE Speech

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Batteries and waste batteries (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, The Battery Ordinance, which we will finally adopt tomorrow, is a good result - for the economy and for the environment, for manufacturers and for consumers. In line with the circular economy, we are for the first time comprehensively regulating the design, manufacture, in part the use and reuse of a product that has become…

17

Apr

2023

DE Speech

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Deforestation Regulation (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, With the regulation on deforestation-free supply chains, we are pioneers worldwide. We guarantee European consumers that the cocoa, coffee, beef, soy, palm oil and wood that can be bought raw or processed in the EU does not come from illegally cleared land. In doing so, we are putting a thick stop to the unfortunately persistent deforestation. At the same time, …