What Sven spoke about.

14 Feb

2023

EN Speech

Establishment of an independent EU Ethics Body (debate)

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Mr President, I have already mentioned that we have one problem in this debate. We talk the whole debate about ‘ethics’. But this is not the case. This is not our problem. We have a problem with the rule of law and the enforcement of the rule of law. For that reason, we have to have a clear distinction between criminal actions, breaches of institutional rules. That is what we are talking about her…

14 Feb

2023

EN Speech

Establishment of an independent EU Ethics Body (debate)

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I think you said something which is very right, and I absolutely agree. And that is why I’m wondering why we are talking about an ethics body. You said that we don’t want to moralise public life, but that is why I don’t understand. Why are we talking about an ethics body which has to do with moral standards? I agree with most things which have been said, even if I think the scandal wouldn’t have b…

14 Feb

2023

EN Speech

Establishment of an independent EU Ethics Body (debate)

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Daniel Freund mentioned that we had within the last 10 years 25 cases and you mentioned in your speech that you are a member of this committee which is in charge. Could you perhaps elaborate a little bit? What’s the reason that the enforcement mechanism is not functioning in the moment and why this committee did not or is not allowed to put sanctions on colleagues who infringed the internal rules?…

18 Jan

2023

DE Speech

Revelations of Uber lobbying practices in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Today's debate is certainly a good occasion to talk fundamentally about the role of interest representatives and lobbying in European politics. For the formation of political will, it is first of all essential that those affected raise their voices in legislative processes and contribute their perspective. This applies to companies as well as to trade unions, NG…

13 Dec

2022

EN Speech

Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate) (debate)

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Mr President, colleagues, let me start by congratulating the Belgian authorities and our services on stopping this plot to undermine European democracy. The silver lining in this case is that our systems were tested and prevailed. But it is true, European democracy is under attack by countries who seek to undermine our decision-making processes. It is a shame that a few colleagues, former colleagu…

19 Oct

2022

DE Speech

EU-Western Balkans relations in light of the new enlargement package (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, I think we have seen in the House that there is a very broad consensus that the peoples of the Western Balkans deserve our honesty. They deserve us to keep our word. At its Thessaloniki Summit in June 2003, the Council gave the people of the six Balkan countries a prospect of accession. Over the past two decades, ho…

9 Jun

2022

DE Speech

The call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (debate)

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Oh, I've been fighting for so long that we can talk from the lectern, and now we're starting again with this weird stuff. Mr Bourgeois, you mentioned, and that is what I still do not quite get together: We need a common border guard and we need to be stronger. And we need to be stronger when it comes to concluding trade agreements. But that is precisely the point for which we would need Treaty ame…

9 Jun

2022

DE Speech

The call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, This is a sad picture this morning. The whole event actually serves to call on the French Presidency of the Council to convene a treaty amendment convention later this month. And she's obviously so ambitious that she doesn't even manage to be there on time for the meeting. That's a disgrace. We agree that the European Union must become more capable of acting. We…

8 Jun

2022

DE Speech

Parliament’s right of initiative (debate)

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Mr President! Allow me to make two preliminary remarks: Firstly, I would like to support Mr Rangel in saying that it is worthy of criticism that this debate should once again take place in empty places. This Parliament must now finally succeed in having debates where colleagues are present in order for there to be an exchange. Secondly, Mr President, I would like to ask you to speak in the Bureau …

6 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, on behalf of the EPP, I would request at least to postpone the vote on the resolution. Colleagues need time to discuss. So please postpone at least the vote on the resolution. It is such an important issue that we should not lose the historic moment.…

6 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, the PPE Group has asked that the debate and the resolution on the Council and Commission statements on the call for a convention for the revision of the treaties taking place on Thursday morning be postponed to the second June part—session. Europe will not be made at once. With those famous words, Robert Schuman started his famous speech 70 years ago, and it is still true today. I…

2 May

2022

EN Speech

Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

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Mr President, first of all, I would like to thank you, I would like to thank our rapporteur, Domènec, I would like to thank Guy Verhofstadt for a very delicious red wine from his own vineyard, I would like to thank those colleagues who cannot support this file for a really challenging debate, and I am very happy that I didn’t lose friendships over this file. Domènec said that this file is innovati…

2 May

2022

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, on behalf of the PPE, I would like to ask to put a new initiative on the agenda, a motion for a resolution calling for the submission of a legislative proposal on a European lend-lease regulation.…

5 Apr

2022

DE Speech

Question Time (Commission) - von der Leyen Commission: Two years on, implementation of the political priorities

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Madam President, Madam President, first of all, thank you very much for asking the questions. I believe that the last hour was a stellar moment for European parliamentary democracy. I originally wanted to ask in the direction of Mrs Bischoff. But there's another issue on my nails. You now see that we need reliable partnerships in other democracies in the world at this time of this cruel war. We ar…

14 Feb

2022

DE Speech

European Central Bank – annual report 2021 (continuation of debate)

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Madam President Regner, Madam President Lagarde, Commissioner Gentiloni! I think that this debate today also shows very clearly how important it is for the European Central Bank to be politically independent. I would like to address two aspects of this report: First of all, of course, inflation. In fact, we have to talk very seriously about the serious consequences of the low interest rate policy,…

23 Nov

2021

DE Speech

Multilateral negotiations in view of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, 30 November to 3 December 2021 (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I apologise for my delay. Madam President, I would like to thank you for the elegant introduction here. We have a very good resolution on the 12th. Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Geneva. Together, we want to restore the functioning of the law enforcement mechanism, reduce subsidies for overfishing and illegal fishing, and create com…

5 Oct

2021

DE Speech

The future of EU-US relations (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, This debate makes you feel a bit despaired. We are discussing the European Union's relations with the United States of America against the backdrop of emerging powers like China, which want to influence our norms and our value system. A systemic rival has emerged. The US is back on the world stage, the Europeans are not. This debate also shows this very clearly …