Speeches

Dear President Metsola, dear Commissioner! Let's find out where we stand: By 2019, the European Union had a healthy and functioning automotive industry. Then Mrs von der Leyen came into office and we managed to push our automotive industry into crisis with her agenda and her Commission – that is the reality. So we have made political mistakes in the Commission, and unfortunately Parliament has confirmed these mistakes by a majority. Now we have sunk billions and financed other car companies with the European mistakes. Now, let's not go on with the mistakes! Commissioner, have the courage to give our car companies the opportunity to sell their cars! At the end of the day, it's like a smartphone: People google the smartphone with the longest runtime and buy it whether they need it or not. And so it is with the car, Commissioner: Unless there is a battery that can make 1000 kilometers, people will not trust the cars, the electric cars; Whether you need it or not is upset. But we need to push the technology forward, not any bans. Release all technologies, let the market decide! I believe in our automotive companies and not in Mrs von der Leyen's ideas.

Mr President, Commissioner Kubilius! We actually have a very important and historical discussion today, and I wish you a lot of strength. I believe that you are the right Commissioner at the right time, and yes, we also need a strong Commissioner in the field of defence, because we German Members in particular have not had good experiences with Mrs von der Leyen in the field of defence. In this sense, we strengthen your back, and please do not disappoint us. When I hear the speeches here from the extreme right and the extreme left, as they suggest to us that we as Europeans want war, then I really feel bad. If you look at how historically forgetful these colleagues are, from the left and right, then these colleagues should look less TikTok, so that their knowledge is not limited to 30 or 60 seconds, but should just read a bit more in the history books. Vladimir Putin attacked the Chechens immediately after his first election as President of Russia, in 1999. This man has been killing people on this continent and on the borders of his continent since 1999, for 25 years, and also indirectly in Africa with his Wagner group and also on behalf of Syria and everywhere else. We need to be able to defend ourselves in order to finally stop this man so that he knows: It doesn't go on like this! All his followers, when he is with God, we must also set a sign.

Mr President! Dear President Lagarde, Dear Commissioner, Thank you very much, Mrs. Lagarde, for staying with us again. I am very happy to be able to discuss with you here or in committee again and again. Because I think the exchange in such difficult times is really important and important. Ms Lagarde, I would like to comment on the current report – but this is related to an interview you gave me on 31 January in the Financial Times. Congratulations on this great interview! You wrote or gave it together with Mrs. von der Leyen. There is precisely the problem, Mrs Lagarde, you hear it here from many colleagues: market neutrality and price stability. Many of our colleagues in the House, who are real experts in finance, feel that somewhere the neutrality of our ECB has been lost – and that you are dangerously close to the Commission and to heads of state. That is why I think it is really difficult to read a joint interview, although you, and I would like to commend you, Mrs Lagarde – the points you mentioned in the interview are just right. You said we need to reduce overregulation in the banking sector. The answer is very simple. Here in this house the big mistake: Taxonomy and ESG – a complete overregulation of the banking system. Then you have rightly criticised the fact that companies do not provide sufficient funding to finance our companies. Yes, down hard equity ratio, that's the answer. Then another point: energy prices. Of course, energy prices are far too high. The answer to that: We need more fossil gas from as many suppliers as possible. Mrs. Lagarde, my sincere request: Come back to neutrality and do not listen to the left part of this house. To question market neutrality is to destroy the euro and thus drive our democracy to the wall.

Dear Vice-President, Dear Commissioner! Dear Commissioner, I would like to speak to you today in particular. In the European Union, we are responsible for many things, above all for the health, physical health and also for the mental health of people. In terms of physical health, we are completely over-regulated. When we look at what regulations we have with us when a piece of cheese is made, from the cow, what she gets to eat in the barn, to what comes out of the cow in the back, to the product with a list of ingredients in the supermarket – again and again checks, checks. And once there is some plastic in a piece of cheese, we pull back tons of cheese and destroy it so that there is no physical damage. As far as mental health is concerned, we are looking away, Commissioner. And you have it in your hand. They have in their hands what the mental health of future generations is like. If we don't get the ingredients list, the algorithm of TikTok, then I urge you to ban TikTok! We do this for every food, but not for the algorithm – and that is your responsibility.

Mr President, Madam Vice-President and Commissioner for Foreign Affairs of the European Union! Good news for the European Union is that Syria has been liberated by a murderous dictator and probably the largest drug producer and drug trafficker the region down there has ever seen. But we need to continue the good news. This morning we heard that the militias should be disbanded and transferred to the Syrian army. A real and important sign from the militia leaders that they show that they want to do what they say. In our language, however, we should not move in these left-right coordinates, but should clearly determine what we want in Europe. We Europeans must now help Syrians – clearly – rebuild medical care on the ground, rebuild local schools, rebuild local agriculture, but also help Syria rebuild its own army so that they can defend their own borders. Then we can send our police officers down to build a rule of law. That must be our language, and we must stop this black and white painting that we have heard in Parliament today.

Madam President, Commissioner! A very important debate that we have today on the G20 summit and I have listened very well to what you have said. We might have needed a discussion before you travelled there as a representative of the European Union. Because the analysis that we are talking about global poverty is perfectly correct. In the European Union, 21% of people are at risk of poverty in the 27 Member States. The solution, Commissioner, which you are suggesting and praising here, is that it was the right decision, so to speak, to agree now to tax the very rich better, and then the poverty problem in the world is solved – that is, I believe, the wrong approach. I believe that we need more education, more education, more education and, in the end, more good jobs with good wages so that people can get out of poverty. These are the right approaches. Tax increases, Commissioner, do not lead to, I believe, people getting out of poverty.

Madam President, Commissioner! Ilham Tohti, our Sakharov laureate, has now been arrested for ten years. Neither his family, Commissioner Hahn, nor we know whether he is still alive or not. That's what can't be. Representatives of the Commission are constantly travelling to China, and I do not understand how you can not even address this sensibly in order to find out this information. I think that's very naive. I am glad that tomorrow Parliament will probably again vote in favour of a resolution by a large majority. We direct representatives of the people know what misery Communism has caused in Europe. We also know: When communism no longer works internally – this socialist policy – that communism expands and attacks other peoples. Therefore: Please stop this naive attitude in the Commission and now stand up for human rights, specifically for Ilham Tohti and Gulshan Abbas.

Madam President, Commissioner Dombrovskis! Yes, we do indeed have a serious problem in our automotive industry in the European Union. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are threatened in the short term, millions in the medium term. Who is to blame? Mrs von der Leyen and Mr Timmermans intervened in the automotive industry with their ban on combustion engines. Now it is claimed that the all-electric cars of the Chinese are destroying the European market. If we look at the figures, we can see that Parliament is not discussing the issue. In fact, BYD has sold 15,600 all-electric cars in the European Union. Volkswagen, a group that now wants to lay off 30,000 employees, sold over 9 million cars last year. If we look at these figures, we can't say that 15,600 cars are ultimately to blame for a company like Volkswagen falling to its knees. No, Mr Dombrovskis, it was Mrs von der Leyen's commission that destroyed the German and European car industry with the ban on combustion engines. That's why I can only ask for it: Take care that this ban on combustion engines is lifted, because it is not the combustion engine that is our problem, but CO2. Take the billions that have now been burned and that you want to burn again with your CO2Fleet limit payment – €15 billion – and put it in universities. Let the money go into research so that we can fight CO2 They can work, but not against the automotive industry. If we look at the first place: Toyota, with 11 million cars worldwide, also wants to invest in combustion technology and has sold just 0.9% – just under 100,000 – electric cars. These are the real figures and not some gossip that we are having here in Parliament today.

Madam President, Commissioner! We are discussing the attack in Solingen, and it is really important to me to extend my condolences to the relatives of the four people who died there completely unnecessarily. It's just terrible what happened there again. We as the European Union have made the right decisions with the new Pact on Asylum and Migration. There will be no more uncontrolled immigration into the European Union if all Member States do their homework now so that more people in the European Union do not have to die unnecessarily. But the European Union must also continue to grow in its challenges and retain its competences. That is why I clearly believe that we need to strengthen Frontex and external border security. It cannot be that someone comes to the European Union and we do not know who that is. And that's what I mean without gaps. In 2024, we must use all kinds of technology to ensure that no one comes to the European Union without us knowing who it is. But it is also important to me that we face a lot of unemployment in the desolate economic policy that we are currently pursuing in the European Union. Commissioner, it is precisely you who should be at home. Discuss with your interior ministers in the European Union so that we see that we are also building a mechanism internally, because in the future we will have more radicalisation through the loss of prosperity of bad politics, and we must keep an eye on it.

Mr President, Commissioner! Commissioner, you are once again witnessing the unequivocal and unequivocal commitment of the European Parliament's people's representation to human rights. And that is what makes us special, because we representatives of the people have not lost humanity here. This is the expectation that this Parliament will set out resolutely vis-à-vis the Commission in the vote tomorrow. I expect the Commission to: Hong Kong is home to over 7.7 million people who have lost any kind of freedom since 2019. No matter what they say, as soon as the Chinese government makes the decision, it doesn't suit them, it goes to jail or even worse happens. We have this humanity and the strength and courage to keep Europe self-sufficient and sovereign. I ask the Commission to do its utmost to help the people of Hong Kong and not just to take this back here again and say: Yes, Parliament is committed to human rights. We have to. We are the last bastion for human rights, and I expect that from the Commission.

Mr President! I had to learn from the German media that the employee of AfD's top candidate Maximilian Krah has been imprisoned by the Federal Prosecutor General. As a free voter and as a representative of the people of the European Union, I would ask the Bureau to focus more on staff review now. It cannot be, we must not accept that members of parliament are spying here for China. Therefore, my clear message to the Bureau: We need tougher controls for checking employees. (Applause)

Mr President, Commissioners! I am very pleased that you are both present. What the European Union needs is a stable currency. A hard, stable currency. That is why it is important that we discuss the Stability and Growth Pact here, and it is important that we get the debt union under control. Because people were promised, according to Maastricht, that there will be no European debt, and that promise was broken. That is why it is very important to me that the new Growth Pact actually bears a good handwriting here, as can be seen from the two Commissioners who are also present today. But it also bears the handwriting of Mrs. von der Leyen and the Union. That is why we Free Voters will not agree to this Growth and Stability Pact. Because what is not possible, Commissioners, is that now, behind closed doors instead of transparency, Mrs von der Leyen is negotiating her own debt plans with Member States and the people of the European Union do not know why and what is being negotiated there. The European Union needs stability, monetary stability and transparency instead of a new mechanism. Debt repayment is being negotiated behind closed doors. That's not possible, dear friends!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, We want to adopt a new building energy directive in the European Parliament. The approach of saving energy in buildings is the right one. But we've already done it all: Buildings and energy consumption are already in emissions trading. That means we're doing it twice now. Because we are doing it twice, we are creating a new bureaucratic monster, which in my view exacerbates the difficulties in the real estate sector. Everything is being done twice, more bureaucracy, and we must not forget - this is very important - that we are not creating new jobs in the market. The only place where we create jobs is in the administration and not in the construction industry. This makes everything more expensive again, because administration has to be paid by tax revenue. We take away the subsidies we promise people, or we consume them where they are now to be used in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, rather than where we might need them: in hospitals. That is why I say very clearly: I will vote against this new directive because it destroys the market rather than makes it whole. We see what happens with this in Germany, where the federal government has also interfered in the building sector and is no longer being built at all. Therefore: Give people the opportunity to live in homes! Not everyone who has a home also has the money to take out loans, and there are no grants to help.

Mr President, Commissioner, Madam Lagarde! Mrs Lagarde, you are by far one of the most important presidents we have here, and that is why you have been elected for eight years. But I really have to say: Your speech really made me cook. I have the feeling that you have actually confused the European Investment Bank with the European Central Bank. Its task is to ensure price stability in the European Union. And if there is price stability, then the ECB can also – so to speak – serve in economic policy. Now, however, we have seen that – in my view – political decisions were the triggers for us to be down to a deposit rate of -0.5% – in my view a historical mistake, a political mistake – and then this interest rate shock had risen to over 4% – too late and too slowly. This had significant consequences. We have a gigantic loss of prosperity in the European Union. People work hard – 40 hours a week – and can no longer afford everyday life. The answer is not that inflation is now going down again, we can't be happy about that. The depreciation of money has taken place, Mrs Lagarde. Therefore: Less policy, more price stability, and everything else you leave to Parliament and the European Investment Bank. I would be very grateful to you for that. This is really hugely important, also for the preservation of our democracy, Ms Lagarde – really very important!

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I see it a bit like Mr Ecke. I am a little dissatisfied with your speech, because I firmly believe that you are aware of the seriousness of the situation. And I firmly believe that we can tell the people of the European Union clearly what our industry is in. This is unfair competition with China. We see that the Chinese autocracy has systematically destroyed the European solar industry here. And we are now seeing once again that the world market leaders in particular – at least the components from Germany – are migrating. They do not migrate to any third country where we have dumping, but they migrate to the United States, that is, to a friendly third country. And my request to you, Commissioner, is: It does not help if we now throw 500 million euros to the European solar industry and say, we give you the factory hall, and we treat ourselves to 13 million unemployed people in the European Union, but, so to speak, the workers here must be paid properly and then forced labour takes place in China. That means subsidies don't get us any further. We have to negotiate with the Chinese on an equal footing, that this is not possible, that dumping is not possible. And we missed it at the time: The US has introduced anti-dumping tariffs before the European Union, and we may now have to act there before the US. And one more request: We have seen it in the solar industry, and we must not allow our automotive industry in the European Union to be destroyed by the Chinese as much as the solar industry.

– Madam President, Commissioner! Hardly a month goes by when we do not have to talk about significant human rights violations by the Chinese autocracy here in this Parliament. And it is really astonishing that many Member States really refuse to accept what we in the European Parliament are always impressively putting on the table, and sometimes to implement it in word and writing. That is why we call on the Member States to listen to what we are saying here in the European Parliament and to look at what we are saying. Be it the Christians in Hong Kong, be it the Buddhists in Tibet, be it the Muslims as Uighurs or now the followers of Falun Gong, who are simply - you have to imagine - suddenly imprisoned simply because they belong to a religious community. All because China is struggling device. China has serious internal problems. The Chinese promise of prosperity is beginning to crumble. I have the considerable fear that when cleaned up inwardly, China, like any other autocracy, will also go outwards and threaten third countries. That is why, dear Commissioner, we must really call on all Member States to finally wake up and act.

Dear Mr President, dear Minister, dear Commissioner! We are talking about quality jobs in the European Union. But I'm telling you, work has to be worth it again. We need to discuss this. It cannot be that in the European Union both families work - husband and wife - the money is not enough to feed the family at 40 hours per week per person, and you still need friends and acquaintances to make ends meet. That can't be. We need to talk about inflation. And another big topic is: Politics does not create jobs. We finally have to realize that. We need to create a framework for entrepreneurs to create jobs. Politics does not create jobs. If we want to create jobs, we can do that in education so that people are properly educated. But we also have to make it clear to them in socialisation that this dreaming – best of all, full wage compensation at 28 hours a week, only two days a week – and that we are winning such a global competition for wealth is complete nonsense. We must give people pure wine: We have to work. You have to be able to live from work and also be able to fulfill your wishes, as you want it for yourself, without applying for funding for a wallbox or other ideas that the state then thinks up.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, Today we are discussing the important paper, the European Union's cooperation with India. I would particularly like to thank the rapporteur and my fellow shadow rapporteurs for their good cooperation. We have, in fact, made what I believe to be an excellent report. And Commissioner, thank you also for your introductory words, because you have indeed extended the report once again. In this report, we have excellent recommendations from Parliament to the Council, to the Commission and also to the external representative. And I would be really happy if this excellent report could also be applied there and if we could improve future relations between the European Union and India. We all know that India is now the country with the highest population in the world and is on the rise. And we need India in the future as a partner for - let me say - broadening our economic cooperation so that we reduce the individual and, above all, the lump risk in economic cooperation with China. I am firmly convinced that we are on the right track here with India and that we have also addressed the problems with India, but that we also need India as a partner in the Indo-Pacific. Thank you for the constructive cooperation.

Mr President, Commissioner! We are adopting a law today, which is really good for the European Union, because we are becoming independent – or more independent – from imports of critical raw materials. I firmly believe that this law is on the right track, and I would like to thank all the rapporteurs, in particular Nicola Beer, for this excellent work, because we have shown here in the shortest possible time that politics, and above all the European Parliament, is capable of acting. As the European Union, we will always be dependent on imports of critical raw materials. That is why I also think it is good that not only is there a reduction in bureaucracy here, not only is the promotion of raw materials in the European Union made possible, but also that the sign for recycling is clearly set here and that the recycling chains are better dealt with. Because we must become more sovereign, we must become more independent vis-à-vis third countries, and that also means that we need the raw materials for our industry. Because we want to remain an industrial continent and not live on any cuckoo shelters. That is the firm conviction of our political family. That is why this law is correct.

Madam President, Commissioner! In the last European elections in 2019, the European Union lost considerable confidence. And the reason we lost confidence is Mr. Weber. Mr Weber is the addressee of this, because the CDU and CSU political groups and their political family have promised the people of Europe a top candidate system, which they did not comply with. There are many reasons why you want to talk yourself out of it now. At the end of the day, it was said in Germany – and the damage is the highest – that: Vote for the Union and you will get Mr Weber. This promise has been broken. In backrooms, Mrs. von der Leyen came to the tableau, who was no longer wanted in Germany and therefore sent to Brussels. An incredible incident, an incredible loss of confidence that has been brought to the European Union. That's why I say: What we need is not a discussion of the transnational lists that the Union wants here, but what we need here is, in fact, a return to trust and a reduction of the Commission, and also - and I am firmly convinced of this - the truth and clarity of the choice. And that's what the Union took away from us in the last European elections.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, What are we talking about here today? 7.5 million people who have lost everything they could lose in Hong Kong over the last three years when you think of Western or global values – not only freedom but also dignity has been lost. It is undeniable that within three, three-and-a-half years, the Communist Party will have to raise or socialise 7.5 million people here, born in an official language of English in freedom, but now living in a communist dictatorship – and China will not stop there; it goes on. If we look at the fact that over 60% of schools in China are Christian sponsors, there is no stopping here from religious freedom. We must – and this is my firm conviction – place the spotlight of the discussion also on the Communist Party in China, because I firmly believe that what is happening there in Hong Kong must not become the chair of other autocrats worldwide. And that means for us that we now have to talk about it at the Europe-China summit and clearly educate the world about what happened in Hong Kong within three years.

Madam President, Commissioner, Secretary of State! “It is time for a truly geopolitical Europe” – the headline exposes the failure of Ms von der Leyen and, dear Mr Borrell, I am sorry that you have to listen to my frustration today, because you are not the sole cause of this failure. Yes, if you want to be foreign policy, Mr Borrell, you have to work inwards. If you want to work internally, you have to look at what's going on in the European Union. Ladies and gentlemen, we must see that we in the European Union are solving our problems. It cannot be that we make life difficult for farmers in Europe, that we produce less food. It cannot be the case that we live in a European Union in which Member States have youth unemployment of well over 10 per cent for well over a decade. It cannot be that we live in a European Union where we depend on medical imports in the event of major illnesses or pandemics. These are all our core problems. Mr. Borrell, if you want to do anything good to your successors, make sure that we are able to act inwardly. Only then will we be taken seriously by third countries. That's why it's clear to me that you're going to China and asking to be taken seriously. If we want to be taken seriously, Mr Borrell, we must first solve the problems of the European Union. And that also means that we in the Commission need to clean up. It cannot be that every Member State sends a Commissioner. A parliamentary majority must also be represented in the Commission.

Madam President, Commissioner, Dear Council Representation! Today we are talking about the really important problem of housing in the European Union. It is a real problem for the people of the European Union and we must solve it. The discussion is actually on the wrong track. I firmly believe that: We are discussing in the wrong direction. More subsidies in housing means that we have to take money away from people in one place to push it into the subsidies. We must – and this is indeed the approach – make building attractive. If you want to make construction attractive, you might need a committee to reduce bureaucracy in the European Union. But the European Union must also stop making life difficult for banks. Banks need to be able to distribute loans. If you want to reach the tipping point in construction, you have to make sure that ordinary people - not corporations that take out subsidies - that ordinary people like you and I start investing their money in housing again. This means: Lieschen Müller has to say at the regulars' table while drinking coffee: “You, I bought a condominium and that was what counted for me. I make money from it, I build my pension on it." And only when the simple European, the simple European at the point, says it makes sense to create housing, it makes sense to rent out, then the problem is solved, not by politically wrong orientation.

Dear Vice-President Barley, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues! Today we are talking about the important work of firefighters in the European Union and I would like to focus on the more than 3.2 million volunteer firefighters in the European Union. I firmly believe that it is the volunteers and especially those in rural areas, where money is really scarce throughout Europe, who deserve the best equipment. Because one thing always applies, since there are people who want to help another person, and especially with the fire brigades: Firefighters are always there when you need them. No matter when, at what time, no matter how bad and life-threatening the environment, firefighters are always there when you need them. And if there are people who are always there, who you need, then it is also important that we, as politicians, also provide the best possible equipment to the volunteers in rural areas. And it's not just about human life, it's also about civil protection. When environmental toxins are at stake, when firefighters are threatened by environmental toxins, they need good equipment. I am pleased that the Commission is following the path, thank you very much for that!

Dear Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Critical raw materials are on everyone's lips. And why is that so? It is used as a strategic weapon. We have been experiencing this very intensively in the last 24 months. I am therefore all the more grateful, and it is a milestone for the European Parliament, that in such a short time, thanks to the shadow rapporteurs and the rapporteur Mrs Nicola Beer - thank you very much for the good cooperation - we will hopefully vote an excellent report together here tomorrow by a large majority. Important here: We see that the steady increase in world population, we are now at 8 billion people, is also reflected here in the report. Because the circular economy, the recycling of raw materials, is an elementary point of this report, and I believe that is very important and intended for the future. And the other very important point: We also note what is affordable in Europe, what can be degraded in Europe in recyclable materials, in critical raw materials? And we are creating a political climate for private investors. Finally another step away from the planned economy towards the market economy. Dear Nicola Beer, I think that is above all your handwriting. Thank you again for this! This is how sound economic policy is made.