What Jan-Christoph spoke about.

15 Sep

2026

DE Speech

The recent hybrid attacks and instrumentalisation of migrants in Ceuta and the need for a coordinated response to protect EU’s external borders (debate)

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Mr President! Dear Commissioner, First of all, I would like to say that it is totally unacceptable for tens of thousands of people to simply cross a border and enter European territory. I think we need to shed some light on how this actually came about. In my opinion, Spain has acted too hesitantly. And I think you can criticize that, and you may even have to criticize that. This does not change t…

8 Jul

2026

EN Speech

The threat of war crimes, the escalating violations of international humanitarian law and the human rights situation in El-Obeid, Sudan

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Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, 33 million: that is the number of people in Sudan who urgently need humanitarian assistance, and 16 million of them are children. Colleagues, the situation in Sudan is worsening by the day. The RSF are now threatening an offensive on El-Obeid, putting 500 000 civilians at risk. We have already witnessed the horror of El Fasher. We cannot allow another m…

8 Jul

2026

FR Speech

Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: EU solidarity and preparedness in global health (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is above all a humanitarian tragedy. More than 1,700 people were infected, and hundreds lost their lives. Behind these figures are families, communities and health professionals struggling to survive in these difficult circumstances. The context of insecurity and regional tensions…

7 Jul

2026

DE Speech

Urgent measures to strengthen the competitiveness and safeguard quality jobs in the EU’s automotive sector (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Hundreds of thousands of jobs at car manufacturers and suppliers are at risk because we are currently not competitive in Europe. And, dear friends, the current rules that we have, namely the end of the combustion engine in 2035, are exacerbating the crisis among car manufacturers. The future is electric – yes, but it is not coming as fast as som…

6 Jul

2026

DE Speech

Air passenger rights (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Member States have tried to increase the limit of compensation for aircraft delays from three to four hours. It's not much, you could say now, but that would have cost 40% of passengers compensation. We, as the European Parliament, have resisted this, dear friends. We have made passenger rights even better: no more fees if families with children…

18 Jun

2026

DE Speech

Circularity requirements for vehicle design and management of end-of-life vehicles (debate)

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17 Jun

2026

FR Speech

Continued crackdown on civic space and fundamental freedoms in Burkina Faso

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we Liberals strongly condemn the dissolution and suspension of civil society organisations and call on the Burkinabe authorities to immediately reverse these measures in order to guarantee a free and independent civic space. We liberals demand an end to the intimidation, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of journalists and human rig…

17 Jun

2026

DE Speech

The resilience of the European transport sector and the need to ensure the supply of essential goods amid ongoing geopolitical instability (debate)

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Dear Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The transport industry is the backbone of our economy, and we have seen in Covid times what happens when transport routes are interrupted: Supply chains are collapsing, tapes are standing still, jobs are being lost. The crisis we are having right now in the Middle East is not as dramatic as it was in the days of Covid, but of course rising fue…

21 May

2026

DE Speech

Need for an adaptation of the EU legal framework on sustainable biofuels (debate)

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Mr President! Commissioner! Dear colleagues! It is good that we are talking about biofuels, because alternative fuels can contribute to faster decarbonisation. Here, too, the fairy tale of the competition between tank and plate is opened again and again. Today, this is possible together if you design it innovatively. All in all, ladies and gentlemen, we need a strategy for boosting the production …

20 May

2026

DE Speech

Reviewing the ETS system to support European competitiveness (topical debate)

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Mr President! Honourable Commissioner! Ladies and Gentlemen! As a transport politician, I can tell you that, of course, the pricing of CO2 In Europe, traffic is also shifting. And I would also like an answer from the Commission on how it wants to react to the shift of traffic to hubs outside Europe, because we need an answer to that. But it is clear from my point of view that emissions trading is …

11 Mar

2026

DE Speech

Package travel and linked travel arrangements: make the protection of travellers more effective and simplify and clarify certain aspects (debate)

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11 Feb

2026

EN Speech

Post-election situation in Uganda and threats against opposition leader Bobi Wine

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Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, what happened on 15 January in Uganda – the so-called elections – was not an election. They were a military operation and the facts confirm it. Soldiers acting on direct government orders raided the home of opposition leader Bobi Wine, assaulted his family and forced the family into exile. Opposition supporters were arrested, disappeared or were killed, incl…

10 Feb

2026

DE Speech

Spain’s large-scale regularisation policy and its impact on the Schengen Area and EU migration policy (debate)

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10 Feb

2026

EN Speech

Urgent need to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan and to achieve a sustainable peace (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, with 11.8 million displaced people, including 7 million IDPs inside Sudan, this remains the world's largest displacement crisis. The number of refugees in Darfur and Kordofan are still rising and violence continues to escalate. Millions are facing acute hunger and famine‑like conditions. However, there are more than 3 million people that have returned, notab…

21 Jan

2026

DE Speech

Restoring control of migration: returns, visa policy and third-country cooperation (topical debate)

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Mr President, Madam Executive Vice-President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen! The European Asylum and Migration Pact – it works. The number of arrivals is at its lowest level in years – last year the numbers fell again by 26%. This is a good sign and shows that European policy is working, that we made a good decision in 2024. And now it's about improving our migration system even further. …

20 Jan

2026

EN Speech

Air passenger rights (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, Renew stands with Europe's travellers. We defend strong, enforceable rights in case of delay, cancellation, denied boarding, tarmac delays and missed connections. At a time when the Council is trying to weaken protections, Renew supports the Parliament's position and wants to strengthen them – in this we are united here in Parliament. We want faster and s…

20 Jan

2026

DE Speech

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

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Madam President, Dear Mr President, Your Presidency will be full of geopolitical challenges. We want Europe to be strong and united. Quickly, strengthen your back to the institutions as a council, this is the right answer at this time. But I also want to tell you: Geopolitical strength arises in particular from economic strength. That is why it is right that you put this emphasis on making ourselv…

16 Dec

2025

DE Speech

Presentation of the automotive package (debate)

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27 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Development of an industry for sustainable aviation and maritime fuel in Europe (debate)

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Mr President, colleagues, maritime and aviation are hard‑to‑abate sectors – difficult and partly impossible to electrify. That is why we need liquid fuels. Obviously, the mandates that we have put in place are not sufficient to kick‑start the investment in those liquid fuels. From my point of view, we need to keep the mandates and not lower ambition, but we need to help the industry to de‑risk the…

26 Nov

2025

FR Speech

Rule of law and human rights situation in Tunisia, particularly the case of Sonia Dahmani

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26 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Post-election killings and the deteriorating human rights situation in Tanzania, including the case of imprisoned opposition leader Tundu Lissu

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Mr President, colleagues, what we are witnessing in Tanzania is not just the erosion of democracy, it is a systemic assault on the rights of citizens to speak, to protest and to choose their representatives. The elections were neither free nor fair. Tanzanians took to the streets peacefully. However, the government responded with bullets and reportedly killed hundreds of civilians. At the centre o…

25 Nov

2025

DE Speech

Escalation of the war and the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, how many more mass graves? How many more starved children? How many more raped girls must the world see before we act? We condemn in the strongest possible terms the mass atrocities, ethnic cleansing, sexual slavery and the deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war in Sudan. These crimes against humanity cannot go unanswered. Therefore, we, the EU, must act now. We need stro…

21 Oct

2025

DE Speech

Commission Work Programme 2026 (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The President of the Commission announced here today in plenary a new fleet of buses, i.e. a series of new proposals for de-bureaucratisation. Well, finally, I would say. I call on you, Commissioner, because you are responsible for this: Be brave in your suggestions! Go further than what the bureaucrats tell you. You see here in the House that ther…

8 Oct

2025

DE Speech

Europe’s automotive future – reversing the ban on the sale of combustion cars in the EU (topical debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The automotive industry is in crisis, and I believe we agree that we need to act quickly. And as Free Democrats, we have been fighting for a long time to use all technologies to advance decarbonisation in Europe and other parts of the world, including China, are also relying on hybrid solutions. range extender and alternative fuels. And I believe t…

6 Oct

2025

DE Speech

Revision of the Visa Suspension Mechanism (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, It is good that we are talking today about the visa policy of the European Union. And it is good that we will adopt the new visa suspension mechanism. This new visa suspension mechanism allows us to react faster and more flexibly, to suspend quicker and more flexible access to visas when necessary, for example in the absence of readmission coope…