Speeches

Mr President and High Representative, when Joe Biden took over, he sent a clear message to the world: America is back. And in many ways it is true that the US is indeed back. It reaffirmed its support for NATO, it rejoined the World Health Organization, the Paris Agreement, and will re-engage with the UN Human Rights Council. This is not only about trade and about defence. I would like to focus on something more general: on human rights, shared democratic values, combating the rise of authoritarianism and fighting racism, hate speech and discrimination – topics which are covered in our report in paragraphs 24 to 231. Because yes, the US is back. It has returned to multilateralism, but it is also pursuing its own interests beyond the Transatlantic Alliance. Therefore, the way to take is not back to the supposedly good old pre-Trump days. We have to define concrete pathways of mutual interest, and first and foremost, this common and shared interest lies in a rules-based international order. We saw President Biden take a clear position on the attempts when the UK wanted to violate the binding Northern Ireland Protocol; we saw him take a clear stance on the recent crackdown on independent media in Poland. This shows that we do have a common ground. We as Europeans should use this momentum and offer the US a global alliance for democracy and the rule of law. With whom else should we do this? With China, with Russia? What we need is to work together as Americans and Europeans for making the law rule.

Madam President, Of course, Mr Fest fled immediately and cannot hear how absurd his accusations are. A left-green government broadcaster in Germany? The Greens are in opposition. You can see just how absurd his argument is. Madam President, today is the international day of democracy, and that calls on everyone to respect and defend democracy. But what does democracy mean? It means limited power for a limited amount of time and with limits in its structure, separation of powers, checks and balances. It means free media and protection of minorities, and a lot more. What do we witness in Poland? A judiciary, where an unlawful disciplinary chamber punishes judges and prosecutors that dare to object to the government’s will. We see women deprived of their rights to safe abortion, and recently the attempt to eliminate a TV channel that might comment critically on political matters. We hear the same old story from our Polish colleagues over and over again. But no, just because a government has come into power democratically does not mean that everything it does is necessarily democratic. Just because your laws resemble some of those in other Member States does not mean that their effect is automatically the same. The decisive question remains: does the Polish Government regard an effective control by an independent judiciary and a critical media as necessary – even important or essential? The answer is ‘no’. We see it every day. This is different to what we see in other Member States. It’s not only the letter of the law, it’s the effect that you see on the ground, and that is different. The Polish people go to the streets for this idea; we’ve seen it in the past and we’re seeing it now. Because democracy is nothing abstract: it influences the life of every single person; It protects citizens. That’s what democracy is for – not because someone is a judge, or because someone is a pregnant woman, but because democracy is for every single citizen, every single one of us. It’s for Polish citizens. It’s for European citizens. It’s for the European idea. So let’s be clear on this, and stand with the Polish people who desire democracy.

The next item on the agenda is the brief presentation of Manuel Pizarro's report on "Fishers for the future: attract a new generation of workers to fisheries and create jobs in coastal communities’ [2019/2161(INI)] (A9-0230/2021).

The meeting is closed and will resume tomorrow at 9 a.m. with the announcement of the results of today's second voting session. The agenda has been published and is available on the European Parliament's website.

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the report by Margarida Marques, on behalf of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, on the review of the macroeconomic regulatory framework with a view to improving the impact on the real economy in Europe and increasing transparency of decision-making and democratic accountability (2020/2075(INI)) (A9-0212/2021).

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the Council and Commission statements on the designation of marine protected areas in Antarctica and the conservation of biodiversity in the Southern Ocean (2021/2757(RSP)).

The next item on the agenda is oral question O-000035/2021 to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – Foreign interference in democratic processes (B9-0025/21) (2021/2662(RSP)).

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the repression of the opposition in Turkey, in particular the HDP (2021/2788(RSP)). I would like to inform Members that a round of political group speeches is foreseen for this debate.

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the situation in Nicaragua (2021/2777(RSP)).