Speeches

The following vote concerns the motions for resolutions on the future act on the European Research Area (ERA) (see point 12.13 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns fisheries management measures for the protection of endangered species, the control of invasive species and for the benefit of the local economy (see point 12.12 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns copyright and generative artificial intelligence – opportunities and challenges (see point 12.11 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns the housing crisis in the European Union, with the aim of proposing solutions for adequate, sustainable and affordable housing (see point 12.9 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns the regulatory adequacy of Union legislation and subsidiarity and proportionality – Better Regulation Report 2023 and 2024 (see point 12.8 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns the request for the application of the urgency procedure concerning the calculation of emission credits for heavy-duty vehicles for the reporting periods from 2025 to 2029 (see point 12.1 of the Protocol).

Thank you very much. We put this on record and pass it on to the President. This is now decided by the round of Group spokespersons and ‑ spokespersons. I'm going to be a little stricter with speaking time.

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the report by Irena Joveva and Mirosława Nykiel, on behalf of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, on Gender pay and pension gaps in the EU: state of play, challenges and the way forward, and the development of guidelines for better evaluation and fairer pay for work in female-dominated sectors (2025/2038(INI)) (A10-0021/2026).

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Democracy is precious, and democracy is fragile. The U.S. is one of the mother countries of democracy, and it is precisely there that we see what happens when democracy scorners come to power. No matter what political agenda they have, they all have one thing in common: They are the first to attempt to disempower democratic institutions and destroy the separation of powers. This can be illustrated particularly well in the USA. Why? Because the president makes no secret at all of the fact that he does and wants to do this, because he is passing over the powers of Congress, because he wants to make the independent courts and other institutions his vicarious agents, because he is silencing critical media. Trump and this Project 2025 Hungary in particular, where all this has been going on for 16 years. What is the knowledge for everyone in Europe? No matter where the differences between the anti-democrats lie and what they promise you for blue from the sky: When they come to power, they will do just that: Destroy democracy to prevent it from ever being re-elected. Then they will show their true face. The AfD Bayern is already saying that it wants ICE on German roads – and it is applauded, I ask to take note, it is applauded on the right – i.e. masked, unidentifiable people who arbitrarily arrest others from the streets on the basis of skin color and hold them without trial. Therefore: Democracy is precious, and it is fragile. Not only does it fail at the extremists, it fails at those who remain indifferent to it. We all need to be strong enough against these extremists.

So the bug is up here, too. There is a rule that there are no blue cards for the same group. I'm sorry we didn't realise that in time. So please do not put blue cards for speakers of the same group. Thank you. You can have your discussion outside, please, because we will continue with colleague Tegethoff. Please, have your discussion outside.