What Gabriele spoke about.

4 Oct

2023

DE Speech

Decent Housing for All (topical debate)

Watch

Madam President, Commissioner Schmit, Secretary of State Navarro Ríos! Everyone here says one thing: Having a roof over your head is a fundamental right. We note and criticize unanimously here in the house that we have the housing question again as a big social question. This was one of the issues before we made the modern European welfare state; It is therefore very important that we do not analy…

4 Oct

2023

DE Speech

Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

Watch

Mr President! Some express it diplomatically, others directly: EU migration policy, as it is, has failed. Why did it fail? Not because so many people are coming, but because it has failed, because many want the benefits of membership of the European Union; But when it comes to refugees, for example, they prefer to deport them to their neighbouring countries, or they deliberately do not register th…

2 Oct

2023

DE Speech

Rising precariousness in Europe including the need for aid to the most deprived (debate)

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner Nicolas Schmit! In fact, the problems have been named, and I believe that this is important because, in fact, the statistics do not tell all the stories, let alone that there are families, children and many people behind them. Poor despite work – it has been mentioned – is now a widespread disease that is really feeding on society and destroying trust in democracy. It is…

13 Sep

2023

DE Speech

State of the Union (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission! Together, we have set ourselves the goal of having 15 million fewer people in poverty in Europe by 2030, and if we continue as we have done so far, we will have 15 million more people in poverty. When you talk to people, they just feel like they're pressed into a vice: that prices are rising for food, for energy, that at the same time homelessnes…

12 Sep

2023

DE Speech

Composition of the European Parliament (debate)

Watch

Mr President! Good morning, colleagues! Let me say it in advance: My group of Socialists and Democrats will vote in favour of this proposal. Why? We all know that we are obliged to make this distribution of seats before the European elections. And we all feel that this European election is really around the corner. And this milestone, and colleagues have been working on it, we really need to agree…

11 Sep

2023

DE Speech

Amendments to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for this debate. I believe it shows that, as I said at the outset, we have different levels of ambition with regard to these rules. For one side it is far too much, for the other side it is far too little. I think we have tried to find a really good common framework for changes that we need to go, that we should go and that are also feasible: Weigh…

11 Sep

2023

DE Speech

Amendments to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability (debate)

Watch

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, We all know that transparency is a prerequisite for democracy, it is almost oxygen for it to work. And that is why many citizens rightly demand it more. My report on the amendment of the Rules of Procedure proposes new rules. And that concerns the way we work here, in this House. I would once again like to thank all my colleagues, especially the Legal Service…

12 Jul

2023

DE Speech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular the recent developments in the war against Ukraine and in Russia (debate)

Watch

Mr President! I wanted to talk about a different topic, but I can't help it now. Mr. Weber, you are very much reminiscent of Goethe's sorcerer's apprentice, who called the spirits that he can no longer get rid of. You left the table to work on compromises, instructed your people to just vote against it. I think it's right that we should press a stop button here, reflect together. Because this Hous…

14 Jun

2023

DE Answer

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of recent steps towards concluding the Migration Pact (debate)

Watch

Human dignity is indivisible. We don't have first-class refugees or second-class refugees. This is the crucial value of Europe. The second is: Poland and Hungary did not agree in the Council to this compromise, which the Council found after eight years of blockade. These are just the facts and nothing more.…

14 Jun

2023

DE Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of recent steps towards concluding the Migration Pact (debate)

Watch

Mr President, Vice-President of the Commission Šefčovič and also Mrs Roswall! I would like to thank you again for your presence here. We appreciate it in the house. That's not always the case. But if I listen to the speeches that I have to hear in this house, then you can see that the right side here in the house has been polluting the discourse, spreading lies, stirring up resentment, fear and pr…

13 Jun

2023

DE Speech

Establishment of the EU Ethics Body (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen. This was just a great example of how we deal with the fact that we are now planning a proposal from the Commission that pretends to establish an ethics body. But if we look at the data, we can say: Yeah, that's a novelty. But if we look at it, it is definitely not an ethics body, which the proposal contains, but a new coordination body. …

1 Jun

2023

DE Speech

Foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation - Election integrity and resilience build-up towards European elections 2024 (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen! First of all, I would like to thank the colleagues who have done such a good job here to lift the veil of naivety when it comes to foreign interference. And that was by no means an easy job. But I am also concerned – worried when I hear that the democracy package is being postponed further and further, when we know that the date for the …

10 May

2023

DE Speech

Roadmap on a Social Europe: two years after Porto (debate)

Watch

Mr President! If we look at the fact that we are talking about the action plan on the Pillar of Social Rights and the years after Porto, we must once again see that without this House, in cooperation with the Commission, this pillar would never have existed. It's like having a child: You want to see that it grows and thrives well. We have a responsibility, and that is what we have here across poli…

9 May

2023

DE Speech

This is Europe - Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Mr Bundeskanzler! As the last speaker, you have the privilege of having such a bit of an overview. What remains of the speech here today on Europe Day? I have to say that, apart from roaring and self-reflection, there remains a blunt and clear commitment to enlargement and reform, not a "go on" - and that is what we need. We in Parliament are really working under pressure – you me…

19 Apr

2023

DE Speech

This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Prime Minister Bettel, your speech has been good. A year before the European elections – I think some of them are back on the populism booster. Others talk about self-reflection and don't even know how to spell it. They started with a self-reflection, the lessons we learned from COVID: first close borders, then procure vaccines together – that is the way forward. But that also mea…

18 Apr

2023

DE Speech

Safeguarding labour mobility and social rights of striking lorry drivers from third countries (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Minister Roswall, Nicolas Schmit as Commissioner! As the European Parliament, we have to wait until something like this has happened, that this is on the agenda, that people are being scammed for their wages, that they have to fear for their personal safety, that, for example, they do not have health insurance coverage, as they then find out here. I had the opportunity to meet wit…

30 Mar

2023

DE Speech

Strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women (debate)

Watch

Dear colleague, if you had listened to me, you would not have asked this stupid question – I have to say that now. I praised Poland for this and said: For us, it has always been a hope that there are countries where it goes and where it is also shown that the economy does not go down if, for example, there is equal pay for equal work and work of equal value. And I can say: The women in Germany fro…

30 Mar

2023

DE Speech

Strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women (debate)

Watch

Mr President! Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, good morning, Commissioner Dalli! Many have already said it here: This is going to be a historic day today. And this Parliament has done a super good job. And why? I believe that the few on the right who have said ‘Oh, God, that only creates bureaucracy!’ have not understood at all the reality of life in which women are diverse. And that's why, wom…

15 Mar

2023

DE Speech

More Europe, more jobs: we are building the competitive economy of tomorrow for the benefit of all (topical debate)

Watch

Mr President, Madam Minister, Commissioner! I was in Athens last week, and that's why I'd like to start with a quote from Pericles, who said: ‘It is not a question of predicting the future, but of being prepared for the future.’ The question is therefore: Are we prepared for this? I believe, on the one hand, that Commissioner Schmit put it this way: We have taken a lot of good steps recently: Next…

15 Mar

2023

DE Speech

Conclusions of the Special European Council meeting of 9 February and preparation of the European Council meeting of 23-24 March 2023 (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission, Mr Vice-President! In fact, you can see here again: The Inflation Reduction Act was a wake-up call for Europe. I listened very carefully to what Mrs. von der Leyen said. It has pointed to the similarities between what the US is doing and what Europe is doing. But she forgot one key point. Because the US has actually succeeded in establishing some…

14 Mar

2023

DE Speech

Adequate minimum income ensuring active inclusion (debate)

Watch

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, Madam Minister! It is true that we are launching this resolution here. But I would like to remind you once again what this is all about. We are not talking about whether we need social systems or not, which some are already questioning, but about the adequacy of these systems and accessibility. Here we see that there are huge problems in Europe. I …

15 Feb

2023

DE Speech

EUCO conclusions: the need for the speedy finalisation of the Road Map (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Commissioner, Madam President! Our responsibility here in the house is not to spark populism, but the current challenge is that we agree on a balanced migration package, in accordance with the roadmap. The EU has been incapable of acting here for years, especially because the Council is blocked and blocked. But the recent debates in the Council also fuel the doubts as to whether t…

14 Feb

2023

DE Speech

Establishment of an independent EU Ethics Body (debate)

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner Jourová, Minister Roswall! It is good that this Parliament has been pushing for an independent ethics body since 2021 and that this is also supported – here in the House – by a broad majority. And I am pleased that the signal does not continue to be outrageous, but that we are really getting signals now that a corresponding proposal is being put forward. Why is this so n…

13 Feb

2023

DE Speech

Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Commissioner Jourová just said: We have a window of opportunity here, a small window of opportunity before the European elections, where we can still act and make sure that the 11 million EU citizens we have in Europe who live in another country love working, that they really participate in the European elections. And yes, theoretically you can. It has been an important step forwa…

13 Feb

2023

EN Speech

Order of business

Watch

Madam President, dear colleagues, who would have thought that, five years after we criticized President Trump for building walls to Mexico, the European Council would propose to build walls in Europe? And who would have thought that two decades and more after the fall of the Iron Curtain, we would have, or even have considered, proposals to build walls around Europe? Okay, they call it, still very…