What Damian spoke about.

2 May

2022

EN Speech

Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

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Mr President, 18 years ago today, 10 countries joined the European Union in enlarging the ‘original club’. And I think what we have learned and seen over the last 20 years is that basically, the backroom deals between chancellors, prime ministers and presidents do not work anymore. And why is that? Because they are too non—transparent, and they’re inefficient. And so what we need to do now in this…

6 Apr

2022

EN Speech

Violations of right to seek asylum and non-refoulement in the EU Member States (debate)

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Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, I travelled to Greece recently and I saw – and have heard this before – that a systematic violation of the right to seek asylum in Greece is happening. I will try to outline it to you. Basically, since March 2020, no-one has been returned from Greece to Turkey, and that is Turkey’s fault. But just a year later, the Greek Government still imposed…

6 Apr

2022

EN Speech

Data Governance Act (debate)

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Madam President, I wanted to start by thanking Angelika Niebler for the very constructive cooperation that we had on this file. It was very nice working with you and very fact-based. That was exemplary. I think today’s vote shows that we have actually advanced quite far in our digital policy. You will hear that my voice is still a bit deep because I have jetlag from coming back from the US and tal…

8 Mar

2022

EN Speech

The deterioration of the situation of refugees as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, every morning when we wake to the live documentary of this terrifying war on social media, I feel helpless when I see the images of bombed streets, burning nuclear plants and lines of people fleeing. I feel helpless. But while our options within Ukraine are limited, our options for helping those who are fleeing the war are not. That’s why I wanted to thank you very much, Commissioner…

7 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Shrinking space for civil society in Europe (debate)

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Mr President, thank you to Anna, and on behalf of Erik, I would like to thank everyone – the rapporteur, shadows and technical staff, for the great collaboration on this report. It’s a very timely report indeed. The recent intensified crackdown on civil society in Belarus and Russia shows one important truth: an organised civil society is a horror for any form of autocratic leadership because it s…

15 Dec

2021

EN Speech

State of play of the RRF (Recovery and Resilience Facility) (debate)

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Madam President, I also want to start on a positive note because I think we have achieved a lot when we look at this year. I think there was a lot of work done, both at Member State level and by the Commission, but also obviously within this Parliament, trying to hold you all accountable in this work. If we think about the adoption of the RRF Regulation, the preparation and also approval of some o…

23 Nov

2021

EN Speech

2022 budgetary procedure: joint text (debate)

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Mr President, for the third year in a row now, I was locked away on a rainy November weekend with my colleagues and with the national diplomats to battle over the annual budget, while surviving on very bad sandwiches and bad coffee. For the third year in a row, I have left these negotiations with a curious realisation. Some EU capitals fundamentally reduce these negotiations to how much they have …

10 Nov

2021

EN Speech

The escalating humanitarian crisis on the EU-Belarusian border, in particular in Poland (debate)

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Mr President, one day after the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I hear today: walls, walls, walls, fences, barriers, border guards, police, hybrid threat and weapons. It feels like no one cares about the people, the individual stories on the ground anymore. Compassion, colleagues, is not something that we should lose once we become politicians. Let us make sure, first and foremost, tha…

20 Oct

2021

EN Speech

Pushbacks at the EU's external border (debate)

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Madam President, after two years of absence, I will be going back to the Greek islands in a couple of weeks, and I’m a bit afraid to go because I’ve just promised myself two years ago that I would improve the situation. But Fortress Europe is still a reality. We build wires and walls and a few of our guards hunt and beat people up, take away their phones and throw them back over the borders. Over …

19 Oct

2021

EN Speech

General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022 - all sections (debate)

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Madam President, I would like to thank colleagues, the Minister and the Commissioner for these exchanges. I think we can see this as a start of our formal negotiation to really try to come to the best outcome for our institutions. I just wanted to quickly react to some of the comments that have been made, so I didn’t really fully get the translation of what you were saying, but I’m very thankful f…

19 Oct

2021

EN Speech

General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022 - all sections (debate)

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Madam President, I am still in shock from this morning’s attack on our rule of law, and also on our institutions by extension, so excuse me if I’m still grappling with this, especially also because good institutions are really the solid rock on which we stand. They are extremely important and a source of – and the first line of defence for – the prosperity and progress of our continent. Good insti…

19 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The Rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law (debate)

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Mr President, I say to the Prime Minister: thanks for coming, but I really wonder, why did you come? Did you come here to shift the narrative with the help of the claps from the far-right? Is this really what you’re trying to do? First, your puppet chord attacks the basis of this House, the Treaties. Second, you write a letter saying that the EU is turning into an autocracy. And third, you come an…

7 Oct

2021

EN Speech

European Union Agency for Asylum (debate)

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Mr President, today I woke up to the sad news in the media which we had all more or less been expecting: Greece, Croatia, and Romania are pushing people back over European borders to stop them from applying for asylum. At the same time, today, we have the Afghanistan resettlement forum, where we more or less expect that national ministers will agree not to resettle a single soul in Europe. What a …

6 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The state of play on the submitted RRF recovery plans awaiting approval (debate)

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Mr President, I say to the Commissioner: stand firm. EU taxpayers’ money should not reward governments that violate the most fundamental principles of the European Union. This is especially true for governments that do not accept the primacy of EU law or have a history of corruption, embezzlement and fraud. I therefore urge you not to approve the current Polish or Hungarian plans until we know tha…

14 Sep

2021

EN Speech

EU Blue Card Directive (debate)

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Mr President, just yesterday I talked to a young entrepreneur from Berlin, who told me it took him one and a half years to get a visa for the programmer to come to Berlin. One and a half years during which this IT professional could have gone anywhere in the world. In a global competition for talent, that’s just not good enough. If you want to attract talent to Europe, you need to be attractive, a…

14 Sep

2021

EN Speech

Situation in Afghanistan (debate)

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Madam President, to anyone who feels empathy, these images from Afghanistan are heartbreaking and shocking to witness. For years, European countries tried to work together towards a more resilient Afghanistan and in this endeavour relied heavily on locals to support this. Amongst these locals are journalists, activists, human rights defenders, women and young people. They knew they took a risk but…

14 Sep

2021

EN Speech

Presentation by the Council of its position on the draft general budget - 2022 financial year (debate)

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Mr President, our European institutions are in a delicate situation. On the one hand, the economic consequences of the COVID crisis necessitate prudence in spending and planning. On the other, the crisis itself and our responses to it force us to do things differently, to invest and to recover. Minister, let me tell you that I have sympathy for your prudent approach and I myself and the shadows ha…

7 Jul

2021

EN Speech

Breaches of EU law and of the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Hungary as a result of the adopted legal changes in the Hungarian Parliament - The outcome of 22 June hearings under Article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner Jourová, today, despite all odds, is a day of hope. It has been three years since we initiated Article 7 against Hungary. Three years of big words and empty threats. Three years over which the deconstruction of the Hungarian democracy has accelerated. Every day Orbán's government violates the rules that our freedom as a European community are built on. Rules to safeguard…