What Moritz spoke about.

14 Sep

2022

DE Speech

Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to quote Viktor Orbán from the summer: We're not a mixed race, he said. I could not have imagined seeing such racist statements from a head of government again in Europe. Nevertheless, it must be said otherwise that this is a very good report which has been presented here. But there's nothing new in it. We are in this situation – th…

4 Jul

2022

DE Speech

Digital Services Act - Digital Markets Act (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, The DSA sets clear rules for the online world. And this quick agreement on this digital package shows: Europe can act. Europe can indeed move fast and also set rules in this world. That's a good sign. As the Liberal negotiator in the Committee on the Interior, however, digital civil rights were particularly close to my heart. We didn't achieve eve…

7 Jun

2022

DE Speech

The rule of law and the potential approval of the Polish national Recovery Plan (RRF) (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Mrs President-in-Office of the Commission, what you have presented here seems to have sounded good at first sight. Clear three conditions that Poland, the Polish government must meet. But the conclusion you have drawn from approving the recovery plan is, in our view, the wrong conclusion. Conditions should have remained for this and not become milestones, whe…

18 May

2022

DE Speech

Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report (debate)

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Madam President, The rule of law, fundamental values and European values are under pressure in Europe. That is why we must use the various instruments that we have consistently, coordinate them, and we must also further develop the Rule of Law Report. I would therefore like to thank the rapporteur, Terry Reintke, for this very, very good report. But I also want to say at this point: When we talk a…

6 Apr

2022

DE Answer

Ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

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Madam, you misunderstood me. The translation may not have worked properly for you. I'm not talking about 4% in Poland, I'm talking about 4% in Hungary. And this is data from OLAF, the European Union Anti-Fraud Office. I made that clear. In Poland, however, the situation of the judiciary is still problematic, as many judgments of the European Court of Justice have shown. And since we have included …

6 Apr

2022

DE Answer

Ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

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There are no connections between the current German government and Putin. By the way: I have publicly criticised past ties, especially those of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, on several occasions. Nor did I establish a connection between Poland and Russia. But I find it interesting how you now turn the topic in this way and now show it with your finger. I expect to see clear rulings from the Europea…

6 Apr

2022

DE Speech

Ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, We have now heard the usual from the right again here in the debate. This is now the punishment for the election, it is about punishing right-wing and conservative politics, we would not like that, now Brussels would act and sanction here. This is not what the rule of law mechanism is all about. You don't like to talk about it. The issue is that funds are mis…

6 Apr

2022

DE Speech

Cooperation and similarities between the Putin regime and extreme right and separatist movements in Europe (topical debate)

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Madam President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen! Putin hates democracy. He hates liberal, free societies, and he hates European cooperation. So it goes without saying that he is supporting the very forces in Europe that are turning against all these points. It is embarrassing enough who has nevertheless been paid by Putin in the past, including from established political forces in Euro…

5 Apr

2022

DE Speech

Guidelines for the 2023 budget – Section III (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! First of all, I would like to thank our rapporteur Nicolae Ştefănuță for his great work. Of course, we are now discussing the budget in a changed situation. And it is all the more important that we stand up for a strong Europe and set the right priorities. People are worried about the economy. We see rising prices. And it is all the more importa…

16 Feb

2022

DE Speech

The Rule of Law and the consequences of the ECJ ruling (debate)

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Madam President, The time of excuses and distractions is over today. You've fulfilled your dirty deal from the EU summit. They illegally waited to use this mechanism, but with today's verdict, that's over. The grace period for Orbán and Kaczyński has finally expired and the Commission must now fulfil its legal role. Finalizing guidelines isn't enough, take action! And then to all the rights here i…

19 Jan

2022

DE Speech

Digital Services Act (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, When I ran for the European Parliament, there was almost no discussion with pupils or students about upload filters and young people's concerns about the free internet. And that is why today I am proud of this compromise that lies ahead of us. Yes, we will delete illegal content more consistently. But we're not making the mistake of making the pla…

24 Nov

2021

DE Speech

Fundamental rights and the rule of law in Slovenia, in particular the delayed nomination of EPPO prosecutors (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. In a parliamentary question to the Commission, I asked whether the non-nomination of prosecutors is not a reason for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to trigger the rule of law mechanism under the Regulation. The Commission replied to me that non-cooperation with OLAF and the European Public Prosecutor's Office would indeed be such a reason. But, of cours…

19 Oct

2021

DE Speech

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

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Mr President, Madam President of the Commission, Mr Prime Minister! Here you have used the European Parliament as a stage for a complicated debate on the legal hierarchy and for gains in domestic politics. But it's actually a very simple question: As a European partner of Poland, can we be sure that the jointly agreed rules are respected in Poland and that the legal community applies in Poland, or…

16 Sep

2021

DE Speech

United States sanctions and the Rule of law (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, What do the sanctions show us? They show that our geopolitical commission is so geopolitical that it seems to be doing insufficient homework in its own area within the European Union. The US is taking action against corruption in the EU, we as the European Union are not or not enough. The United States takes action against corruption, we write reports. And it…

15 Sep

2021

DE Speech

Media freedom and further deterioration of the Rule of law in Poland (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. It is not the first debate we have on this question, but I must say that I am always amazed by some of the statements made by colleagues here. It was about attacks, we would attack Poland here. One statement, I think, was even liked: We want to destroy Poland. I would like to unequivocally reject this scandalous statement by one of my colleagues here. Honestly, …

15 Sep

2021

DE Speech

The Pegasus spyware scandal (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Journalism is not a crime. And yet journalists have been spied on like criminals in the middle of Europe – this is a scandal! And we all rightly complain about it here today. But the right consequences do not follow. The same people who are complaining about this scandal today are working again tomorrow on ways to carry out more surveillance. There are no sec…

7 Jul

2021

DE 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! Because here some argue that it is only about the parental right, I want to talk again about the contents, which are also to be banned. This could be read in Hungarian newspapers close to the government. There's talk of gay propaganda on Netflix: ‘Glee’ is a particularly dangerous series. Or: In Game of Thrones on HBO, there are far too many gay characters. This is also against it. L…

6 Jul

2021

DE Speech

The creation of guidelines for the application of the general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. As Parliament, we have worked constructively on this report, advocating transparency, clear rules, the protection of final recipients and also a link and clarification with regard to the Rule of Law Report. I would also like to express my thanks to the two rapporteurs. But I have to be honest: I can't explain to anyone why I'm actually standing here in Parliamen…