What Rasmus spoke about.

15

Dec

2022

DA Speech

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The 30th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (debate)

Madam President! In Europe, there are over 300 different national minorities. We should be proud of this great diversity that characterises the European Union. Democracy, the rule of law and minority rights cannot be scaled back. States that abuse minorities as an instrument of power and at the same time have a problematic attitude towards the rule of law are a problem for our society. On the othe…

14

Dec

2022

DE Speech

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Upscaling the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (debate)

Madam President, With this budget, the EU is not sustainable. That's why we need an update now. Climate neutrality by 2050, the social consequences of the economic crisis, increased security responsibilities, industrial competition with the US and China, active partnerships in the Balkans and the African continent, digitalisation, species extinction – the challenges are great. The answers to the b…

14

Dec

2022

DE Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 15 December 2022 (debate)

Mr President! The Ukrainian winter is brutal, and therefore the most important message must be that we are helping the many Ukrainians who have been staying for weeks in sub-zero temperatures without electricity and water. Putin is deliberately destroying Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and Ukraine needs our solidarity now more than ever. That's why it's good, and I want to start with praise for …

23

Nov

2022

DE Speech

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Amending Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 - Amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 as regards the establishment of a diversified funding strategy as a general borrowing method - 'Macro-Financial Assistance+' instrument for providing support to Ukraine for 2023 (debate)

Madam President, "They want us to freeze to death and destroy our electricity and heat supply." With these words, Kiev Mayor Klitschko describes Putin's brutal strategy for this winter. He exemplifies the fears of many people in Ukraine with whom we held talks with nine Green MPs in Kiev over the weekend. The Ukrainian winter is going to be tough. We Greens therefore fully support the €18 billion …

22

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Question Time (Commission) - Future legislative reform of the Economic Governance Framework in times of social and economic crisis

Dear Commissioners, as Greens we warmly welcome that we are actually finally debating a reform of the Stability and Growth Pact and the fiscal rules. But some days ago we could see that the climate conference, the COP, ended with quite a disappointing result. And I think nearly all of us agree that we need more investments, we need more climate investments. And looking at the figures and estimatio…

22

Nov

2022

DE Speech

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System of own resources of the European Union (debate)

Mr President! For several months Viktor Orbán has been blocking the global minimum tax for large corporations such as Starbucks, Amazon, Bayer or Ikea. Orbán has been dancing on the nose of the Czech Presidency of the Council and the European Commission on this issue for months. Instead of ignoring his extortion attempts for the release of EU funds from the NextGenerationEU fund, they give him fre…

10

Nov

2022

DE Speech

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A high common level of cybersecurity across the Union (debate)

Madam President, Attacks on security agencies, critical infrastructure such as energy pipelines, parliaments and many companies. In Northern Germany, too, more and more companies are affected: Companies with millions in turnover, but also social institutions such as workshops for people with disabilities. Cybersecurity has been ignored for too long. Member States have long been unwilling to act to…

18

Oct

2022

DE Speech

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Growing hate crimes against LGBTIQ people across Europe in light of the recent homophobic murder in Slovakia (debate)

Mr President! The brutal murder of Juraj and Matúš in Bratislava shocks our entire community. LGBTI people across Europe are afraid – afraid of being victims of disgusting hatred and violence. The murder in Bratislava is not an isolated act. He joins in countless violent crimes against our community across Europe this year alone: the murder of Malte C. in Münster, the attack on the London pub In O…

18

Oct

2022

DE Speech

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General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023 - all sections (debate)

Madam President, The climate crisis, the issue of energy security, the nature conservation crisis, foreign and security policy, the economic and social consequences of this terrible war of aggression by Vladimir Putin – these are just some of the major crises and challenges we face or face as the European Union. And we all never tire of stressing this over and over again – we MEPs, the EU Commissi…

18

Oct

2022

DE Speech

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Keep the bills down: social and economic consequences of the war in Ukraine and the introduction of a windfall tax (debate)

Mr President! The recession and high energy prices scare many Europeans. More and more people are afraid of winter. It is therefore good that Member States use their resources to introduce, for example, gas price caps. The problem is not that Member States act. The problem is that there is no action at European level. With more European solidarity, we can get through this winter better. For us, th…

17

Oct

2022

DE Speech

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Sustainable maritime fuels (FuelEU Maritime Initiative) - Deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (debate)

Mr President! We need zero-emission shipping by 2050 at the latest. Ship emissions have increased by 36% since 1990. They harm the climate and our health. So now is the time to act. It is good that the EU Commission is embarking on the road with the law on fuels in maritime transport and formulating climate targets for shipping. It is good that, under pressure from us Greens, the Committee on Indu…

13

Sep

2022

DE Speech

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EU response to the increase in energy prices in Europe (debate)

Madam President, The situation on the European energy markets is dramatic. Companies threaten to go bankrupt, and more and more people can no longer pay their energy bills. Through Putin's war of aggression and a completely wrong energy policy of the last decades, we have fallen into this crisis. It's time for big energy companies like Shell to pay off their profits and spend the money on social r…

6

Jul

2022

DE Speech

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Taxing windfall profits of energy companies (debate)

Mr President! Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron – these three companies alone made almost €20 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2022, more than twice as much as in the first quarter of 2021. Big oil companies make billions in profits. While more and more people are barely able to pay their energy costs, some companies are doing very well. This is not only unfair, but also economically dangero…

5

Jul

2022

DE Speech

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Objection pursuant to Rule 111(3): Amending the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act and the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act (debate)

Mr President! Climate policy is security policy. We are witnessing in a brutal way how our dependence on Russian gas and uranium makes us vulnerable. We must therefore do everything we can to become independent of fossil energy and to push back Putin's influence. Putin would benefit from the taxonomy and lose the climate. It is no coincidence that the Russian energy companies Gazprom, Rosatom and …

23

Jun

2022

DE Speech

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National vetoes to undermine the global tax deal (debate)

Mr President! Friday was a black day for all Europeans and a good day for multinationals. Viktor Orbán, alternating with the Polish government, is blocking the implementation of the global minimum taxation for large corporations. Thanks to Viktor Orbán, Amazon continues to pay no corporate tax in the European Union. And many European corporations such as Bayer or BASF can continue to artificially …

3

May

2022

DE Speech

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EU preparedness against cyber-attacks following Russia invasion on Ukraine (debate)

Mr President! Before war criminal Putin began his brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Ukrainian satellite communications were attacked by hacker groups. Attacks on international airports, the Finnish Ministry of Defence or even on German wind turbines: Putin's terrible war of aggression has also been taking place online for years. It is the declared goal of pro-Putin hacking groups to attac…

4

Apr

2022

DE Speech

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Urgent need to adopt the minimum tax directive (debate)

Madam President, Multinational corporations generated 360 billion euros in profits in 2020 alone. While many small businesses have suffered greatly in recent years, Amazon, Daimler or Bayer are making enormous profits. Especially in retail or gastronomy, many small businesses are still struggling for their existence. It's unfair that Amazon still pays less tax as a percentage than the bookstore ar…

9

Mar

2022

DE Speech

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European Semester for economic policy coordination: annual sustainable growth survey 2022 – European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social aspects in the annual sustainable growth strategy survey 2022 (debate)

Madam President, The economic crisis is coming back. High inflation and low growth are a dangerous cocktail. The road to recession is not far away. It is important to keep our European economy together. We must continue to boost employment, support businesses and invest in energy independence. Unemployment remains very high in much of Europe. And if the eurozone continues to divide, all of Europe …

8

Mar

2022

DE Speech

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Rising energy prices and market manipulation on the gas market (debate)

Mr President! Gas prices are exploding! The price of gas is currently almost twice as high as it was 12 months ago, +17% since the terrible outbreak of war. We are too dependent on Russian gas, and we are too dependent on fossil energy as a whole. Energy supply must be ensured in the short term and dependency on fossil energy must be consistently reduced. People with small and middle incomes are n…

19

Jan

2022

DE Speech

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Digital Services Act (continuation of debate)

Dear Mr President, kære Margrethe Vestager! With the Digital Services Act, we are making history. Together with the Digital Markets Act, we have the opportunity to cast strong principles for our digital world into laws. We need to democratize our internet and put big tech in its place. This is why it is important to prevent manipulative advertising. We have seen in the US or even in Brexit that ma…

19

Jan

2022

DE Speech

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Presentation of the programme of activities of the French Presidency (debate)

Madam President, Your Presidency of the Council, Mr President, started - unfortunately, it must be said - with a bad start. Your lobbying for the French nuclear industry threatens a month-long dispute over energy policy. And I want to say quite clearly that it is wrong to rely on nuclear power, and it is completely wrong to declare nuclear power green in the taxonomy. There are greener, safer and …

14

Dec

2021

DE Speech

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Digital Markets Act (debate)

Madam President, ‘They put their astronomical profits before people.’ These are the words used by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen to describe Facebook’s business practice. We find greens: It’s time to act. With the Digital Markets Act, we have the chance to democratize the Internet. Control of our online communication and information must not be in the hands of a few Silicon Valley bosses. S…

22

Nov

2021

DE Speech

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The revision of the Financial Regulation in view of the entry into force of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (debate)

Madam President, BlackRock-Eklat in von der Leyens EU-Commission: It's crazy. Billionaire oil investor advises EU on green and social finances. The decision of the EU Commission to commission the financial group BlackRock with a study on sustainable finance was rightly criticized sharply. How credible is a financial group that continues to invest 85 billion euros in coal? BlackRock has bought itse…

5

Oct

2021

DE Speech

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Implementation report on the EU Trust Funds and the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (continuation of debate)

Madam President, Over 13 billion euros have been allocated in recent years through the Trust Funds for humanitarian aid to African states, Turkey, Colombia and Syrian refugees. We Greens support the EU spending more on humanitarian projects and showing responsibility. However, we strongly criticize the lack of transparency. No parliamentary scrutiny, no clear objective and no overview of the outfl…

5

Oct

2021

DE Speech

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EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority: ensuring a coordinated EU approach for future health crises and the role of the European Parliament in this (debate)

Madam President, Viruses do not stop at national borders. That is why it is right to make the EU a health union. We need better coordination and clear responsibilities. We Greens therefore generally support closer coordination of health policy and more competences for the EU Commission. But the Commission's plans, which are now on the table, are counterproductive. We need more democratic control a…