What Geert spoke about.

18

Jan

2023

NL Speech

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An EU strategy to boost industrial competitiveness, trade and quality jobs (debate)

Mr President, colleagues, Minister, Commissioner, finally a debate on prosperity and job creation in the European Union. It is high time, because our European economy bleeds, because of external factors, but also because of failing policies. The so acclaimed global Brussels effect of our standards is taant, the attractiveness of our internal market is failing and autocratic regimes are – unfortuna…

16

Jan

2023

NL Speech

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30th Anniversary of the Single Market (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, the internal market is undoubtedly the crown jewel of the European Union. Internal trade alone accounts for 56 million jobs and 8 to 9 % of our GDP. But the work is not finished. For years, I have been advocating the completion of the internal market, which would create enormous growth in our prosperity. I would also ask the Commission to finally act against d…

14

Dec

2022

NL Speech

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EU response to the US Inflation Reduction Act (debate)

Mr President, Madam Vice-President, I have listened carefully to you. I also read your opinion yesterday in, among others, the Flemish newspaper De Tijd. Good luck with the task force that was set up. I hope that you will really succeed in eliminating discrimination against European companies. But we also have European homework. Agree to state aid in so far as it focuses on innovation, on renewabl…

13

Dec

2022

NL Speech

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Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate) (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, like all of you, I am deeply shocked by the events. At the same time, I am happy that we have a high-performing police force and an independent justice system. And we certainly need to strengthen our own rules on transparency and accountability. But I would like to warn against an interinstitutional ethics body, a body made up of third parties, even though they …

23

Nov

2022

NL Speech

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A truly interconnected Energy Single Market to keep bills down and companies competitive (topical debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is actually sad that we have to have this debate today. My party has been pushing for years to complete the internal market, including the energy market. That this did not happen comes at a very high price. Our companies are suffering. The European Union is de-industrialising. There is an exodus to the United States and the EU always responds with more rules,…

19

Oct

2022

NL Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 20-21 October 2022 (debate)

Mr President, uncertain economic times also require long-term solutions and the EU rightly linked structural reforms to the recovery fund. But where are the EU reforms? When will the completion of the internal market, which could generate up to 9% growth in GDP, take place? For when the much-needed new trade agreements could make new markets more accessible and make us less dependent? When is the …

5

Oct

2022

NL Speech

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Outcome of the Commission’s review of the 15-point action plan on trade and sustainable development (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, rules-based trade creates prosperity, ensures open strategic autonomy with supply chains that are diverse and also ensures stability. The job numbers in the European Union are impressive. The Commission’s 2021 study shows that as many as 38 million jobs depend on our exports in the EU. That is 11 million euros more than ten years earlier. In this r…

4

Oct

2022

NL Speech

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AccessibleEU Centre in support of accessibility policies in the EU internal market (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, people with disabilities belong in our society. Not on the edge, not on the sidelines, but in the middle! Like everyone else, they want to be able to participate in economic, social and cultural life. They do not want to be patronized from a care perspective, but can fully develop their talents and skills. Unfortunately, they still face far too many obstacles. For examp…

6

Jul

2022

NL Speech

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The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law (debate)

Mr President, the United Kingdom and the European Union are united in solidarity in their support for the Ukrainian people. At the same time, however, Brexit is still . Our British friends know that we respect their choice, but there are consequences. The integrity of our internal market and the protection of our consumers are red lines. We know that the EU is flexible and pragmatic with Vice-Pres…

4

Jul

2022

EN Speech

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EU-India future trade and investment cooperation (short presentation)

Madam President, colleagues, Commissioner, if the EU wants to play its role as a global actor, it has to promote rules—based trade and show by example that trade agreements deliver, bring peoples together and raise the standards worldwide on safety of labour, sustainable development goals and human rights. In these geopolitically unstable times, more than ever we have the duty to diversify our sup…

4

Jul

2022

NL Speech

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Digital Services Act - Digital Markets Act (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioners, the Digital Markets Act is certainly a good thing. The law creates much-needed, fair competition and also offers growth opportunities for our young companies. The Digital Services Act is also a major step forward. The law ensures that there are uniform rules in the internal market and provides much better protection for the users of the digital pl…

9

Jun

2022

NL Speech

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A new trade instrument to ban products made by forced labour (debate)

Mr President, we agree that forced labour is one of the most serious violations of human rights. President Lange said that an estimated 25 million people worldwide are victims of forced labour. It is up to us to tackle the import of products made with forced labour. Such products do not belong on our internal market or on the shelves of our stores. As far as we are concerned, these rules could hav…

9

Jun

2022

NL Speech

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The call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (debate)

I am convinced that the EU can and must pursue a migration policy within the existing treaties. Trade agreements are a full competence of the European Union. The investment protection treaties are a mixed competence, as they involve the transfer of competences by the Member States, i.e. judicial competence. However, trade agreements are a full competence that is not exhausted by the Union. The Fre…

9

Jun

2022

NL Speech

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The call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (debate)

Mr President, we are in favour of a bottom-up European Union and work together if that adds value. We also want more respect for subsidiarity. The European Union is built on representative democracy. Commissioner, you did not give a vote to the citizens, but to a few hundred citizens. All citizens should be treated equally and this is only possible if they can exercise their right to vote. In our …

8

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the special European Council meeting of 30-31 May 2022 (debate)

Mr President, as my colleague Johan Van Overtveldt writes today in Politico, we have to be prepared for the reconstruction of Ukraine. So this will provoke a very, very huge cost. Vice-President Dombrovskis argued for the aggressor—pays principle. My question is, is there a decision on this principle? I agree with him. Is it possible to use the confiscated money – around USD 600 billion – and is t…

6

Apr

2022

NL Speech

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Data Governance Act (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I have heard our entrepreneurs complain about the lack of data for ten years. Indeed, our backlog towards the United States and China on accessible data is huge. This is detrimental to our entrepreneurship, to research, to innovation, to our competitiveness, to our prosperity and to our European values. In this sense, the European Union therefore n…

15

Feb

2022

NL Speech

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Tackling non-tariff and non-tax barriers in the single market (debate)

Mr President, the single market is the main source of prosperity in the EU. Lack of access to the single market would reduce my country's gross national product by as much as 18%. The report therefore rightly calls for the completion of the single market. Recent studies have shown that this would result in a 9% increase in our combined national product. The profit is there for the taking. Unfortun…

19

Jan

2022

NL Speech

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Digital Services Act (continuation of debate)

Mr President, there is a lot of good in the Digital Services Act. There will be greater transparency, better protection for consumers and uniform rules for the digital single market. But I am deeply concerned about freedom of expression, a fundamental right. Any exception to this must be limited and it is unacceptable that some powerful private players should be allowed to self-righteously censor …

16

Dec

2021

NL Speech

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Barriers to the free movement of goods (debate)

Mr President, I remember very well the major problems with product standards that differ from one Member State to another. There was always a screw, a bolt, a nut that collided with another standard of another Member State, making it difficult or impossible for products to cross the border. Fortunately, the single market put an end to this. The single market is a boon for our upward social converg…

14

Dec

2021

NL Speech

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Digital Markets Act (debate)

Mr President, I support the negotiating mandate for the Digital Markets Act. The omnipotence of Big Tech currently prevents fair competition in our internal market, deprives our SMEs of growth opportunities or even eliminates them altogether, at the expense of our innovative strength. It is clear that the current competition rules are not sufficient to create a level playing field in our digital s…

23

Nov

2021

NL Speech

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Multilateral negotiations in view of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, 30 November to 3 December 2021 (debate)

Mr President, Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, I am firmly in favour of fair, rules-based free trade. This ensures prosperity, high-quality jobs, development and stability. For this we need a multilateral regulator and referee, but unfortunately the World Trade Organization is in a deep crisis today. She can't make any agreements. The rules are not adapted to the digital world and dispute res…

11

Nov

2021

NL Speech

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The outcome of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) (debate)

Mr President, I very much welcome the results of the first meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council and would like to congratulate the Commission on this. I am a staunch supporter of the Trade and Technology Council: we must strive to set global standards together as the EU and the US. This is a big challenge. Chinese standardization is on the rise. If we don't set the tone, other powers …

20

Oct

2021

NL Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 21-22 October 2021 (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I have repeatedly pointed out here that the European Union is lagging behind in terms of digitalisation, investments in, for example, artificial intelligence. In 2020, more than 80 percent of that investment took place in the United States and in China. In the European Union, only 4%, only 4%. You therefore urgently need to make the switch to a budget for the 21…

5

Oct

2021

NL Speech

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The future of EU-US relations (debate)

Mr President, we welcome the first agreements in principle at the summit of the Trade and Technology Council. It is good that it could take place in not so obvious circumstances. The United States remains our most important partner. First of all, however, frictions must be eliminated, such as the tariffs on aluminium and steel and the inadequacy of our companies' access to the American market and …

15

Sep

2021

NL Speech

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State of the Union (debate)

Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, you are quite right to focus on resilience, more investment, structural reforms and 5G, but the whole internal market must be completed with great concern for our SMEs. Put subsidiarity and diversity at the heart of your policies. Unfortunately, I didn't hear anything about it again. The EU must protect its citizens and its jobs. So it is great that yo…