Speeches

Mr President, thank you very much. Because I am a Pole, and therefore a European, because I have at heart the fate of my homeland, and thus also the fate of the project of united, sovereign and independent Member States of the European Union. That is why I welcome Donald Trump's words yesterday about the need to restore common sense in both the internal and external politics of the United States. I hope that this common sense policy in the US will also restore common sense in European Union policy, that we will move away as soon as possible from ideological idiocies in areas such as migration, energy security, technological competitiveness, CO2 emissions, and finally from devastating European families of idiotic social engineering and attempts to build a new man and new societies detached from those values that were once the same for both the United States and Europe; values based on Aristotelian logic, natural law, and not the neo-Marxist gibberish financed by Soros.

Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, The vast majority of my previous speakers expressed their satisfaction and joy at the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. Of course, any fall of a bloody dictator should bring relief and joy. But in this case, what we are seeing today in Damascus, in Aleppo, in other cities and regions of Syria, should the Syrians and we in Europe really feel relief and joy? I will use the words of one of the priests of the Christian churches, a Melkite priest, who said that the feelings accompanying Christians in Syria today are joy and fear. Glad that something new is coming. Fear of chaos. Before the war, Christians, who have been there since the time of Saint Paul, accounted for 7% of the total population. In total, there were about one and a half million of them. Today there are only 300,000 of them left. May the fall of Assad not be the beginning of the end of Christianity in Syria. And may this naivety, which also resounds here in the speeches of the representatives of the left, the naivety that accompanied all this, when the Arab spring was, that democracy will come to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, not result in the fact that Christianity will disappear from Syria, and we will have Islamists who march at Christmas markets and shout about the right to sharia here in Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Commissioner, I would like to thank you. It's been talked about here before. We talk a lot, and rightly so, about the anti-Semitism of Islamophobia, but, ladies and gentlemen, we live in a Christian Europe. Today, crime against Christians has increased by more than 44%. In 2023 alone, there were more than a thousand such manifestations of aggression against Christians and religious objects in France. Ladies and Gentlemen, what are we dealing with in this House whenever we talk about the persecution of Christians? I remember the debate, even in the previous legislature, at 10 a.m. 23, about the madmen of Boko Haram who murdered Christians. When I used the term ‘Boko Haram madmen’, the speaker interrupted my speech and said that ‘this is hate speech, you must not call it that’. The darkest under the lighthouse. Today, in Poland ruled by your colleagues, colleagues from the EPP, a Catholic priest without a court sentence has been in prison for six months. His life is in danger. The constitutional minister of this government speaks about the necessity of sawing Catholics. Prosecution proceedings are underway against a charismatic father who runs a Catholic radio station for the sole reason that the station is Catholic. Ladies and Gentlemen, Commissioner, I would like to recall the words of Schuman: "Europe will either be Christian or it will not be at all".

Madam President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I would like to thank you. Organised crime groups operate across borders. The vast majority of criminal groups in the European Union are composed of members of different nationalities. Organised crime highlights the links between external and internal security. The ECR Group supports the fight against organised crime. The security of the citizens of the European Union is one of our main priorities. For years, we have been working intensively to strengthen border protection, equip law enforcement authorities with the necessary tools, and promote cross-border cooperation. That is why we also support an increase in Frontex's budget, which helps Member States protect the external borders and fight cross-border crime, and thus also supports the fight against organised crime. Frontex should have access to Interpol databases and Eurojust should be able to exchange operational information with Interpol. In addition, the Commission should examine the possibility of excluding the Russian Federation from the Interpol systems. Trafficking in human beings and smuggling of irregular migrants remains a lucrative business for criminal organisations in Europe, in some cases even with the support of third countries. We need to use access to development funds as a means to encourage genuine cooperation in managing migration flows, including facilitating returns and fighting criminal networks. In order to ensure security and prevent abuse of the asylum system, international protection should be granted only to those who are genuinely fleeing persecution and whose lives are at risk. We are in favour of an application for international protection being examined in countries with which applicants have close cultural, religious or geographical ties. In these countries, asylum seekers would await a decision on the possibility of entering Europe after undergoing a thorough security check. Ladies and Gentlemen, as on the occasion of this debate preceding our votes, i.e. the flood situation in countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Austria, it can be seen that where mad, ideological policies enter areas of common sense, such as the mad climate policy, resulting in the fact that various types of eco-terrorists often prevent investments such as the construction of retention reservoirs or even river regulation with the cooperation of governments. This happened in Poland, for example when it comes to the Oder River, which today floods cities such as Wrocław. And, ladies and gentlemen, the same is true of the mad ideology of illegal immigration. Politics first Herzlich Willkommen, Come on, we're opening up the borders. And if the situation is getting out of control, then we are closing the internal borders against the treaties, what Germany has done now and we are trying to shift this hot potato to countries such as Poland, which was also criticised in this House when we protected the external Polish-Belarusian border from Putin pushing illegal immigrants here. How many voices were voiced here precisely in the name of such an ideological, mad policy attacking my country. If we do not stop this ideological common sense policy, tragedies will continue.

Madam President, thank you very much. We can enchant reality, but in what state the Union is, everyone sees. Europe is in crisis, trust in the EU institutions is diminishing, citizens are living worse and worse. The cost of living is rising, and even worse, it will continue to rise, because the left-liberal establishment prefers to remain in the soteriological illusion that it will save the planet by its climate policy, but in reality it will result in economic suicide. Companies are fleeing our continent, desperate farmers are taking to the streets, the EU economy is losing its competitive edge, we are no longer counting as a global player. Dear Mrs von der Leyen, you were a very weak president, not to say the worst. As ECR, we supported your candidacy five years ago, but we were not enthusiastic about it. We made this decision by choosing the lesser evil, because then Frans Timmermans was competing with you. I remember the meetings with you at that time, during which you gave us, as today, various promises, but today we will not be fooled. Your management was terrible. Decision-making in a narrow circle of German advisers, arrogance, hypocrisy, lack of cooperation with commissioners, exuberant ambitions and passionate efforts around your own image – this is your style of work. Truthfulness didn't belong to him either. You have been deceiving Poles for a long time about the funds from the National Recovery Plan. Pacta sunt servanda. In the presence of the Polish Prime Minister, the Polish President, you promised to unblock the funds, and then you withdrew from it. Transparency wasn't your strong suit either. We remember the miraculous disappearance of text messages exchanged with Pfizer's boss. A separate topic is how you treated my homeland, Poland. The post of head of the Commission requires elementary decency, which is called ‘impartiality’. Meanwhile, you were scandalously biased, unabashedly supporting the opposition at the time, working to change the government in Poland, blocking funds from the NRP or triggering Article 7. It was an outrageous, unacceptable interference in the affairs of another state. And what the Commission has been doing recently in the face of the brutal violation of the law by Tusk's governments shows that the issue of the lack of the so-called rule of law in the times of Law and Justice was one big hype reaching the heights of hypocrisy. After all, it was the current government that took over the public media by force. It is now taking forceful action in courts and prosecutor's offices, investigations are underway at the request of the authorities and preparations are underway for political trials. Detainees, including women, are subjected to torture to force false testimony. By the way, where are all those feminists today who shouted so loudly about women's rights? Despite the fact that today you close the Article 7 procedure, no legislation in Poland has been amended, only the Prime Minister has been changed to your colleague, Donald Tusk.

Madam President, thank you very much. It has been more than two years since Russia launched its barbaric war against Ukraine. It has also been two years since my country, Poland, opened its borders to real refugees in a way so unprecedented in the history of modern Europe. I would like to emphasise the real refugees. It was thanks to the determination of the then government of Law and Justice, thanks to the determination of non-governmental organizations, the Catholic Church, but above all thanks to the openness of the heart and homes of millions of Poles, that real refugees found their place of safety not in closed wives, but in the apartments of ordinary Poles. It is worth recalling today. We are faced with a choice: do we only want an end to this barbaric war, or do we want Ukraine to win? We must realize that only the second solution can end in Putin's defeat. Ukraine must win this war. The loss of Ukraine will lead to the fact that the battle-hardened and hungry Russian army will reach our borders. If this happens, Russia immediately escalates the threat by placing nuclear weapons and troops directly at our borders. As a result, Russia will mobilize its forces, consolidate control, and prepare for another invasion. There are many possibilities. Maybe it'll take months, maybe years. Maybe it will start with a hybrid attack or a full-scale invasion. But whether the Russian army moves west or south, we must all make it clear that allowing Russia to threaten us in this way is completely unacceptable, especially since we have the right tools to stop this aggressor. Russia must also be held accountable for its crimes. There can be no peace without justice. We must ensure that Putin and the circle of war criminals are held accountable. Equally urgent is the need to use all available tools to take over Russian assets throughout Europe, so that Ukraine's destroyed infrastructure and economy can be rebuilt at Russia's expense, and not open wide, for example, to the influx of Russian fertilizers into our markets, thanks to which Russia raises its capital, because it cannot sell even gas today. Let's remember that, too. We can no longer afford to be naive about Russian ambitions, which have been clearly defined by Russian leaders and are deeply rooted in their strategic doctrine. Every six years Russia starts a war in the countries of the former Soviet Union and continues to use its troops, secret services and mercenary groups to crush democratic movements and weaken developing countries around the world. Ukraine must win this war.

Mr President, thank you very much. Once again, we are debating in this House the drama of thousands of God-spirited Palestinian civilians, and especially movingly, the suffering and deaths of thousands of Palestinian children. Children who have been deprived not only of childhood, but also of the right to life, dreams and dignity. Let's talk about who's more guilty: Israel or Hamas, but I think it is obvious to everyone that this situation, which is taking place today in Gaza, is the result of the barbaric attack on October 7 last year by Hamas terrorists on the State of Israel. The war that has been waged for centuries between the sons of Abraham and Ismail is as cruel and senseless as Hamas terrorism is senseless and cruel, as is the Israeli army's aggression against civilians in the Gaza Strip. Once again, however, I would like to draw the attention of all those who argue, which of the parties to this conflict is more guilty, that there is another barbarian heating up this conflict and profiting from it image and political gains. This barbarian is Putin, for whom destabilization in the Middle East, drawing the United States into this situation, revolting young people on the streets of our cities is an excellent smokescreen for what he is doing in Ukraine.

Commissioner, thank you very much for these words, especially with regard to Poland, my country. I hope that this Russian disinformation, which may have been at the root of this completely irrational attack, which was directed here by a representative of the left, has been at least partially exposed. But I would like to ask you, Commissioner: how prepared are the EU institutions today, on the eve of the elections to the European Parliament, for further hybrid actions by Russia, further fake news and further attacks, especially against those governments that do not enjoy the support of the left-wing establishment, for example in this House?

Mr President, thank you very much. Dear Commissioner, Special Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development Foreign Interference in All Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation, has revealed in detail Russia-led actions and operations aimed at infiltrating European democracies and EU institutions. To achieve its goals, Russia uses a wide range of hybrid warfare methods: actions such as manipulating information using both traditional media and social media platforms, dragging elites to their side, hacking attacks for inconvenient candidates for Russia, and finally something extremely compromising for the Chamber in which we are discussing here, namely corrupting MEPs and buying resolutions from them, aimed at governments exposing Putin's imperial policy. As was the case when, with Russian money, resolutions were being drafted in this House, mainly on the left-hand side of the room, against the Government of Law and Justice, the government that first hurried to the aid of war-stricken Ukraine. As a scandal, I take the words spoken here by my previous speaker attacking public opinion in Poland and Polish farmers that they oppose the influx of Ukrainian grain into Poland and this is to be evidence of Russian actions. The Belgian, German, Dutch and Spanish farmers are protesting in the same way. And a question to the Commissioner: How are the EU institutions prepared today for this disintegration on the part of Russia?

Mr President, thank you very much. Nothing justifies the suffering of the innocent Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, especially children, women, the elderly or the disabled. These sufferings affect Palestinians from the Israeli armed forces and special services. This war, as has already been discussed here, takes on an extremely criminal character, but it is worth emphasizing all the time that it was Israel that was attacked by Hamas, which through equally criminal actions, such as kidnapping the civilian population of Israel and making them live shields, leads to the constant escalation of this conflict. But I would like to draw your attention to another situation that escapes us somewhere during this discussion. I would like to remind you that Hamas' attack on Israel took place on the birthday of another criminal who perfectly exploits this conflict for his own military, image and political purposes. A criminal who today is revolting young people on the streets of our cities across Europe, who is trying to quarrel the European Union with the United States. And this criminal is none other than Putin.

Mr President, thank you very much. I was astonished to hear from my previous speakers that this tragedy of Christians in Nigeria is the result of climate change, the struggles of shepherds with farmers or completely detached from the truth reasons. Let me quote you from the declaration of war against Christians to drive these Christians out of Nigeria. The jihadists, the jihadists, said: "We will put so much effort into establishing an Islamic state that Christians will not be able to stay here. We will continue our attacks on churches until we reach our goal." So it's not climate change, it's sick heads of hate-crazy extremists from Boko Haram. Today's meeting in this House, ladies and gentlemen, started at nine o'clock in the morning. There has been a time for us to talk about online hatred, anti-Semitism and LGBTIQ equality strategies, and we are once again talking about the massacre of Christians in Nigeria under cover of night, as if the blood of innocent Christians is less important than the topics I mentioned earlier.

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Recent raids and searches of political prisoners' homes by the regime's security apparatus have led to the arrest of more than 200 people. According to the Viasna Human Rights Centre, the majority of detainees are the wives and mothers of political prisoners, including, for example, Ms Maryna Adamowicz, the wife of a political prisoner, a former presidential candidate and Sakharov Prize laureate Nicholas Statkevich. The countries of the European Union should not only be appalled by this cruelty, but should also call for the immediate, unconditional release of the detained relatives of political prisoners. At the same time, additional allegations were added to the case of 20 well-known Belarusian political scientists, journalists and experts, the so-called Tsikhanouskaya analysts. They are tried in absentia and may be deprived of Belarusian citizenship if convicted. These crimes must be met with an additional response from the European Union and the entire civilised world in the form of increased pressure on the regime in the form of sanctions. The scale of human rights violations in Belarus is so large that, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the situation in Belarus is not so serious. Some of these acts can be considered crimes against humanity.

Madam President, I'm sorry. It has already been said that the very concept of hate speech originated in the Soviet Union as early as the 1940s. At that time, the communists used this concept to fight ideologically against the regime's political opponents. We can see how today the modern neo-Marxist left eagerly reaches for this Soviet invention. In this House, we have witnessed how a left-wing majority voted to take away the immunity of my colleagues, to connect a post showing the real situation of the aggression and criminal activities of illegal immigrants. Will it soon be standard to send people to prisons who invoke natural law or Christianity on the Internet? There are already lawsuits in Europe for quoting the Bible. The fight against hate, hate and terrorism on the Internet cannot be a cover for the fight against reason and common sense. This is a mechanism that inevitably tends to shut the mouths of political opponents, which obviously limits one of the fundamental freedoms, which is freedom of speech. That is why this House must resound very strongly: Stop censorship on the internet.

Mr President, thank you very much. We are talking here about the dramatic situation of drought and the water crisis in the European Union caused by the climate crisis and the need for a sustainable water strategy for Europe. I have a question, especially to the representatives of the majority in this House, why did you attack with such aggression the previous Polish government, which carried out activities related to the retention and regulation of rivers in Poland? Why was the Law and Justice government so brutally attacked in this House for trying to regulate the Oder? We are in Strasbourg, where the border Rhine is fully regulated and navigable, but the border Oder can no longer be regulated. Is it because it would be in competition with German ports? How characteristic it was in this House that this topic brought together all German MEPs, whether Greens, Renew, EPP or even AfD. Today, unfortunately, the policy of the European Commission boils down to the fact that in Europe all rivers can be regulated and brought to navigability, in France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, but in Poland it is impossible. Should Poland be an open-air museum in Europe? We'll never agree to that.

Mr President, thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen, Much has already been said about a practically devastated generation, a devastated or coronavirus pandemic. Much has been said here about the problems associated with mental illness, with depression. And this problem is compounded by the problem of lack of access to housing. This is a problem regardless of whether we are talking about the countries of the old European Union or the countries that joined the Community later. Today, property prices or housing prices, whether in Paris, Rome, Dublin or Warsaw, Prague or Bratislava, are practically unattainable for the young generation. Who is the beneficiary of this? Banks and financial investments that create a speculative bubble on property prices. And the picture that we had in our eyes when we sometimes saw such pathodevelopers in Hong Kong, in Asian countries, today takes place even in Warsaw. The price per meter of such a pathodeveloper, an apartment of several meters, where the beds are practically screwed to the wall, reaches several thousand zlotys. Who is the beneficiary of this? Financial institutions and banks. Either we fight for the young generation, or it will be a lost generation. The government of Law and Justice, so judged from reverence and faith, has designated, for example, 2% of the tax co-financed by the state budget for young people. We have raised the age to 26 so that young people do not pay taxes. This should be done.

Mr President, thank you very much. In the face of this new episode of this biblical conflict between the sons of Abraham, between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael, we know one thing today that the European Union's response to these events should, in my opinion, be threefold. First, Israel should be urged to comply with international law and international humanitarian law. Second, call for another permanent humanitarian pause in hostilities. Thirdly, to increase the necessary humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. As the European Union, we must ensure the protection of the two-state solution and try to revitalise the political process. Initiative Peace Day Effort, supported by the Arab regional partners, whose active role is crucial for the future of Gaza, is the best framework we currently have. And finally, Israel's maximalist goals, such as the annihilation of Hamas, are difficult to achieve, especially if we already know today about these multimillion-dollar funds transferred via Qatar from Israel itself to Hamas to fight and play the Palestinian Authority, the authorities in Ramallah versus the Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip. Soon we will have to face the reality when nothing remains in the Gaza Strip and two million people are pushed to the borders with Egypt. It's all over. Mr. High Representative, thank you very much. No one in this House is talking about this "other active Satan" that has led to the escalation of this conflict. That Satan is Putin in the Kremlin. He's the one who contacted... he's the one who destabilized the Middle East... (The President took the floor)

Madam President, I'm sorry. Of course, we all agree that our European democracy must effectively prevent foreign interference in the electoral processes of the Member States. But we also know how much money Putin's regime has allocated to corrupting influential circles in the European Union in order to build Russian spheres of influence. We know how many former prime ministers, ministers, even chancellors were and are dependent on the Kremlin. We know how many, including those sitting in this House, have been corrupted by the governments of the Gulf states or North Africa. Finally, we know how dangerous Chinese influence is on our continent. But I would like to draw your attention to something particularly dangerous and unacceptable. How many actions have been taken by the European institutions, including the European Commission, the European Parliament, towards governments in those countries where citizens have democratically decided to hand over power to parties coming from outside this majority establishment today in Brussels. How many scandalous words were said from this place in this Chamber, also from the mouths of representatives of the European Commission, to the government of even Law and Justice in Poland. What scandalous words about the need to financially "starve" Orban's rule or the rule of Law and Justice in Poland. How many scandalous words, even from the mouth of the head of the European Commission, aimed at Italian citizens before the elections, so that they would not dare to choose a party that is not from the Brussels establishment. Ladies and Gentlemen, Such actions are as dangerous to European democracy as those of third countries. For it cannot be that democracy consists in the fact that everyone can rule, provided that they come from your majority. It is the citizens who decide in the Member States, not the establishment in Brussels.

Commissioner, I'm sorry. Mr President, thank you very much. I would like to thank the rapporteur for the preparation of this report and, at the same time, as ECR shadow rapporteur, I would like to declare his support in today's vote. I would like to stress that citizens and residents of the European Union have the right of access to documents of the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, whatever the form of the documents. Transparency is essential to maintain the trust of the citizens of the European Union in the political, legislative and administrative processes in the Union. However, it is necessary to take into account the specificities of each institution. In this context, the documents held by the Council are extremely sensitive. After all, very often these documents contain information coming directly from the Member States. Their too easy disclosure could undermine the overriding interests of individual countries. I would also point out that no regulation or case-law of the Courts of the European Union requires the institutions of the European Union to publish legislative documents proactively. In this context, it is crucial to develop a coherent approach to access to documents, including the handling of trilogue proposals. I believe that Members should adopt the systematic practice of meeting only those interest representatives who are registered in the Transparency Register. And here I would like to refer to the Act of 7 July 2005 on lobbying activities in the law-making process in force in Poland. This law has a very positive impact on the legislative processes in Poland and I believe that these many years of valuable experience should also be used in the European institutions.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Poland has the lowest water resources in Europe. Only 7% of the water flowing through Poland is retained. As a result of climate change, the level in Poland's main rivers fell to several centimeters last year. This year in my constituency, i.e. in the Zachodniopomorskie and Lubuskie voivodships, it did not rain for more than a month, which is no longer an anomaly, but a weather standard. The target adopted by the Polish government is a retention development programme increasing water resources to 15% by 2027. Unfortunately, our German neighbors, who by the way have regulated all their rivers themselves, are blocking our actions. We work in Strasbourg. Each of us can see how the Rhine, the border river of France and Germany, is regulated. On the other hand, in the case of the goal adopted by our government, it seems from our German neighbors that they have set themselves the goal of blocking all investments on the border river, which is the Oder. The European Commission, the EBRD and the EIB have blocked funding for flood and drought investments on the Oder River. The tanks that the Commission has agreed to are the so-called ‘dry tanks’. An example of such a reservoir is the reservoir in Racibórz on the Oder, which was supposed to be the largest reservoir of water in Poland, and is a dry desert. The water steps on the Oder, which raise the water level, are notoriously blocked by the German side. The projected Wielowieś Klasztorna reservoir in drying Wielkopolska was not accepted by the European Commission. Under German dictatorship, the effects of this policy, which has not been in place, will be catastrophic for Europe’s water security. I call on the Commission to introduce a real policy change, not just a fictitious fight against drought.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Once again, we come back to the discussion of an idea that has been voted on here in this House, but which is clearly in breach of the European Treaties. In this case, reference is made to Article 14 of the Treaty on European Union, which states that it is the Member States that receive the seats. There is no such thing as a swarm of heads, especially on the left side of the room, like a European demos. As more Europeans in the electoral process. It is the nation-states that, in accordance with the EU treaties, the Member States elect their representatives. And these arrogant voices directed at the Presidency are nothing more than your detachment from reality. Ask in your countries who is interested in a single constituency. After all, this will obviously eliminate and distance voters even more from their representatives. These are your ideas, your sick ideas, which in fact, in my opinion, weaken this great project, which is the project of the European Union. Because your ideas have nothing to do with what was at the heart of the Founding Fathers when the nation-states agreed on the European Union project. And these sick ideas will sooner or later end up with citizens turning their backs on such a parliament as you propose.

Madam President, I'm sorry. At the outset, I would like to make it very clear that Poland, my country, absolutely stands, is a strong supporter of all candidates from both the Western Balkans and the Eastern Neighbourhood in the enlargement process of the European Union. On the other hand, when it comes to Serbia, the strategic directions of Belgrade's foreign policy unfortunately remain unchanged, while the Russian aggression against Ukraine has clearly shown that it is increasingly difficult for Serbia to maintain the policy of many vectors. Balancing between East and West, hiding behind the protection of their own economic interests and pro-Russian social sentiments, the Serbian authorities have so far decided not to join the sanctions against Russia. Over the past months, there has been a marked decrease in the harmonisation of Serbia’s foreign policy with the EU’s common foreign and security policy. The main reason for the decreasing degree of Serbian foreign policy alignment to around 40% is primarily Belgrade's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The lack of harmonisation of Serbia's and the European Union's positions was also noticeable in relation to China and, among others, China. Iran and Belarus. With Serbia’s foreign policy becoming increasingly incompatible with that of the European Union, the chances of progress in the accession negotiation process, including the opening of the next negotiating cluster in the first half of 2023, are slim, if not nil. The lack of progress on the path of European integration is reflected in public sentiment. Only 43% of respondents do not believe that Serbia will ever become a member of the European Union. If a referendum on Serbia's accession to the EU were held today, 44% of those surveyed would support Belgrade's accession, while 42% would be against such a move. It should be said that Serbia with Putin will obviously not enter the European Union.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, It was a very interesting debate and I hope to draw constructive conclusions from it. The most constructive conclusion – I will refer to my previous speaker here – would be to consider that such political contributions to substantive, financial debates do not make much sense. Turning to the details, in the discharge report for the European Commission the allegations of the alleged use of EU funds for anti-democratic activities and for strengthening authoritarianism and the application of the conditionality mechanism, the rule of law, to these alleged allegations are, in my view, reprehensible. Also in the discharge for the Commission there are provisions with which we cannot agree. This includes a proposal to extend the areas where EDES (Early Detection and Exclusion System) is used beyond direct management and a call on the Commission to apply it to all EU funds, including shared management funds. The issue of participation, or rather non-participation, by the European Council in the annual discharge procedure, which has been going on for years. The European Council and the Council do not participate in the annual discharge procedure and do not answer questions put by Parliament. Its representatives do not attend CONT meetings. In accordance with Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the European Parliament alone shall decide on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the Union and the budget of the European Council and of the Council shall be a section of the budget of the Union.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, On 15 November 2022, the Court of Auditors published its Special Annual Report on the Joint Undertakings in the form of a single consolidated report for all Joint Undertakings. We approved the 2021 accounts of all EU JUs and confirmed the positive results reported in previous years. I repeat the opinion of the European Court of Auditors on positive results and internal control weaknesses: during our work on the reports, we encountered, inter alia, problems related to the lack of clear rules on contributions to the EU pension system, high staff turnover and the lack of robust procedures for certifying and validating in-kind contributions to certain Joint Undertakings. The reports are based on the following set of documents: the 2021 annual report on the European Union Joint Undertakings for the financial year 2021, the European Court of Auditors, the Joint Undertakings’ individual reports on budgetary and financial management, the Joint Undertakings’ individual annual activity reports and the Joint Undertakings’ individual annual accounts. I would like to discuss now the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (until 30 November 2021 the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking) for the financial year 2021. Under Horizon 2020, the payment execution rate was 71 %, due to delays in the implementation of projects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Operational commitment appropriations were lacking in 2021, as the call for proposals was already closed in 2020. Simplifications introduced in Horizon 2020 and the experience of beneficiaries have contributed positively to the reduction of errors. Nevertheless, the 2020 discharge procedure highlighted persistent systemic errors in the personnel costs claimed by beneficiaries. Therefore, the Joint Undertaking continues to improve its expenditure control strategies and participates in joint actions to improve the use of European Union funds, in particular for specific categories of beneficiaries under the management of Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. At the end of 2021, a total of 11 risks with varying degrees of materiality, convergence and interdependence were identified and described in the risk register. The analysis carried out in 2021 confirmed trends from previous years and, thanks to the effectiveness of internal controls and the experience of key activities such as grant planning and Horizon 2020 procedures and systems, some additional risks were removed or mitigated. Following the observations on the 2020 discharge procedure, the Joint Undertaking reports to the discharge authority on the management of the risk of fraud in its 2021 annual activity report. It also confirms that it continued to implement the recommendations and informed OLAF about the effective implementation of the recommendations from previous years. I will now present the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (by 30 November 2021 the Clean Sky Joint Undertaking) for the financial year 2021. First of all, a systemic error was detected and calculated, which consisted in incorrect calculation of hourly rates for personnel costs. In addition, in 2021, important documents such as procurement evaluation reports, recruitment procedures and award decisions and employment contracts were validated by pasting the signature image of the competent official into a document in Word and then converting the file into PDF. Such a practice entails a legal risk, as a person who has been rejected in the recruitment process may question the correctness of the documents with the results of the assessment. The Joint Undertaking carried out a risk analysis and established a specific audit sample ex post, to cover part of the projects included in the grant agreement for the Joint Undertaking’s partners, indicating some exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic-related constraint described by the Court of Auditors, such as financial weaknesses, operational delay and high staff costs compared to the average.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Regions facing severe and permanent difficulties incur additional costs, making them less competitive for businesses and less attractive for new, large or medium-sized enterprises. The following crisis: economic, COVID-19-related, energy, inflationary, climate-related have exacerbated the backwardness of the least developed regions, transition regions, outermost regions, mountainous, island, sparsely populated and rural regions. Many regions of the European Union are also at risk of falling into the trap of limited development. Therefore, in order to maintain cohesion, promote convergence and reduce regional disparities, while ensuring that territorial divisions are not exacerbated and that the single market is not distorted by favouring the Member States and regions in the best financial situation, I would like to ask: How will the Commission ensure that the consistency principles enshrined in Articles 174 and 175 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Union are taken into account when revising the General Block Exemption Regulation? And does the Commission support the idea of including in the de minimis rules additional provisions for outermost regions, transition regions and least favoured regions, recognised in Articles 349 and 174 of the same Treaty or laid down in the Common Provisions Regulation?

Madam President, I'm sorry. Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to a draconian sentence of 25 years for calling Putin a criminal responsible for the war in the middle of Europe. In his speech before Putin's court, he said: “I was sure after two decades in Russian politics, after everything I had seen and experienced, that nothing could surprise me anymore. I must admit that I was wrong.’ And he goes on to say that the contempt for legal norms during his trial exceeded the standards of the trials of Soviet dissidents of the 1960s and 1970s, and even the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. It is good that today in the European Parliament we are debating a resolution condemning Putin's Russia. But it is impossible not to notice that until recently, in this House and in many European countries, Putin was seen as a statesman, a democrat with whom one can do business and make the energy security of the European Union dependent on Russian hydrocarbons. When late President Lech Kaczynski warned Europe and the world in Tbilisi against a Russian tyrant, his voice in Europe was disavowed. Today, we see that Putin is not backing away from murdering his own citizens. And for many of you, Putin’s assassination of the Polish president – as we can see today – was unbelievable. 'Putin is a Democrat'. Putin is a criminal!