What Mikuláš spoke about.

11

Mar

2024

CS Speech

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Energy performance of buildings (recast) (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, modernising the European economy and adapting it to the climate crisis is one of the most difficult challenges of our time. The more I value the direction we are setting here, because heating and air conditioning, on the other hand, account for a third of Europe's energy consumption and produce a third of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions. So we're going on a pa…

28

Feb

2024

CS Speech

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European Digital Identity framework (debate)

Madam President, a European digital identity is certainly an important part of a digital Europe. It brings, in theory, the possibility of significantly simplifying everyday life for our citizens and businesses. Unfortunately, there are also some privacy and security concerns. As shadow rapporteur, I have tried to address these problems, especially with regard to compulsory certification and the so…

5

Feb

2024

CS Speech

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State of EU solar industry in light of unfair competition (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to discuss how unfair competition affects European photovoltaic production. It is admittedly experiencing very bad times, because we currently produce about 1% of the world's production, while 78% is produced in China. It is quite common for different states to focus on different things depending on what is appropriate with regard to local conditions…

13

Dec

2023

CS Speech

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The abduction of Tibetan children and forced assimilation practices through Chinese boarding schools in Tibet

Madam President, first of all, let me thank you, because, as chairman of the Tibetan interest group, I feel special gratitude for the fact that we managed to convince all of you to discuss this topic. I believe this is very important because the atrocities committed by the Chinese authorities in Tibet undermine the very core of Tibetan identity and are a danger to the future of Tibetans as a natio…

13

Dec

2023

CS Answer

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Planned dissolution of key anti-corruption structures in Slovakia and its implications on the Rule of Law (continuation of debate)

Madam, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that a very important part of the functioning of the rule of law is that all crimes are properly investigated and prosecuted, and my first and most important concern in this situation is that President Fico ensures that this works in Slovakia, because he is disrupting it.…

13

Dec

2023

CS Speech

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Planned dissolution of key anti-corruption structures in Slovakia and its implications on the Rule of Law (continuation of debate)

Madam President, Prime Minister Fico's plan to abolish the elite branch of the Public Prosecutor's Office in an accelerated hearing is revenge for the criminal prosecution of himself and his party colleagues by the SMER and close friends of the oligarchs. This followed their involvement in the murder of corruption journalist Ján Kuciak and his partner Martina Kušnírová. As a Czech citizen, I am te…

18

Oct

2023

CS Speech

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Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report 2022 (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the report of the European Court of Auditors shows us that this year the European Union's error rate, that is to say, payments that should not have been paid from the European budget, has risen to 4.2%, which is almost twice as high as last year. The Court therefore gave an unfavourable opinion on the expenditure side. This is mainly due to poor financing and no…

4

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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European green bonds (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, the reality of our current climate challenge and the other environmental challenges poses a major threat to how we as humankind operate, live our lives and realise our potential. That is the simple reality that we should take in every single time we vote on all related topics in the European Parliament. This is the major challenge of our lifetimes, and this challe…

11

Jul

2023

EN Speech

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COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, unfortunately, this Parliament did not learn any lesson from the COVID pandemic when it comes to so—called intellectual property on vaccines. If we want to face the next pandemic, which will surely occur because of the climate change, we need to allow patent waivers to facilitate global treatment. The current system is disadvantageous to developing countries because …

13

Jun

2023

CS Speech

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Establishment of the EU Ethics Body (debate)

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen. Unfortunately, the Commission's proposal, which concerns a new ethics body, is very disappointing for me, because it does not fulfil its purpose at all. The Qatargate scandal has shown us that the EU institutions are unable to avoid and sanction corruption. Although we already have a number of rules to deal with similar situations, the p…

12

Jun

2023

CS Speech

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Large transport infrastructure projects in the EU (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we certainly need large transport structures for the development and accessibility of European regions, as well as for ensuring better connectivity between east and west and north and south of Europe. The development of our railways will also help us to get closer to the climate goals and their fulfillment. That is why I am pleased that this report includes, …

10

May

2023

CS Speech

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Update of the anti-corruption legislative framework (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, while the anti-corruption package presented by the Commission is a step in the right direction, it is far from achieving what is necessary. Europe can no longer be a safe haven for corrupt officials and their dirty money, especially as a result of Qatargate and the number of Russian oligarchs trying to circumvent sanctions. Finally, this legislative proposal …

9

May

2023

EN Speech

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Discharge 2021 (continuation of debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, thank you all for your contributions in this debate. I am glad to hear that we mostly share the same goal to ensure the sound management of the EU institutions. We strive to make them more accountable and transparent to the public. As said earlier, 2021 remained a challenging year where the pandemic was still requiring crisis responses and adaptations of working c…

9

May

2023

EN Speech

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Discharge 2021 (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, I would like to start by thanking all the institutions who participated in the exercise for their cooperation and the information they provided. I would also like to thank the shadow rapporteurs for their valuable cooperation in the discharge reports. The year 2021 remained a challenging one, with the pandemic still requiring crisis response and adoption of workin…

30

Mar

2023

CS Speech

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2022 Rule of Law Report - The rule of law situation in the European Union - Rule of law in Greece - Rule of law in Spain - Rule of law in Malta (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the scope of the Rule of Law Report should be extended to respect for fundamental rights, because it directly affects the lives of Europeans, and therefore primarily minorities, such as the LGBTQI+ community. In Hungary, the so-called anti-LGBT law directly restricts minors' access to basic information about sex education and prohibits any content, even with the slighte…

14

Feb

2023

CS Speech

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Establishment of an independent EU Ethics Body (debate)

Mr President, I speak very often in the European Parliament about how to be transparent, how to fight fraud and corruption, and how to protect whistle-blowers. But instead of what Parliament should be doing, it is not doing much. Naši kolegové tady plní novinové titulky rozsáhlou korupční aférou a my přitom nedovolíme našemu vlastnímu úřadu pro boj proti podvodům, aby vyšetřoval obviněné europosla…

18

Jan

2023

CS Speech

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Protection of the EU’s financial interests - combating fraud - annual report 2021 (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, not all politicians are corrupt. It's not normal to take bribes. It is not normal to go on unannounced paid missions that are reminiscent of a vacation. And it's certainly not normal for prime ministers to steal public funds. This is what we have been working on with the Pirates for many years, and that is why we have hope for a better Czech Republic and a be…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Robert Golob (debate)

Madam President, dear Prime Minister Golob, last year I had the opportunity to visit Slovenia on a mission as a member of the Budgetary Control Committee. Under your predecessor Janez Janša, Slovenia was suffering multiple rule of law crises. The issue that resonated with me mostly was the intimidation of the controlling authorities, as well as the lack of media freedom. Budgets were cut and criti…

9

Nov

2022

CS Speech

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Digital finance: Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) - Digital Finance: Amending Directive regarding Digital Operational Resilience requirements (debate)

Mr President, I would therefore like to take this opportunity once again to thank both the Commissioner and all my colleagues, the rapporteurs, Mr Kelleher and all the others who have been involved in the preparation of this document, as well as all of you who have now spoken in the debate. I believe that European citizens will appreciate this, because this is one of the most important documents f…

9

Nov

2022

CS Speech

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Digital finance: Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) - Digital Finance: Amending Directive regarding Digital Operational Resilience requirements (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, DORA may seem, at first glance, to be something quite technical, but in fact it is quite an interesting package and brings quite significant progress in our common cybersecurity. It is harmonisation that has the potential to save quite a lot of money, so it is one of the good examples of why we actually need the European Union to ensure the security of our fi…

3

Oct

2022

CS Speech

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Impact of new technologies on taxation: crypto and blockchain (debate)

Madam President, many people are afraid of new technologies, unfortunately. It is a reason for them to try to ban cryptocurrencies, complicate their use or try to push them out of the market. However, such an effort will always be very costly, whether in terms of money, administrative complexity or invasion of privacy. I believe that we have a better choice, because if we can set basic fair condit…

4

Jul

2022

EN Speech

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Digital Services Act - Digital Markets Act (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, as a Pirate I can only describe the Digital Services Act as a missed opportunity which fails to protect our fundamental rights online. Our privacy won’t be protected by the right for anonymity or encryption. Data retention, browser tracking and surveillance advertising will unfortunately remain the norm. Freedom of expression online won’t be ensured, as platforms wil…

7

Jun

2022

CS Speech

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

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I regret to admit that I see this as a complete failure on the part of the European Commission, because instead of upholding its commitment to defending the rule of law in Europe, it has cowardly and unfightingly left it at the mercy of the Polish authoritarians. The Polish government is far from fulfilling the conditions for disbursing money from the Recover…

18

May

2022

CS Speech

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Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report (debate)

Madam President, the rule of law is not a luxury. It has to be the same everywhere, both in Hungary and in Poland. Because we cannot let Europe fail because of corruption, judicial inequality and media censorship. And today, especially more than ever, we must defend these values, because European civilization is built on them. Poles, including many Ukrainian refugees, need access to fair courts, o…

6

Apr

2022

CS Speech

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

Madam President, it has been about two years since our last resolution on the decline of the rule of law in Hungary and Poland. However, I regret to say that there has been no significant improvement since then. Both governments continue their relentless attacks on judicial independence, media freedom and the individual rights of women and minorities. In the case of Hungary, I am very relieved tha…