What Asger spoke about.

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DA Written Statement

Gender pay and pension gap in the EU: state of play, challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fairer remuneration of work in female-dominated sectors (debate)

Ensuring equality between men and women is an important objective. Equal pay for equal work has been a fundamental principle of the EU for decades, and it is crucial that we continue to have a sustained focus on reducing the gender gap. As the report also shows, gender equality is a fundamental value in the EU, and equal pay for equal work is crucial here. At the same time, the Left acknowledges t…

9 Jul

2026

DA Speech

Evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy and follow-up (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner! Evaluation of the CFP provides a good opportunity to take stock. Fisheries policy must be based on a balance between environmental, economic and social sustainability. We need to protect fish stocks, but we also need to ensure that there continues to be an industry and vibrant coastal communities. In Denmark, fishing is an important part of our food production. Therefor…

17 Jun

2026

DA Speech

The resilience of the European transport sector and the need to ensure the supply of essential goods amid ongoing geopolitical instability (debate)

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Mr. President! The crises of recent years have shown us how quickly supply chains can come under pressure. That is why it is crucial that Europe can keep goods and supplies moving, even when the world around us is insecure. European transport companies are part of the solution. That is why we need to invest in infrastructure, remove unnecessary bureaucracy and ensure that the green transition work…

21 May

2026

DA Speech

Periodic roadworthiness tests and technical roadside inspection (Roadworthiness package) (A10-0139/2026 - Jens Gieseke) (vote)

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Mr President! Ladies and gentlemen. I would like to invite you to vote plus and give a mandate to go to trilogue. We have worked very hard to reach an acceptable agreement and all the rapporteur's compromise proposals were voted through in the Committee on Transport. You cannot get everything you want, but in politics it is about making agreements that contain more than your own thoughts. We have …

19 May

2026

DA Speech

Presentation of the Fertilisers Action Plan (debate)

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Madam President! I had put my boots back on today because this is a very, very serious issue we are discussing. For farmers, but also for our consumers. Fertilizers are a prerequisite for high yields and stable food prices. Therefore, fertilizers are not just a matter of agriculture. It is also a matter of security policy. It is a question of Europe's food security. When energy prices explode, as …

18 May

2026

DA Speech

The multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea and ways forward (debate)

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Mr. President! The Baltic Sea is challenged and we need to open our eyes to see the whole picture. All too often, fishermen are made scapegoats. Fishermen live off the sea and have a huge interest in the Baltic Sea being well. And there are a wide range of causes for the problems in the Baltic Sea: Wastewater, climate change, cormorants, seals, large amounts of discharge of untreated wastewater fr…

30 Apr

2026

DA Speech

How to secure a sustainable future for the EU livestock sector in light of the need to ensure food security, farmers’ resilience and the challenges posed by animal diseases? (debate)

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Mr President! I have been a farmer for over 40 years and the reality we face today is markedly different from back then. In Europe, there are fewer and fewer cattle. At the same time, we are experiencing increasing political pressure that may ultimately jeopardise our food security. It is serious, and at a time of global uncertainty, it is more important than ever that we can produce our own food,…

12 Feb

2026

DA Speech

Cooperation among enforcement authorities regarding unfair trading practices in the agri-food supply chain (debate)

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15 Dec

2025

DA Speech

Amending certain CAP Regulations as regards the conditionality system, types of intervention in the form of direct payment, types of intervention in certain sectors and rural development and annual performance reports, data and interoperability governance, suspensions of payments annual performance clearance and controls and penalties (debate)

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Madam President! EU agricultural policy needs to be simplified – not in spreadsheets, but in reality. Agriculture suffers from data tyranny. The dates control when we should sow and when we should be done harvesting. The weather does not conform to spreadsheets, and Mother Earth does not conform to the calendar. Even so, the farmer is severely punished if the date is exceeded. It's desk farming. I…

26 Nov

2025

DA Speech

Fishing opportunities 2026: ensuring the sustainability of fish populations, marine ecosystems and coastal communities

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7 Oct

2025

DA Speech

Common agricultural policy (joint debate)

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Mr President! Thank you for the word. Simplification of agricultural policy is very, very important. That's why I put on the rubber boots today, Hansen, and they're washed. Less bureaucracy so that time can be spent in the stable and in the field. It makes no sense for us to simplify the rules with one hand and create a new bureaucratic monster with the other. The proposal for compulsory contracts…

10 Jul

2025

DA Speech

Post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (debate)

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Madam President! We must ensure that the EU's agricultural policy is also common in the future. The CAP must remain as EU funding. It creates a level playing field and it protects the internal market and prevents renationalisation. We must ensure a realistic green transition where climate and environment go hand in hand with food production and competitiveness. And then we need to make sure that n…

7 May

2025

DA Speech

High levels of retail food prices and their consequences for European consumers (debate)

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Madam President! Food prices are high. Too high. Rules, control systems and documentation for the sake of documentation create costs. The farmer, the transporters and the merchant spend hours and days on paperwork and reporting. It does not make the food safer or the production greener. Every time we put a new layer of regulation on, we put a layer of cost on the price. It's completely foolish, an…

13 Mar

2025

DA Speech

A Vision for Agriculture and Food (debate)

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Mr President! Agriculture is one of Europe's most important sectors. Farmers make sure we have food on the table every day. Food security is a security policy. That is why I very much welcome the Commission's proposal to focus on simplifying rules and simplifying their vision. The farmer needs less time at the desk and more time in the field and in the stable. It is crucial that we de-bureaucratis…

18 Dec

2024

DA Speech

Challenges facing EU farmers and agricultural workers: improving working conditions, including their mental well-being (debate)

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Mr President! As a farmer there, I know that working on agriculture is not just a profession. It's a way of life. We live in the countryside. We live with the country. We live off the land. It can be hard, physical and demanding work, so it often takes place under pressure and isolation from the outside world. Farmers have natural challenges. We are really dependent on the weather, and it is frust…

27 Nov

2024

DA Speech

Topical debate (Rule 169) - Budapest Declaration on the New European Competitiveness Deal - A future for the farming and manufacturing sectors in the EU (topical debate)

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Mr President! On my farm in Denmark, we have managed to reduce our climate impact by 15 percent over the last four years, while at the same time producing world-class milk. Agriculture and the green transition are not each other's opposites, they are each other's prerequisites. Money in the box, of course, freedom of technology, debureaucratization, competitiveness, that is absolutely crucial. In …

16 Sep

2024

DA Speech

Outcome of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture (debate)

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Mr President! We are to be masters of our own house. It is crucial that we ensure future food security in Europe. If we don't have enough food for our people, then everything else really doesn't matter. But of course we need to produce greener and more sustainable. Europe already has the greenest agriculture in the world, but of course we can be even better. We need to produce more for less in the…

7 Feb

2024

DA Speech

Implementation report on the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 (continuation of debate)

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Madam President! People are killed because of their love. Man should not be condemned to death for loving another man of the same sex. It is absurd and it is inhumane. I praise myself for every day that my children and grandchildren grow up and are born in Denmark, where you have the right to love whoever you want. But even though we are a pioneer in the EU in relation to LGBT+ rights, we should n…

7 Feb

2024

DA Speech

Empowering farmers and rural communities - a dialogue towards sustainable and fairly rewarded EU agriculture (debate)

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Madam President! I'm a farmer and I'm wearing my boots, Commissioner! Across Europe, farmers are demonstrating with their tractors. That's because the uncertainty is very, very, very great. Economic uncertainty after the Ukraine crisis, rising fuel prices, inflation and being flooded by products from Ukraine. But also the uncertainty about excessive environmental legislation on the part of the EU.…

6 Feb

2024

DA Speech

Plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed (debate)

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Madam President! We are to be the master of our own house. We do this by keeping innovation and production in European hands. That is why we must allow the use of the new plant breeding techniques, CRISPR, tomorrow. Otherwise, the train will pass Europe. In many parts of the world, new technologies are already being developed. That is why we must now make the decision. Technologies such as CRISPR …

18 Jan

2024

DA Speech

EU Action Plan: protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries (debate)

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Mr. President! Commissioner! The President! Colleague! The proposal that is underway, with a total bottom trawl ban, is one of the worst I have seen. The power of desk politics needs to be looked for for a long time. Our fishermen, they supply some of the world's greenest and healthiest foods. We can be proud of that and I really hope that Parliament will approve our compromise proposal from the C…

17 Jan

2024

DA Speech

Improving the socio-economic situation of farmers and rural areas, ensuring fair incomes, food security as well as a just transition (debate)

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Madam President! Commissioner! Colleague! Farmer! Europe must also be self-sufficient in food in the future. If we don't have food security, we make ourselves vulnerable. The climate, nature, animals also need us to produce our own food in Europe, because we are the greenest food cluster in the world and have the best animal welfare. Unfortunately, we see floods and droughts in several places. It …

21 Nov

2023

DA Speech

Sustainable use of plant protection products (debate)

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Mr President! The Commission's first proposal for pesticide legislation was on the moon. This would have meant that 90% of the area in Denmark is sensitive areas, and then you might as well have closed down Danish plant production. We have already halved the pesticides in Denmark by more than 50% since 2011. Danish farmers both can and will reduce further with new technology. But there must be tim…

19 Oct

2023

DA Speech

Generational renewal in the EU farms of the future (debate)

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Mr. President! Food supply has never been more important than it is now. We are becoming more and more people. Young farmers play an extremely important role in this process, and they need to be helped to get started more easily. It is the young people who will be providing food on the plates in the future. But as it is today, it is far too difficult for young people to enter the profession. I mys…

16 Oct

2023

DA Speech

Fisheries control (debate)

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Madam President! Of course, I would also have liked to have seen the Commissioner for Fisheries in this debate, because it is very, very important for fishermen. And thanks to Clara for a great job you've done. Finally, there will be an agreement that fishermen have been looking forward to for a long time, and they deserve it. There are many good elements in the new fisheries control that will mak…