What Clare spoke about.

14 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Human rights violations in the context of forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians to and forced adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia

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Madam President, for me this resolution is a hodgepodge of unverified and wildly exaggerated claims laced with a strong dose of hypocrisy, as the right-wing groups beat their breasts over mass data collection and mistreatment during secret security screening of refugees, all seasoned with a hearty dollop of pure invention. There's no doubt about it that the stuff the Russians are doing in screenin…

14 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Illegal detention of the opposition leader in Bulgaria (topical debate)

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Mr President, I have to say, I find it incredibly interesting to see the EPP being so exercised about the rule of law in Bulgaria, because he certainly didn’t have any interest in it before the change of government. In fact, the EPP voted against a Parliament resolution in 2020 which dealt with the deep and systemic weaknesses in rule of law in Bulgaria, the systemic problems in the country’s judi…

14 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Situation of fundamental rights in the EU in 2020 and 2021 (debate)

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Mr President, I have to say, I think this is an incredibly strong report, but I want to particularly deal with the section on migration. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, more than 5 700 civilians have lost their lives. We rightly condemn in the strongest possible terms, even as we do nothing to stop this war. But there’s another war in Europe, even though we don’t call it that. But it is a cont…

13 Sep

2022

EN Speech

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

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Madam President, let’s face it, we can’t say we weren’t warned: fossil fuel consumption is unsustainable. Of course, we should have been a long way down the road by now, moving to environmentally friendly, renewable, public—owned energy. We could have built, we could have invested, we could have been ready for the inevitable crisis, but we kicked the can down the road, allowing greenwashing by big…

13 Sep

2022

EN Speech

The situation in the Strait of Taiwan (debate)

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Madam President, I really feel that the European Union has to cop itself on if we don’t want to get caught up in the US efforts to destabilise the Taiwan Strait in the manner in which they have done with Ukraine at such enormous cost to the citizens of Europe, be they Ukrainian, Russian or indeed citizens of the EU itself. If we’re worried about cross-strait tensions, we shouldn’t be doing anythin…

12 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Surveillance and predator spyware systems in Greece (debate)

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Mr President, I too condemn the use of spyware by Greece against journalists and opposition. I’m glad we are debating it because, to be honest, we didn’t deal efficiently enough with similar revelations against our Catalan MEP colleagues. But the truth is that this scandal really is just the tip of an iceberg. The design, sale and use of spying technologies doesn’t happen by accident; it’s a busin…

12 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Deforestation Regulation (debate)

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Mr President, I have to say, I found it really heartening to see the large numbers of citizens getting in touch with us to support the ban on products associated with deforestation. For me, it gave a very clear example of how our citizens, in some ways, are far ahead of us and far ahead, certainly, of the Commission regulation that was released last November, which I do think had quite a few holes…

12 Sep

2022

EN Speech

New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 – Sustainable Forest Management in Europe (debate)

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Mr President, I, too, welcome the fact that we have a new forest strategy for 2023 although, of course, we all know that it was weakened before publication under pressure from the forest industry and some of our Member States. But, nonetheless, it is important in that it does put as much emphasis on our ecosystem services as it does on woods and energy, and that is incredibly important. If we ever…

7 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Protection of the EU’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2020 (A9-0175/2022 - Katalin Cseh)

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Mr President, before I start, could I correct the record? I don’t actually own a bicycle, but I don’t own a car any more either. I came here by train and I used to work in the aviation sector, but anyway, there we are. In terms of this report before us, it is dealing with fraud, which is a huge problem everywhere across the EU. The report focuses a fair bit on Poland and Hungary, but I think this …

7 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Developing an EU Cycling Strategy (debate)

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Mr President, there was a good skit doing the rounds in the last week about how a banker persuades an economist that cycling is bad for the planet by explaining that a cyclist doesn't buy cars, doesn't borrow money to buy them, doesn't pay for insurance policies, doesn't buy fuel, doesn't pay for maintenance or needs repairs and doesn't pay for parking. And actually, they are much healthier as wel…

7 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Sustainable aviation fuels (ReFuelEU Aviation Initiative) (debate)

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Mr President, I would like to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of our rapporteur who absolutely strove might and main to try and deal with this file and be as inclusive as possible. And him and his staff deserve credit for that. But having said that, the final text is just not credible for us in terms of the sector dealing adequately with its decarbonisation requirements, primarily because o…

7 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Recent heat wave and drought in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, it is really, truly terrifying to see these record heat waves, with much of Europe nearing 40 degrees and devastating consequences in Italy and Spain in particular, major rivers drying up, water rationing becoming the new normal. But the consequences will be even more magnified in the global south, with millions and millions suffering destructive wildfires, prolonged drought and crop…

6 Jul

2022

EN Speech

The EU and the defence of multilateralism (A9-0172/2022 - Javi López)

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Madam President, I voted against this report because, while there’s some good bits in it, overall it’s confused and deceptive. It purports to be a call to defend multilateralism, but instead it attempts to redefine it and turn it into its opposite. Multilateralism in a multipolar world means working through genuinely inclusive bodies – such as the UN – on the principle of sovereign equality, where…

6 Jul

2022

EN Speech

The relations of the Russian government and diplomatic network with parties of extremist, populist, anti-European and certain other European political parties in the context of the war (debate)

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I made a very specific point. I think it’s interesting that a lot of the contributions here are from Member States’ deputies criticising their others in cheap political point scoring. When I referred to that situation in my own country, I was talking about me. I’ve been accused of being an apologist for Putin. I have never once! I would like to ask you to pinpoint any scenario, any action, any wor…

6 Jul

2022

EN Speech

The relations of the Russian government and diplomatic network with parties of extremist, populist, anti-European and certain other European political parties in the context of the war (debate)

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Madam President, we’ve had loads of resolutions in here condemning Russia for repressing civil society and opposition figures for alleged connections with the West and now we’re doing exactly the same thing. We’ve already heard people here – to score cheap political points in their own Member States – condemn as Putin’s puppets those who have never supported Putin or any authoritarian regime. It’s…

5 Jul

2022

EN Speech

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

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Mr President, what we have here is another example of EU doublespeak. We say we want to move away from fossil fuels, but to do that we’re going to allow essentially free money to invest in fossil fuels by allowing gas into taxonomy and therefore ensuring their continued use at the expense of other green alternatives. It’s absolute nonsense, and it’s nonsense put forward by the same people who are …

4 Jul

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President, we hear a lot in here about the battle between democracy and authoritarianism. To defend democracy and get Finland and Sweden into NATO we’re prepared to do a filthy deal with Turkey, selling out the Kurds to a country known for persecuting them. To protect EU values, get oil and guns, we’re prepared to snuggle up to Saudi Arabia, known to dismember journalists, execute 81 people …

4 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Indo-Pacific strategy in the area of trade and investment (short presentation)

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Madam President, I too would welcome the balance introduced in the report by the rapporteur. I think it was very welcome because all too often now the warmongers in NATO would appear to have captured the EU, and as somebody from a neutral country I find that quite offensive: NATO has come to view China as a security threat, describing its policies as a challenge to the alliance’s interests, accusi…

4 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Negotiations for a cooperation agreement between the EU and Interpol (short presentation)

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Madam President, I have to say I think there are a lot of good provisions in this agreement, but it is debased by the insertion of geopolitical interests, which have no part in neutral international cooperation agreements. Now, Interpol has a huge responsibility to ensure proper verification of information, judicial redress and compliance with fundamental data rights. It should be organised on a r…

4 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Women’s poverty in Europe (debate)

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Madam President, I think the simple truth is that the neoliberal policies advocated by the European Union cannot provide a sustainable solution to women’s poverty in our economy. We see widespread, atypical and precarious working conditions, with the dismantling of social security systems being a huge contributing factor to the problems. And the only solution to eradicating women’s poverty is to s…

4 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Digital Services Act - Digital Markets Act (debate)

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Mr President, I think the DSA really was a chance for the EU to regulate the hyper-centralised digital sphere and to crack down on the harmful business model of big tech that so much feeds off the exploitation of the billions of users’ personal data. But we have to be honest about it. The attempt to create a digital constitution and to protect our online fundamental rights has largely failed. It r…

4 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Loss of life, violence and inhumane treatment against people seeking international protection at the Spanish-Moroccan border (debate)

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Madam President, Moroccan border forces are funded directly by the EU. When they carry out a massacre of 37 people on the EU’s borders, the EU bears responsibility, and we have a responsibility to call it out, because it’s not an accident: it’s a consequence of the EU’s reliance on third countries to prevent people from arriving in the EU, exercising their right under international law to seek asy…

4 Jul

2022

EN Speech

US Supreme Court decision to overturn abortion rights in the United States and the need to safeguard abortion rights and Women’s health in the EU (debate)

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Madam President, vicious divisions in US society have again been exposed in the aftermath of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the devastating impact on access to safe abortion. Because we know, of course, that outlawing abortion does not lead to a reduction in abortion, but only to a reduction in safe abortion, endangering women’s lives in the process. And as somebody coming from Ireland, …

4 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, I’d like to thank colleagues for the suggestion. There’s no doubt about it: the crisis in aviation is having devastating consequences on citizens and workers alike, and it is something that can’t wait until September. But equally, the UK’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol and the implications for international law cannot wait either. So we would have a coun…

23 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Future of EU-Africa trade relations (A9-0169/2022 - Helmut Scholz)

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Madam President, I voted for the report also. I’d like to compliment my Left colleagues who acted as rapporteurs. There’s a lot of really good stuff in it about safeguarding food sovereignty, preventing deforestation and degradation, and many more issues. But the truth is, it’s a million miles from the reality of EU—Africa trade policy as it exists now, because our economic relations with Africa a…