What Clare spoke about.

23 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Draft amending budget No 3/2022: financing reception costs of people fleeing Ukraine (A9-0181/2022 - Karlo Ressler)

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Madam President, I voted for this report because I’m always in favour of giving money to refugees not just in Ukraine, but everywhere. I’m thinking today also of the people of Afghanistan who are grappling with a horrific earthquake on top of starvation, sanctions and being blocked out from entry to the European Union. We have to end these double standards, but we also have to look at the policies…

23 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Candidate status of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia (RC-B9-0331/2022, B9-0331/2022, B9-0332/2022, B9-0333/2022, B9-0334/2022, B9-0335/2022, B9-0336/2022)

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Madam President, ‘The goal is an endless war, not a successful war’ – those were the words of Julian Assange in 2011 in relation to the war in Afghanistan, words which could now equally apply about Ukraine. Ukraine should absolutely be able to join the EU, but on terms that don’t bankrupt its people, and when it’s ready and when a majority of its people choose. But that certainly will not be happe…

9 Jun

2022

EN Speech

A new trade instrument to ban products made by forced labour (B9-0291/2022)

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Mr President, you know you’re never going to find anyone who’ll would stand up and say, ‘You know what, I’m in favour of forced labour’, but actually it’s everywhere. So why is that? On the one hand, we have the reality of the most abhorrent forms – debt bondage, trafficking, and other forms of modern slavery. But actually the lines are quite blurred, because you look at situations of poverty and …

9 Jun

2022

EN Speech

The call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (B9-0305/2022, B9-0307/2022)

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Mr President, there’s no doubt about it: the EU must change radically. Its constitution isn’t fit for purpose; it’s an engine of neoliberalism; and its democratic credentials are not in good shape. So yes, revision of the Treaties is absolutely necessary, but not like this. The conceit here of orderly, democratic EU reform is a trap. The Conference on the Future of Europe is actually change from a…

9 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Parliament’s right of initiative (A9-0142/2022 - Paulo Rangel)

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Mr President, for me, I suppose this place is often kind of like a sort of delusional, backslappers’ convention, with endless self-flattery about how the EU is a force for democracy and values, out fighting the autocrats. But, of course, the reality is completely different: neoliberalism, market extremism, austerity, all set in stone in the Treaties, beyond democratic reform. Unelected bodies like…

9 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Illegal logging in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, thanks to colleagues for tabling the initiative. I mean, four days ago on every social media platform, the EU was celebrating World Environmental Day, and one of our key targets was to fight deforestation, recognising that forests play a vital role in mitigating the catastrophic impact of climate change. And yet the European Union’s forests only account for 5% of the world’s forests.…

8 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Global threats to abortion rights: the possible overturn of abortion rights in the US by the Supreme Court (debate)

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Madam President, Roe v. Wade was really a pivotal ruling in saving women’s lives by granting the right to abortion. And such was its magnitude that the conservative right in Ireland were afraid that the judges in Ireland might get the same idea. Even though abortion was prohibited with a ban of penal servitude for life, they forced a campaign to insert a constitutional referendum to ensure that th…

8 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Global threats to abortion rights: the possible overturn of abortion rights in the US by the Supreme Court (debate)

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Thanks very much President, and I must just say to the colleague that I am a lifelong campaigner for abortion rights, but I note that you quoted Madeleine Albright and said that she said there was a special place in hell for women who didn’t defend other women. The same Madeleine Albright was the woman who was responsible when asked about the deaths of a million Iraqis in the war in America ‘Was i…

7 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Security in the Eastern Partnership area and the role of the common security and defence policy (debate)

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Madam President, the Eastern Partnership region is a diverse group of states sandwiched between the EU and Russia, and we talk about threats to their security while replicating the policies which contributed to their insecurity in the first place. Even before the war in Ukraine, the text of this report was radically unacceptable to our group, needlessly confrontational and provocative, oblivious t…

7 Jun

2022

EN Speech

The EU’s Foreign, Security and Defence Policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, the Head of the African Union calls for an end to sanctions because people in Africa are dying and an MEP comes in here and bemoans it. I have to say, the arrogance is striking! Russia’s invasion was a godsend to the worst elements in European politics. NATO’s dodged being obsolete, the arms manufacturers are getting blank checks and the Eastern European far right got to bully the…

7 Jun

2022

EN Speech

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

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Madam President, as far as I’m concerned, the Commission’s record on rule of law was pretty abysmal to begin with. But the decision to release the National Recovery Plan funds to Poland, justified on the basis of the ludicrous charade of a meaningless bill put forward by the President to amend the disciplinary chamber, really takes the biscuit. But let us be honest about it, because contrary to al…

6 Jun

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President, I wonder how many people here, or people who follow the media across Europe, are aware of the urgency of the humanitarian catastrophe that is accelerating in Afghanistan. Where’s the focus on the announcement by the World Food Programme this week that they have to roll back on their commitment? They actually have to stop feeding the hungry so that they can concentrate on the starv…

6 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy Regulation (short presentation)

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Madam President, I think there’s a certain irony that we’re discussing this today when we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the CAP. Because while some farmers benefited from CAP, albeit not small family farms, in an Irish context, our entire fishing sector was sacrificed for membership of the EEC at the time, and of course Brexit has affected it even more, where Ireland has been disproportionate…

6 Jun

2022

EN Speech

The EU and the security challenges in the Indo-Pacific (debate)

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Mr President, I think it is incredible how in a very few, short years the EU has gone from not doing geopolitics to an absolute frenzy in it. And the report calls for cooperation with NATO, QUAD, AUKUS, all to deal with what it describes as a lack of an overarching regional security order in the Indo-Pacific. China’s economic and political influence in its own geographic neighbourhood is described…

6 Jun

2022

EN Speech

The EEAS’s Climate Change and Defence Roadmap (debate)

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Mr President, it’s interesting that we’re having this discussion at the same plenary when we’re voting on the FIT for 55 package, because the truth is that military activity does emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases and pollutants in its production and in its operation. Yes, we continue to spend billions in a secret manner surrounding its share of emissions. Any attempts that we’ve made, f…

6 Jun

2022

EN Speech

2021 Report on Turkey (debate)

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Mr President, year on year, we hear the same rhetoric about Turkey’s inability to live up to European values and standards. And yet, at the same time, we’re really happy to give them billions on a filthy deal designed to ensure that those fleeing what were often Western-provoked wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and so on are prevented from exercising their legal right to seek asylum in Europe a…

19 May

2022

EN Speech

Social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine – reinforcing the EU’s capacity to act (RC-B9-0267/2022, B9-0267/2022, B9-0271/2022, B9-0273/2022, B9-0278/2022, B9-0279/2022, B9-0280/2022)

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Mr President, for me, the aim of this resolution really is to put in place measures to offset the costs of continuing the war when in actual fact what we should be doing is working to end it. This lunacy is anchored in the knowledge that sanctions are hurting the people of the European Union and not, I would say, enhancing European security, but rather actually undermining it. I see now in every m…

19 May

2022

EN Speech

The fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine (B9-0272/2022, RC-B9-0281/2022, B9-0281/2022, B9-0282/2022, B9-0283/2022, B9-0284/2022, B9-0285/2022)

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Mr President, there’s no doubt about it: the images and stories of the atrocities emerging from Ukraine are truly horrific. They join similar images and stories from the likes of Palestine, from Yemen, from Afghanistan – all a testament to the depths of human cruelty, the enormity of human suffering, and to the evils of war. Yet the truth is that accountability for war crimes is the exception, not…

19 May

2022

EN Speech

Prosecution of the opposition and the detention of trade union leaders in Belarus (B9-0269/2022, RC-B9-0270/2022, B9-0270/2022, B9-0274/2022, B9-0275/2022, B9-0276/2022, B9-0277/2022)

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Mr President, I was a shop steward and a trade unionist all my working life. I stand against the repression of trade unionists everywhere. And this resolution could have done that in relation to Belarus, where the scale and nature of the arrests of trade union leaders is clearly a violation of the right to organise, and something which I utterly condemn. But yet again, what we have is an urgent so…

18 May

2022

EN Speech

Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report (debate)

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Madam President, I don’t know how to respond to our last speaker. Methinks he doth protest too much. But in any case, I want to thank our rapporteur, Terry Reintke, for articulating a really strong position here. The truth is the Commission’s annual rule of law report is an inadequate mechanism. It’s uneven, selective in its coverage, not independent, and it avoids specific cases. But even if it w…

5 May

2022

EN Speech

State of play of the EU-Moldova cooperation (RC-B9-0240/2022, B9-0240/2022, B9-0241/2022, B9-0242/2022, B9-0243/2022, B9-0244/2022, B9-0245/2022)

Watch

Madam President, look, there’s a lot of good stuff in this motion, but I abstained on it because, while I’m in favour of European cooperation to support many of Moldova’s challenges, such as relocating refugees, supporting the Moldovan economy in terms of export and import of goods, assisting their government to prevent risks of arms smuggling, what I don’t like is us bullying them into neoliberal…

5 May

2022

EN Speech

Ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (B9-0262/2022, B9-0263/2022, B9-0264/2022)

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Madam President, there’s no doubt about it, the conditionality mechanism is an important tool, and it could be effective in pressurising Member States to rectify any misuse of funds, corruption or other rule of law issues. In the cases of Poland and Hungary, though, it’s too little, too late. And, on the other side, those countries have a point that they are being singled out for special treatment…

5 May

2022

EN Speech

Threats to stability, security and democracy in Western and Sahelian Africa (B9-0255/2022, B9-0256/2022, RC-B9-0257/2022, B9-0257/2022, B9-0258/2022, B9-0259/2022, B9-0260/2022)

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Madam President, I voted against this motion because stability, security and democracy in West Africa and the Sahel will never be achieved by military efforts, even less so when it’s motivated by European – and especially French – interests. Last year, it was estimated that France is spending EUR 1 billion every year, but actually the true figure is probably EUR 2 billion. Four times the average a…

5 May

2022

EN Speech

Building of a wall on the Polish – Belarus border in the Białowieża primeval forest (debate)

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Madam President, I think it’s absolutely crazy that we now have the racism of the Polish Government being the responsibility of the Kremlin. For God’s sake, there is something very sick at the heart of the European Union, where we constantly talk about values and we correctly have outrage at the construction of a border wall and the damage that this will do to nature and the forest in that area, b…

3 May

2022

EN Speech

Strengthening Europol’s mandate: cooperation with private parties, processing of personal data, and support for research and innovation (debate)

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Mr President, I can honestly say that it was an absolute pleasure to work with our incredibly capable rapporteur. He is inclusive, diligent and I have no hesitation in saying that the legislation has been improved under his stewardship and it has the stamp of the European Parliament on it for sure, and we can take some pride in that. But for us, the legislation, unfortunately, has a number of shor…