Speeches

Vice-President Wieland announced that due to the schedule there is no catch-the-eye tonight anymore. No blue cards, no catch-the-eye. I am sorry.

Madam President, today is a sad day for bees and other pollinators, on which our survival depends. Despite many efforts, the European Parliament has not supported helping farmers replace hazardous pesticides. It is those who kill bees and other pollinators, but also harm our health. But one failure cannot stop us. We can't just give up. There's too much at stake. Our future. We are committed to protecting nature so that pollinators can still have food, protecting the soil that is their natural habitat, and growing plants without the use of chemicals that harm them and us. In Slovakia, I still meet beekeepers, conservationists, but I also know volunteers who are dedicated to protecting and monitoring the status of butterflies and other pollinators. And they tell me that their numbers are deteriorating every year, and the citizens of the European Union are very well aware of this and are asking us, the political leaders, to correct it. They expect us to keep our promises. We disappointed them today. I would therefore like once again to appeal to the European Commission, to my colleagues here in the European Parliament and to the Member States, including Slovakia. Support pollinator protection, but don't forget to support all active people who want to participate in pollinator protection.

Madam President, where does Orbán have to go to sober up the policy of concessions? Just over a year ago, this Parliament made it clear that the rule of law no longer exists in Hungary and the country has become an electoral autocracy. That is why I am asking today what steps have been taken by the Commission and the Council over the past year, what have you done to prevent malign ploughing from spilling over into other EU countries. Do you know what the result of your inaction is? For example, today in the Slovak Parliament, the new revenge government of another autocrat in Europe, Robert Fico, was trusted. Orbán's friend, who was helped to power by Russian propaganda and misguided disinformation. From day one, he started chasing police officers who prosecute corruption, throwing members of the Judicial Council out to ranks, and infuriating the public against journalists, just as he did before the murder of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová. Colleagues and colleagues, until the elections, there is exactly half a year left for the European elections. Therefore, if we do not stop the rise of autocracies in the European Union by clearly enforcing European rules, then not only you, but all of us, will be responsible for this. Unfortunately, this trend may not be able to stop the next generation of Democrats.

The agenda has been published and is available on the European Parliament’s website. The minutes of this sitting will be submitted to Parliament for approval on Tuesday 21. 11. 2023 at the beginning of the afternoon session.

The next item is the one-minute speeches on issues of political importance (Rule 172 of the Rules of Procedure). I would like to inform you that you are making one-minute speeches from your chair.

The next item is a brief presentation of the report by Bert-Jan Ruissen on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1100/2007 establishing measures for the recovery of the stock of European eel (2023/2030(INI)) (A9-0353/2023).

The next item is the debate on the report by Lídia Pereira, on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Union certification framework for carbon removals (COM(2022)0672 – C9-0399/2022 – 2022/0394(COD)) (A9-0329/2023).

Mr President, Executive Vice-President Šefčovič, this Commission is committed to listening to people at the beginning of the mandate. Unfortunately, European citizens' initiatives in favour of banning caged animal husbandry, including caged fur farming, have not been heard. This is something where we would expect this Commission to really listen to the voices of millions of Europeans. Similarly, there is a voice from Parliament calling for proper regulation of the pet trade, where Slovakia is unfortunately a major source of problems. I hope that these proposals will still be put forward. This Commission has said that it will listen to industry and scientists, and a lot has been done. But unfortunately, he does not listen to the European chemical industry calling for an amendment to REACH to be tabled, for an amendment to the founding regulation of the European Chemicals Agency. This is worth hundreds of millions of euros of investment. Please listen to them.

Madam President, the horror of the evil wolves belongs back to the fairy tales. However, the European elections are approaching and the Conservatives are again haunting and attacking nature conservation. The President of the Commission asks regions and authorities for data on the wolf population and its impact. However, high-quality data is collected over the years. There are complex genetic analyses behind them. In Slovakia, too, we have heard about how many thousands of bears we have, and this is not true. They cannot be sucked out of the finger in three weeks, as requested by the Commission, as long as their quality and objectivity matter, and these are key. We already have solutions in our hands. Tools for wolf population management, including selective killing of problematic individuals. Instead, we are hearing about how to quickly open the Habitats Directive, to stop protecting the wolf. This would be an unprecedented circumvention of the Commission’s rules and standards. This would be a populist step in the pre-election campaign and a cause for action before the European Court. Fear of wolves is just a story.

Mr President, we will not hide from the climate crisis. Restricts and affects everyone: people, municipalities, companies, the state. It kills both animals and humans, it simply does not distinguish. This summer was another proof. We watched extreme temperatures, fires, droughts, as well as huge floods in the south of Europe. Slovakia did not avoid extremes either. Floods in Gemer, Liptov and Spiš. Extreme heat. Groats the size of ping-pong balls destroyed crops and houses in eastern Slovakia. The windstorm leveled the Podhájska swimming pool to the ground. We cannot fully adapt to the climate crisis. For extreme heat at high humidity, the human body simply does not get used to it. People are dying. We can catch a lot of water and we have to do it. But if in three days as much water falls as normal in three years, you won't do anything about it. There will be massive flooding. This is exactly what happened in Greece recently. Therefore, reducing emissions must go hand in hand with adaptation. The climate crisis does not distinguish who will be its victim. Neither can we allow ourselves to be divided. Across political families, responsibility for the future must unite us. We will all pay the bill for unnecessary disputes, regardless of our political beliefs. That is why we should do everything today to prevent tomorrow's damage.

Madam President, I am sorry. Any of you who have had to experience violence because it takes us to do it. I'm sorry that your pain and suffering have become the object of populism and lies. Sorry we couldn't give you a sense of security. I am sorry that in Slovakia the Convention on Violence against Women is becoming a spook. We need gender equality, we need protection from violence against women. It is extremely tragic that we are still not doing enough to protect women and girls. We don't do enough to help them sensitively when they experience violence. Don't be afraid to tell the authorities. Because it's hard to talk about it for them. I am therefore pleased that we, as the European Union, are finally ratifying the Convention on violence against women. And it will do everything it can to ratify it and bring it to life in Slovakia. No woman should be afraid of her safety just because she is a woman.

Mr President, Commissioner, reducing methane emissions must be part of the solution to the climate crisis. Not only because we are committed to this in the Glasgow methane challenge, but above all because it harms our health, economy, energy security and, last but not least, the climate. Methane is 80 times worse than CO2. Today, the production of used fossil fuels releases or deliberately releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Routine releases or leaks from neglected infrastructure are a perfectly normal thing. And yet methane is actually that fossil gas that was so expensive last fall that we all saved, and we talked about how we would miss it. All this happened at a time when we were afraid that we would have something to heat. In fact, what is enough for us to tighten the taps, replace the valves. That is what we are trying to do in that legislation and in our comments, to give space to innovation, to give space to new technologies, to know where leaks are, to detect them and to repair them. Now the situation looks like we let the tap water drip. And we have to stop, because wasting is something that is damaging our planet, but also our wallets. The International Energy Agency, scientists, economists agree that we have relatively inexpensive tools in our hands that can both prevent the increase in global average temperature and contribute to our energy security. Reducing methane emissions are precisely these tools. We must not forget that this problem does not only concern Europe, so I am glad that we are also trying to influence emissions outside the European Union, which we are, so to speak, importing covertly. And I believe that at the next climate conference, we will also make progress on a global instrument to reduce methane emissions. Maybe by giving him a prize. Methane leakage measures are both technologically and financially affordable. It would be a mistake not to use them.

on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. - (DE) Mr President, Commissioner, we may have thought that we would leave it to the next generation, that it would not concern us. That even some glaciers, polar bears - that's far away. No, it's here and now. And scientists have been repeating it, scientists have been saying it for years. Now we hear it again. The climate crisis is compounding the climate catastrophe. Already a large part of Europe is facing drought, it simply did not snow in the Alps, we have extremes of high temperatures in Asia, while the solution is in our hands. The solution is not that we need to subsidize and subsidize this. The solution is actually an excellent business. The solution is nature, and the solution is freedom, which frees us from dependence on the alleged transit fuel and gas into which we have trapped ourselves. The solution is to have sunshine on every roof, to use the wind that blows, to use the energy of the earth we walk on, and to stop finally throwing logs under their feet. The solution is to give back energy to people and make everyone's interests so that not only future generations, but we too have a chance at a normal life.

Madam President, imagine that one day the authorities will tell you that you should not eat eggs from your hens, drink water from your own well, or water your garden with it, that you should not actually eat anything from your garden, even those strawberries that you and your children enjoyed, because your soil contains substances that disrupt the development of their reproductive system and can cause autism. You will also realize that you have eaten them for years. This is a reality in some parts of Europe, including Slovakia. And not just contamination: 7.5% of young people in Slovakia have increased levels of PFAS in their blood, indestructible toxic substances. We still do not properly address the cause of these problems. Instead, we suffer the consequences. Toxic disaster, contamination of PFAS in Antwerp, up to PCBs in eastern Slovakia. And everywhere, because these chemicals are found even in high mountain balls in the Slovak Tatras. We knew they were a problem, but we didn't act. The causes of this disaster must finally be eliminated. Toxic chemicals like PFAS need to be replaced, and that really does not happen without new rules for chemicals. The ball is now on the side of the Commission and people across Europe are following suit.

Madam President, not only scientists, but also ordinary citizens tell us this clearly. Hazardous synthetic pesticides kill bees, other pollinators, endanger human health. We have integrated pest management, biological protection, nature-based agriculture. It's all familiar, but it's not used properly. Why? Authorisations for pesticides that are already known not to meet the criteria are still being extended. The Commission will turn a blind eye to exemptions of already banned pesticides that threaten pollinators but receive additional authorisations, even if alternatives exist. Even in Slovakia. Farmers don't know about alternatives. There is a lack of independent advice. And the alternatives? That's throwing logs under your feet. I expect the Commission to finally change its approach and that the poisons that kill bees and other pollinators will disappear from our fields.

Now, it’s not only about the future legislation. Let’s remember the Clean Energy for all Europeans package back from 2019. Now, there were important elements like the energy communities, like prosumers. And sadly, what we still see is a number of the Member States, including my own, Slovakia, not having implemented it properly. Now, I appreciate that you are taking them to court, but what other measures? Because we do not need the court cases, we need reality on the ground changes. We need liberalisation. We need opening up of the market to prosumers and end of the defence of the monopolies and oligopolies. What measures do you plan to take? Because this could be the decisive year for the people to really take the energy freedom into their hands. So what measures do you plan beyond taking some of the Member States to court?

This is a big opportunity. We have a lot of money in REPowerEU, in the RRF, in the cohesion funds. This is about using the opportunity or threatening that this is going to destroy us. We can choose – Poland can choose, Slovakia can choose, every country can choose. The question is, which side are you on? Are you going to keep on threatening or are you going to look at this as an opportunity for Poland as well?

Madam President. A great opportunity for Slovakia, for Europe, for our future. This is how the European climate package can be described in a simplified way. The climate crisis is a threat to our survival. Fit for 55 is a chance to improve our future. Help not only the climate, but also help create new jobs. Help reduce energy bills, help protect our freedom. The freedom to import fossil fuels, but also the freedom of each and every one of us who will be able to produce their own energy at home. To kick-start the development of the green economy. But also a wonderful opportunity to finally face challenges hand in hand with nature. Not to destroy it. We need nature to save the climate. It captures carbon from the atmosphere. Let's use it. It will be good for our forests, but also for our farmers. It will not fall from the sky. European legislation is not enough. It will be up to European governments to make use of this opportunity for their citizens and businesses. Even in the Slovak one. And here I am concerned, as shown by the fiasco of the program Renovation House. That is why it will be important for citizens, but also for us in the European Parliament, to help seize the opportunity of climate protection. (The speaker agreed to respond to the speech after raising the blue card)