Speeches

Now we vote on referral back to the committee. (Parliament approved the request for referral back to committee) The report is referred back to the committee responsible for interinstitutional negotiations in accordance with Rule 60(4).

The next vote is on harmonised requirements in the internal market on transparency of third countries interest representation (see minutes, item 7.5).

Now we vote on the referral back to the committee for interinstitutional negotiations. (Parliament approved the request for referral back to committee) The report is referred back to the committee responsible for interinstitutional negotiations in accordance with Rule 60(4).

The next vote is on amending Regulations on the Internal Market Information System (IMI) and on the single digital gateway as regards certain harmonisation requirements on transparency (see minutes, item 7.4).

The next vote is on the joint motion for a resolution, tabled by five groups, on the rule of law and human rights situation in Tunisia, particularly the case of Sonia Dahmani (see minutes, item 7.3).

The next vote is on the joint motion for a resolution, tabled by five groups, on escalating repression of the Baha'is in Iran (see minutes, item 7.2).

The first vote is on the joint motion for a resolution, tabled by five groups, on post-election killings and the deteriorating human rights situation in Tanzania, including the case of imprisoned opposition leader Tundu Lissu (see minutes, item 7.1).

The PfE Group has notified the President of a decision relating to changes to appointments within committees. The decision will be set out in the minutes of today's sitting and will take effect on the date of this announcement.

Mr President, let's finally face it and name it properly: we have an addiction problem. The world, Europe, we are still addicted to fossil fuels, and addiction kills. Let's be honest, it's tens of thousands of people just in Europe that die every year because of the heatwaves due to the climate crisis. Is the destroyed livelihoods of farmers and foresters, and you can go on – it's the migration waves due to the climate crisis. The crazy thing is we still finance the addiction with public money, and we let those dealers have more and more of a say. I think this is one of the challenges that we need to deal with. We need to stop listening to the dealers, we need to stop publicly subsidising the dealers, and we need to go on a proper detox, because dealing with the climate crisis is saving lives. I keep on hearing about how lives are important, so let's start finally saving the lives of our people – not just the future generations, but today's generation, to become a stronger, more powerful and self-reliant Europe in a healthy world.

Thank you, Madam Commissioner, and thanks to the representatives of the Baha'i community that are present at this debate. The debate is closed. The vote will take place tomorrow.

Mr President, without healthy soils, there is no bread on our tables. Yet 60 % of soils in the EU are unhealthy, costing us EUR 50 billion every year – actually, not us, especially, it's costing farmers and foresters. Soil-based business models, on the other hand, can contribute to increased competitiveness of the Union. The solution is in our hands today. Soils are unique, soils are diverse. They face diverse challenges, just like unity in diversity, just like our Union. That is why we took the original Commission proposal, that was going in the wrong direction, and turned it around. Built it bottom up, using subsidiarity as a foundation for a level playing field across the Union. We made sure that there are no – and I repeat, no – obligations on farmers and foresters. We made sure that there is no – and I repeat, no – paperwork and bureaucracy for farmers and foresters. What we delivered is a mandate that the Member States should help farmers and foresters in protecting their soil, that the Member States will get better knowledge about the problems facing the soil, that there is a platform for collaboration. We, as the Parliament negotiation team, managed to get the support of the Member States for this approach and 25 of them – 25 of them – endorse the deal in the Council. I want to thank everybody who will make this happen, but especially I want to thank farmers, the young farmers that were standing by from the very start till the very end, that are supporting this deal. Young farmers are our future. Now it's your turn, colleagues. If you want to help farmers, if you want to help foresters, if you want healthy soil, and bread on our tables, please reject the rejecting amendments and allow for final adoption of the Soil Monitoring Law.

Thank you, Minister. This concludes the debate on this point. The following are the Council and Commission statements First anniversary of the DANA floods in Spain: improving the preparedness of the European Union. First of all, I would like to ask Minister Bjerre again for the Council.

Thank you, Minister. This concludes the debate on this point. The following are the Council and Commission statements First anniversary of the DANA floods in Spain: improving the preparedness of the European Union. First of all, I would like to ask Minister Bjerre again for the Council.

This was not a blue card; it was a complaint. You can file a complaint about the way I'm chairing. I accepted now your blue card. Your previous blue card was registered by the system. So when you pressed the button while another blue card was already going on, you didn't ask for the blue card during the speech of the Member. Otherwise, I would take it. So please, and as I explained before – you don't have to react this way – ask for the blue card during the speech. And I'm sorry, Madam, this was not a blue card, this was a complaint on the way I'm chairing.

Regarding another blue card, I will offer the blue card only when you raise the blue card during the initial speech of the Member. When you raise a blue card while the blue card is in process, I'm not going to be taking it.

Dear colleague, you come from Estonia, a country that faced through its history quite a bit of trouble, to say the least, from Russia. I'm wondering: do you see the dependency on imported fossil fuels as something that is a problem, and how would you replace it?

Madam President, now, there is this unusual custom that actually spread around many of the Member States, and that is to blame Brussels, to blame Europe for every hardship, for every problem there is. This is something we often see here from the extreme right. Yet often the problems start at home. We are having a discussion about the European Council meeting, and what we talk about is a Commission where, dear Council, actually the problem is very often you. If you look at the Letta report, if you look at the IMF data, the bureaucracy starts on a national level. What we see is much more than Trump's threat of tariffs. We see that the fact that we have 40 % tariffs on the goods and more than 120 % tariffs on the services within the European Union. We are suffocating our companies. We talk about the need for clean tech, which is really, really big, but we are actually putting obstacles in front of the companies who want to grow in Europe. So please, dear Council, put one important thing on your agenda that's missing: how to stop putting obstacles between the Member States. Everybody talks about cutting back bureaucracy on the European level. What about stopping unnecessary bureaucracy you put it on top of the European rules because people face hardship. Despite all the blaming of Brussels, people trust Europe more than ever and we need to deliver. And it's time for the Council to actually start delivering. We need stronger Europe. We need a super Europe that actually cares about the people, cares about the competitiveness, that housing is a right, not a commodity, that really gets independent from the imported fossil energy. All that ‑ and it was great to hear it from the President ‑ is the right way forward. And I think the majority of this House is ready to support it. But what we see often is Council putting obstacles. So please, for example, on the ETS, make sure all the money goes back to people and businesses and just doesn't end up in the state coffers. And I could go on. What we need is a stronger Europe, not a fragmented one.

The next item is the statement by the Commission: Stepping up Ukraine’s financing, reconstruction and defence: use of frozen Russian assets (2025/2932(RSP)). I would like to start the debate with Commissioner Dombrovskis on behalf of the Commission.