What Mick spoke about.

15

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Deliberations of the Committee on Petitions in 2021 (A9-0271/2022 - Loránt Vincze)

Madam President, speaking of the need for transparency, I also think it’s incredibly important. And I want to raise an issue that shows a serious lack of it in Ireland. A group of homeowners from Donegal lodged a petition with the Committee on Petitions relating to what’s called the ‘mica scandal’, where there’s a huge lack of surveillance and regulation on quarries in Donegal, and an inferior con…

15

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Upscaling the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (A9-0281/2022 - Jan Olbrycht, Margarida Marques)

Madam President, of course the multiannual financial framework is a bit out of date and has shortcomings because of COVID and the Ukraine war. The report acknowledges that 21.9% of the EU population is at risk of poverty and social exclusion, and the energy poverty is certain to worsen as a consequence of the war. But what’s the EU doing to end the war? Absolutely nothing. We’re flooding Ukraine w…

15

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions (B9-0580/2022, RC-B9-0581/2022, B9-0581/2022, B9-0582/2022, B9-0583/2022, B9-0584/2022, B9-0585/2022, B9-0587/2022)

Madam President, everyone is horrified that money in bags was transferred to at least one MEP. I often wonder what planet you all live on. There’s over 12 000 companies registered in Belgium as lobbyists. Now, if we put an average of five persons per company, that’s about 60 000 lobbyists. What do you think they do? What do they do for a living? They lobby. They try to have influence over politici…

15

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Major interpellations (debate)

Madam President, when Nord Stream was damaged, there was uproar from politicians and mainstream media across Europe for about 24 hours, and then it seemed to have disappeared. Now, for the life of me, I was shocked that it could go down the list of major items in the news so quickly. Initially, of course, the Russians were blamed, but common sense kind of prevailed and the talk was that well if th…

14

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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The Commission’s reports on the situation of journalists and the implications of the rule of law (debate)

Madam President, you say that an independent free press is vital to any democracy, and I agree with you. But, sadly, so much of mainstream media across Europe today is either owned or controlled by vested interests. And that’s a huge problem. Big money controls most of our media, or people who have an agenda in how they shape the news. You also said that a journalist should not be punished for doi…

14

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Defending democracy from foreign interference (debate)

Mr President, sometimes I actually feel sorry for the Commission, having to listen to MEPs, appeal to them as to what they’re going to do about Russian interference in the European Union. Now, do Russia and China interfere in matters of European affairs? Yeah, they do. Do they engage in propaganda? Yeah, they do. But you know what? Neither of them were any good at it because we could actually see …

14

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Defending the European Union against the abuse of national vetoes (debate)

Mr President, we’re talking about defending the European Union against the abuse of national vetoes. If you want to defend the European Union, how about giving some power back to the people? Because with the Lisbon and Nice Treaties – which we in Ireland voted against on both occasions, but we got the wrong answer and we had to vote a second time – in those Treaties, power was taken from the peopl…

14

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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EU response to the US Inflation Reduction Act (debate)

Madam President, the US Inflation Reduction Act is essentially a protectionist package attempting to rejuvenate the US manufacturing industry by drawing companies to the US with subsidies and tax breaks, and giving existing US companies an advantage over the EU and others. I’m surprised that the EU is surprised. America has been engaging in protectionism for over the last hundred years and they us…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Prospects for the two-State solution for Israel and Palestine (debate)

Mr President, the two-state solution has been used as a smokescreen to fake concern for the human rights of Palestinians, while leaving the Israelis to pursue their genocidal treatment of the Palestinian people. The terms of the two-state solution are beyond anything the Israeli settler colonialists would ever entertain, and everyone knows it. Who is going to make them respect the 1967 lines? No o…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Renewable Energy, Energy Performance of Buildings and Energy Efficiency Directives: amendments (REPowerEU) (continuation of debate)

Madam President, we need to fast track renewables, that’s not in doubt. But the Commission’s attempt to enshrine into EU law the principle that renewables should be considered a matter of overriding public interest sets a dangerous precedent. The proposal takes a sledgehammer to the EU environmental standards. It will roll back hugely important protections under the Environmental Impact Assessment…

12

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, in Latin America in the past week we’ve seen politically motivated lawfare against Argentina Vice-President Cristina Fernandez and a right-wing coup against the president of Peru, Pedro Castillo. The EU shows its true colours in the face of these events, just as it did when they supported the illegal military coup against Morales in 2019 in Bolivia. If the leader had been overthro…

12

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Action plan to boost long-distance and cross-border passenger rail (short presentation)

Madam President, I welcome the action plan and the Parliament’s report. The report acknowledges that high-speed rail passenger volumes nearly doubled between 2001 and 2018 in the EU, proving that there is a demand for high-speed rail whenever it is provided. However, not all rail services in the EU are equal. Ireland has seen very little improvement in rail service in the same period. The Rosslare…

12

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Addressing persistent challenges in the aviation sector and the impacts on passengers, workers, capacity and safety (debate)

Madam President, the main reason airports are struggling to serve passengers properly is because of labour shortages. These labour shortages exist because airports and airlines have treated our workers so poorly for so long. The air travel crisis is the result of an aggressive cost-cutting measures by airlines and employers for the past 25 years to make the cost of labour as low as possible. This …

12

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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A long-term vision for the EU's rural areas (debate)

Madam President, the Commission’s long—term vision for rural areas is welcome. Along with the cohesion policy, CAP will be the main driver of the vision. But the vision contains a central weakness: there is no binding requirement for Member States to integrate the objectives of the vision into their CAP strategic plans. Now, CAP, of course, is fundamentally flawed in the first place. It’s a very u…

12

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Outcome of COP27 (debate)

Madam President, the EU’s proposal at COP to expand the loss and damage donor pool reinterprets what loss and damage is about. Instead of recognising and acting on its historic responsibility, the rich developed countries want to shift the blame and get other countries that do not have even remotely the same history of emissions or the same emissions per capita to pay into the fund. It’s climate c…

12

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Towards equal rights for persons with disabilities (debate)

Madam President, the right to timely access to affordable, preventative and curative healthcare of good quality is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The EU and all its Member States have ratified this Convention. Yet, in Ireland last week, the Health Service Executive were forced to apologise to the families of children across the country who cannot access …

23

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Promoting regional stability and security in the broader Middle East region (A9-0256/2022 - Manu Pineda)

Mr President, this report on stability and security in the broader Middle East is incredible for what it manages to ignore and conceal. Apparently in this region, instability and wars just spontaneously happen. It says the underlying causes of instability must be addressed, but there are none in the report. There was no Iraq War, there was no regime change operation in Syria. In this fairy tale, F…

23

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Situation in Libya (A9-0252/2022 - Giuliano Pisapia)

Mr President, the report claims the EU is redoubling its diplomatic efforts to promote peace in Libya. France spearheaded the illegal and unprovoked NATO war of aggression on Libya because it saw Gaddafi as a threat to its interests in the region – in particular, France’s precious colonial cash-cow, the CFA franc. In the process of this war, massive quantities of weapons were pumped into the regio…

23

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Recognising the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism (RC-B9-0482/2022, B9-0482/2022, B9-0483/2022, B9-0485/2022, B9-0486/2022, B9-0487/2022)

Mr President, there is no legal framework for the EU to recognise a state sponsor of terrorism. You just pulled this antagonistic performance out of thin air. Even the US, who have such a legal mechanism, have refrained from applying the label to Russia. Biden has argued that doing so could impact future efforts to negotiate a peace deal. The European Parliament, instead of pursuing peace and an e…

23

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Protection of livestock farming and large carnivores in Europe (debate)

Mr President, large carnivores, such as wolves and bears, are legally protected species in the EU under the Habitats Directive and the Bern Convention. However, many of these large carnivore species have not yet achieved favourable conservation status. Of course, coexistence with large carnivores can cause conflict with human socio—economic interests, but hundreds of wolves are already killed each…

23

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Forced displacement of people as a result of escalating conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Mr President, as we sit here having this debate about the Democratic Republic of Congo, I think it’s important to remember that during the scramble for Africa, the DRC was made King Leopold’s personal possession. He oversaw the death of 10 to 15 million Congolese, while enriching himself and Belgium from 1885 to 1906. The genocidal monster is still honoured in Belgium today. Today, France and Tota…

23

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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The continuing repression of the democratic opposition and civil society in Belarus

Mr President, we don’t interfere with you when you’re talking nonsense. Thanks very much, Mr President. Like most countries, Belarus has a lot of problems, and if I was living in Belarus, I’m sure I’d want rid of Lukashenko too. The treatment of workers and the imprisonment of political prisoners is really sad to see. I would call on Lukashenko to release all political prisoners. However, for the …

23

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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The Human rights situation in Afghanistan especially the deterioration of women´s rights and attacks against educational institutions

Mr President, Afghanistan is not a good place to be a woman. While the Taliban government put in place more restrictions on women’s rights, Western sanctions slowly starve the country to death. We helped to destroy the place for 20 years. Now we have a responsibility to provide shelter to those who are suffering as a result. The EU response to the Ukraine refugee crisis shows what is possible when…

23

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Human rights situation in Egypt (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, attending the COP last week in Egypt we heard testimony of el—Sisi’s brutal crackdown on activists and journalists who live in constant fear for their lives. They face intimidation, harassment and surveillance on a daily basis. The harassment even extended to attendees of the climate summit. While we were there, 400 new ones were arrested and three died from lack of car…

23

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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The future European Financial Architecture for Development (debate)

Mr President, poverty is not a natural phenomenon that can be fixed with aid. Poverty is a historical and political problem. Poor countries are poor because of the history of European colonialism and because they are integrated into the global economic system on unequal terms. The aid and development narrative hides the deep patterns of wealth extraction that causes poverty and inequality in the f…