What Mick spoke about.

17

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Commission Work Programme 2024 (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, your programme speaks as if everything is very rosy in the garden in Europe. And just to take a couple of your lines from it, you say we acted together in responding decisively in support of a Europe of freedom, prosperity and peace. Never in my lifetime have I seen Europe so less interested in peace. We’ve fuelled and promoted a war. We have refused to promote dialogue…

17

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Effectiveness of the EU sanctions on Russia (debate)

Mr President, a year ago, after German people thought the EU sanctions hurt Germany more than Russia, this sentiment can only be stronger now, as Russia’s economy overtook Germany’s in August. The Russian sanctions triggered persistent inflation across the EU, higher interest rates, a fall in real wages for workers, a cost of living crisis and the cost of energy crisis. Climate goals were trashed …

16

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, when powerful countries refuse to show respect for international law, the less powerful suffer the consequences. According to UN figures, 545 children were killed in Ukraine in 500 days of war. Reports coming from Gaza now say that over 1000 children have been killed in 10 days by the apartheid State of Israel. Over 1000 children in 10 days. And our EU Commission President and the…

16

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Implications of Chinese fishing operations for EU fisheries and the way forward (short presentation)

Madam President, I find this report a little bit schizophrenic. It makes all sorts of contradictory accusations against China. And in many points throughout the text, it echoes the hysterical, deeply unhelpful anti-Chinese rhetoric. Yes, the last six paragraphs of the report are good – 34 to 40. Here, the report rightly encourages collaboration with China at a global level to tackle illegal, unrep…

16

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Fisheries control (debate)

Madam President, we do need to modernise the EU fleet in order to tackle overfishing and to ensure the long—term health of our marine ecosystems and the long—term prosperity of our fishing communities. However, the fishing industry, and especially small—scale fisheries, need to be properly supported to make these changes. This is most true for Ireland. Ireland was proportionally massively more imp…

16

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Establishing the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (‘STEP’) (debate)

Madam President, I oppose the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform. It will divert resources from existing EU funds that are desperately needed to finance public services and the green and just transitions. This is a plan to scrape funds from existing EU budgets. It does not propose new funds. Instead, it will plunder three crucial EU funding instruments for climate action and rural developm…

16

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Establishing the Ukraine Facility (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the 50 billion Ukraine facility is a rushed, inadequate mechanism tailor-made for corruption and embezzlement of EU funds on a massive scale. There are simply not enough measures in the proposal to mitigate the threats posed by the rampant high-level corruption in Ukraine. Ukraine is, to quote Jean-Claude Juncker, ‘corrupt at all levels of society’. Read any European Co…

5

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Taking stock of Moldova's path to the EU (B9-0407/2023, RC-B9-0408/2023, B9-0408/2023, B9-0410/2023, B9-0411/2023, B9-0417/2023, B9-0420/2023)

Mr President, the case of Moldova and Georgia has brought into stark relief just how politicised the accession process is. It was clear Georgia was making better progress on alignment with acquis. Moldova was granted candidate status though, ahead of Georgia, not on merit, but because the Government of Moldova was perceived to be anti-Russia enough. You have the accession negotiations starting at …

5

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan’s attack and the continuing threats against Armenia (B9-0405/2023, RC-B9-0393/2023, B9-0393/2023, B9-0397/2023, B9-0399/2023, B9-0400/2023, B9-0402/2023, B9-0404/2023)

Mr President, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is a humanitarian disaster that we just watched unfold. For over nine months, Azerbaijan blockaded the corridor connecting the region with mainland Armenia. Over 100 000 Karabakh Armenians were cut off from basic goods and services, gas and electricity in a clear effort to ethnically cleanse them from the area. The international community abandoned t…

5

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Urban wastewater treatment (A9-0276/2023 - Nils Torvalds)

Mr President, the new level four treatment of wastewater requirement will mean treatment services will have to screen out micro-pollutants for the first time, including pollution from pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. These new requirements will require water services in many Member States to dramatically improve their service provision, none more so than in Ireland. Irish Water operates ov…

5

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Poor sanitary conditions, low levels of security and lack of parking places in rest areas for truck drivers (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, you said that if we don’t provide good facilities, we’re going to struggle to attract drivers to the industry. And you’re right. At the moment, the average age of lorry drivers in Europe is 47. Young people are not attracted to the industry and one of the main reasons is because the facilities are so poor. I mean, you’ve only to drive around Europe yourself. I mean, apa…

4

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Need to complete new trade agreements for sustainable growth, competitiveness and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

Madam President, the Mercosur agreement prioritises profits for transnational companies and investors while lowering social and environmental standards for workers, farmers and citizens. The text of the Green Deal claims that European farmers are key to managing the green transition, that the farm to fork strategy will strengthen farmers efforts to tackle climate change and preserve biodiversity. …

4

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Energy Charter Treaty: next steps (continuation of debate)

Madam President, the Energy Charter Treaty is a relic of a fossil-fuel past beyond reform and not compatible with the Paris Agreement. It enables corporations to sue countries that make policy decisions that affect the corporations profits, even if those policy decisions are necessary to tackle climate breakdown. In June this year, Lansdowne Oil & Gas started proceedings against the Irish Governme…

4

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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The proposed extension of glyphosate in the EU (debate)

Madam President, pollinators are on the verge of collapse, and scientists are telling us this is largely due to intensive agriculture and pesticide use. On the one hand, the Commission proposed the Nature Restoration Law, the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation, and the new Pollinators Initiative. On the other hand, it proposes to extend the glyphosate approval. This is madness. Both the WHO …

4

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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European green bonds (debate)

Mr President, the purpose of the green bonds should be to speed up decarbonisation. Only companies that have detailed credible emissions reduction targets and plans and environmental strategies covering all their activities should benefit from the EU green bond label. The amendments we passed in the Environment Committee significantly improved the Commission’s proposal. These changes required that…

3

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Question Time with Commissioners – EU-China trade relations

In your response, Commissioner, you say that you are committed to the international rules-based system. And I suppose my question to you is that given that the international rules-based order is something that Western powers have come to invent over the last while, rather than referring to the UN charter, which is really the international system, and that the rules-based international order is a s…

3

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Question Time with Commissioners – EU-China trade relations

Commissioner, we have a lot of reports and legislation designed to disrupt EU-China relations. We have the ‘economic coercion by third countries’ instrument, which will ensure the EU engages in reckless tit-for-tat restrictive measures with China and other rivals to US hegemony. We have the report on China’s influence on critical infrastructure in the EU, full of overblown rhetoric about the Chine…

3

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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European Media Freedom Act (debate)

Madam President, this act has been touted as a measure to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU. Yet every European civil liberties group worth its salt is up in arms about a number of measures in the text that put media pluralism and independent media in the firing line. For example, Article 17, which will create a two-tier media system in the online world. Very large online platform…

3

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Interim report on the proposal for a mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 (debate)

Madam President, in June, EU Member States had already committed 72 billion in support for Ukraine. On top of that, we have the 50 billion Ukraine facility and the proposed 20 billion Ukraine assistance fund for military equipment. All going to plan, by December the EU will have committed 142 billion – 100 billion from the budget – to keeping the war going, its fallout and the reconstruction. Not …

2

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, in our 2022 State of the Union speech, President von der Leyen announced that she plans to update the EU’s legislative framework on anti-corruption. It is long overdue because unfortunately it appears that many Member States do not have the appetite to hold institutions to account for their corrupt deeds. In Ireland, NAMA, the National Asset Management Agency, has long been a bask…

2

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Ensuring European transportation works for women (debate)

Madam President, I point to a report published last year called ‘Travelling in a Woman’s Shoes’. Safety is women’s primary concern when using public transport in Ireland. 55 % of women avoid using public transport at night due to safety worries. Safety and security is an even bigger issue for women in low-income groups and for ethnic minorities. These are also the groups that rely most on public t…

2

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Intelligent Road Transport Systems (debate)

Madam President, I’m sure Commissioner Schmit would be very disappointed if we didn’t have an opinion on the issue. Intelligent road transport systems. It sounds like it makes sense – the idea of reducing traffic congestion, reducing emissions, shorter travel times while improving safety on roads. That all sounds good, so is to be welcomed. If it is going to be that good, it’d be good to have it o…

2

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Economic coercion by third countries (debate)

Madam President, a few years ago, the US was considered unreliable. Its tariffs and sanctions were hurting the EU. The US economic war on Iran cost EU industries more than EUR 24 billion between 2018 and 2020 alone. That’s not to mention the tens of thousands of Iranian civilians that were killed as well by the US sanctions. This law barely mentions the US attacks on the EU’s industry. Instead, it…

2

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Protection of workers from asbestos (debate)

Madam President, the new occupational exposure limit for asbestos across the EU will now be 50 times lower than the current exposure limit, and that’s certainly to be welcomed. The scope of the directive will extend to all workers potentially exposed to asbestos. Now it’s good that new minimum training requirements and new protection measures for workers have been adopted and that asbestos removal…

2

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Rising precariousness in Europe including the need for aid to the most deprived (debate)

Mr President, one in four Europeans are currently living in a precarious financial situation. This means people skipping meals when they’re hungry and not turning on the heat when they’re cold. If you think it’s bad in your Member State, spare a thought for the workers in Ireland. Ireland is the most expensive country in the EU for household expenditure on goods and services, with prices 46% above…