What Roman spoke about.

18

Dec

2024

Speeches DE

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Restoring the EU’s competitive edge – the need for an impact assessment on the Green Deal policies (topical debate)

Mr President! For an impact assessment of the Green Deal, you simply have to read a newspaper once or get out of your Brussels bubble once. The consequences of the Green Deal will then be clearly shown to you: Business closures, business failures, record-breaking energy prices, rising unemployment, farmer deaths, loss of purchasing power, dizzying public debt – these are all the consequences of the Green Deal. Let's talk plainly: With the destructive Green Deal, there will be no international competitiveness. This should have become clear even to the most stubborn climate fanatic! Either Green Deal or Competitiveness. Let's take a look at the costs of this crazy green deal: It is calculated in trillions. Billions - that was yesterday. Billions in costs for a completely counterproductive program. And where will these trillions come from if we start destroying our own economy? What if we start destroying agriculture? What if we really drive the industry out of Europe? Do you want to make even more non-contractual debt? Or higher membership fees? Or new EU taxes? Or all three together – that would probably even be right for you! Let's finally face reality: Restoring competitiveness can only be achieved without a Green Deal! So go away with this Green disaster.

17

Dec

2024

Speeches DE

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Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)

Mr President! Has there been any foreign interference in the elections in Romania? Possibly. Were social media channels used for this? Also very possible. The deliberate influence of voters through the media is as old as democracy itself. Every responsible citizen should be aware of this, and then this is not problematic for democracy. But one thing is without question a serious threat to democracy, and that is censorship, state censorship, the restriction of media freedom through censorship. This is what the EU is doing with the Digital Services Act. A red line is crossed. It is legitimate to resist foreign influence, but censorship must never be the means of choice. Unfortunately, the EU has embarked on a highly problematic path here. With prohibitions and censorship, democracy will not be saved; With bans and censorship, democracy will be destroyed.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches DE

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Topical debate (Rule 169) - Budapest Declaration on the New European Competitiveness Deal - A future for the farming and manufacturing sectors in the EU (topical debate)

Mr President! This declaration is nothing more than a document of total policy failure, the admission of total failure of EU policy. We heard the wake-up call, it says. Business as usual is no longer an option. And what's next? Will there finally be a fundamental change of policy in the EU? A departure from this completely erroneous climate policy or from the destructive agricultural policy, from an agricultural policy that turns Europe from a food exporter to an importer? Nothing like that is planned. Europe should be debureaucratized, is also there to read. And yet the deforestation ordinance is adhered to, a bureaucratic monster unlike any other. And where are the proposals to stop the self-inflicted energy price explosion, a price explosion that takes the air away from industry and citizens? Nothing like that is required. More Green Deal is called for – exactly. Even more centralization, even more money to Brussels. I'll stick with this: This declaration is not a restart document. It is a document of the total failure and utter failure of this EU policy.

21

Oct

2024

Speeches DE

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Empowering the Single Market to deliver a sustainable future and prosperity for all EU citizens (debate)

Madam President, The Letta report correctly identifies many problems of the internal market: rising energy prices, inadequate infrastructure, especially for high-performance railway lines, lagging behind in future technologies, overbureaucratisation in particular. That's all right; It's not new, but it's true. As correct as the analysis and diagnosis in the Letta report is, unfortunately, the suggestions for improvement are just as wrong. That was the case with the Draghi report, and that is also the case with the Letta report. There is only one thing they can think of to solve the EU's problems: Even more EU, even more powers for Brussels, even more EU institutions, a new fiscal capacity, the Capital Union, and that is precisely the problem. Even more powers for Brussels means even more bureaucracy, even more useless rules, even less flexibility for Member States. It is high time for new ways, for less centralism, for less EU, for more flexibility for Member States, more subsidiarity and more freedom.

8

Oct

2024

Speeches DE

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The crisis facing the EU’s automotive industry, potential plant closures and the need to enhance competitiveness and maintain jobs in Europe (debate)

Madam President, Mercedes is serious and wants to sell all car dealerships. VW questions German locations and does not rule out redundancies. Problems with BMW, production is completely shut down. Fiat plant in Poland closed. Fiat's Mirafiori plant is closed from June to September. These were just a few headlines from the past few months. The European automotive industry is dying. And what does the EU do? It is now like the Amen in prayer: Whenever the European Commission makes a decision, it is the wrong one. This is especially true in the automotive sector. Ideology instead of openness to technology is obviously the motto. And the ban on combustion engines is an outgrowth of this policy. And with this purely ideology-driven Green Deal, the European automotive industry is being destroyed. And to top it all, carmakers are now facing billions in fines because of EU rules. And now they are also trying to keep the competition away with punitive tariffs. This is the completely wrong way. This does not work with CBAM, with CO2‐Border adjustment mechanism, this will not work in the automotive market either. The right way would be to strengthen the domestic industry. But instead, our industry is being destroyed by ever new and increasingly nonsensical regulations. The whole Green Deal is in fact a programme to destroy the European economic foundations. The Green Deal will go down in history as a beacon project of stupidity and ideological stupidity.

17

Sep

2024

Speeches DE

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Global measures towards social media platforms - Strengthening the role of DSA and protecting democracy and freedom in the online sphere (debate)

Mr President! Strengthening the role of Digital Services Act and protecting democracy and freedom online: The title of today's debate alone is a blatant mockery. It's pure cynicism, a censorship law like this. Digital Services Act in one breath with the protection of freedom and democracy. China, North Korea and Iran have apparently sponsored this law. This does not protect democracy and freedom online; This will destroy democracy and freedom in the online world. This is one of the most anti-freedom and authoritarian laws in the history of the EU, and with completely vague and undefined facts such as hate speech and disinformation, this law is also a slap in the face of the rule of law. If the Commission were really serious about freedom and democracy, you would immediately have to call for the abolition of the Digital Services Act But in reality, you are terrified of real freedom of speech. That's why you created this law in the first place, because real freedom of speech is a thorn in your side.

24

Apr

2024

Speeches DE

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Amending Directive 2013/36/EU as regards supervisory powers, sanctions, third-country branches, and environmental, social and governance risks - Amending Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 as regards requirements for credit risk, credit valuation adjustment risk, operational risk, market risk and the output floor (joint debate - Banking Union)

Mr President! First, the banking union: It is completely incomprehensible to me why the EU has decided to deviate so significantly from the Basel III rules. This only increases regulatory uncertainty for investors. Overall, we need to talk about overregulation of EU banks. The industry is being forced to comply with completely crazy regulations, including these requirements for ESG and environmental reporting. All in all, this will only lead to an increase in costs for bank customers. Finally, on the anti-money laundering package: Here again highly problematic regulations are packaged under the guise of anti-money laundering. In doing so, the EU is heavily interfering with the competences of the Member States. Citizens' freedom continues to be severely restricted. The EU is increasingly following the path of a socialist surveillance state in which private ownership is to be restricted, regulated, documented or, as in the case of cash, increasingly prevented. It's a bad way.

27

Feb

2024

Speeches DE

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Driving licences (debate)

Madam President, Fortunately, the draft of the new Driving Licence Directive, which has now been put to the vote, is considerably weaker than the original proposal put forward by the Greens' rapporteur Delli. However, it is still worth taking a look at the original proposals of the Greens. These proposals are symptomatic for the Greens – yes, for the Left as a whole. First of all, the Greens wanted to delete the successful model of the so-called L17 driving licence without replacement. It is a great model that offers young people the opportunity to obtain a driving licence at the age of 17 with sufficient driving practice. The Greens wanted to remove it. What else did the Greens want? In their ideological campaign against the SUV, they wanted an extra driver's license for heavy cars. Too stupid that this would have affected not only SUVs but also electric vehicles, which are heavier because of the battery. It's bizarre when it comes from the Greens. In particular, the Greens have targeted the driver's license newcomers. For them, they wanted a night driving ban and a speed limit of 90 kilometers per hour. Totally absurd. In addition to the new drivers' licenses, the Greens were particularly attracted to the elderly. They would like to torture you so much. Except for five years temporary driving licenses, from 70 medical tests, psychological tests, all of course to pay for yourself. This is the typical policy of the Green ban fetishists. Whether EU-wide or in the nation-states: Prohibitions, prohibitions, prohibitions. From an empowered citizen to an incapacitated subject, that is the vision of the Greens. It is good that all these nonsense has been reasonably removed by the shadow rapporteurs.

5

Feb

2024

Speeches DE

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Union-wide effect of certain driving disqualifications (debate)

Mr President! Yes, well-intentioned does not necessarily mean well done, as can be seen in the present draft directive on the withdrawal of driving licences across the Union. Handlebars that are heavily alcoholic or under the influence of drugs, handlebars that cause a fatal accident through gross negligence, which endanger the lives of others with their behaviour – such handlebars are of course withdrawn from circulation throughout Europe. I'm totally into the draft. Unfortunately, however, this report goes far beyond the objective; Finally, we are talking about administrative offences. A Europe-wide consequence must be explicitly limited to very precisely defined, particularly serious offences. Anything beyond a millimetre is a massive undermining of subsidiarity. However, the term ‘serious traffic offences’ is not exactly a precise definition. We need an accurate, tax-based list of offences. I firmly refuse to erode the sovereignty of the Member States over the back door more and more. This is particularly true in the area of internal security. Furthermore, this report calls for the criminal framework for the offence committed to be adapted as far as possible within the legal boundaries between two participating Member States. I can't do that at all. How does the legal system of a country A adapt the applicable criminal framework for a crime to the criminal framework of a country B, i.e. a foreign legal system? Then the question immediately arises: What does the EU want next? An EU-wide adaptation of criminal law, for example? That would be just another step towards the establishment of the United States of Europe, and I am clearly rejecting this goal. It would therefore be useful to revise this draft. In the current form, I cannot agree, and that is why we have also tabled a motion for rejection, because it is precisely this draft that undermines the legal sovereignty of the Member States. It simply violates the principle of subsidiarity.

11

Dec

2023

Speeches DE

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The European Elections 2024 (debate)

Madam President, First of all, this report on next year's European elections is nothing more than a plea for a Brussels-led central government. This can be seen in the Spitzenkandidaten system or in the transnational lists for the European elections. However, the reference to the values of the Union, the much-vaunted European values, which are the result of several thousand years of European culture, is really brazen. And it is precisely these values that are increasingly being challenged, indeed even combated, by mass immigration from the Islamic cultural sphere, which the EU is virtually promoting. However, this report becomes completely ridiculous when the rapporteurs complain about disinformation from abroad. In doing so, it is the EU itself that informs citizens, for example, about the enormous costs and the massive negative effects of the Green Deal deliberately left in the dark. This is disinformation! This EU is not making any policy for its citizens, and that is why its support for citizens is also dwindling. That is the truth!

21

Nov

2023

Speeches DE

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Strengthening the CO2 emission performance targets for new heavy-duty vehicles (debate)

Mr President! The EU wants to reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. And what does the EU think of this? New rules and new bans. Unfortunately, recent bans are the only thing coming from the EU. How about alternatives? How about an increased expansion of the railway? How about incentives for lower-emission trucks and buses instead of unrealistic and expensive bans? At the same time, the EU is destroying European agriculture. At the same time, the EU is destroying regional food production with insane and unrealistic targets and bans. And what does that mean in the end? More imports, more transport, more trucks on our roads, more emissions and of course - and this has become a basic principle in the EU - more inflation for citizens. The EU's policies are becoming increasingly absurd.

16

Oct

2023

Speeches DE

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Establishing the Ukraine Facility (debate)

Mr President! The EU's policy on the war in Ukraine has failed on all lines. The sanctions are not only ineffective, they are even counterproductive. The Russian economy is growing, while the EU economy is stagnating or even shrinking – a total failure of the EU. And if politics fails so completely, then it would actually be time to rethink it. In the EU, however, the exact opposite is happening. So another 50 billion euros are now to be sent to Ukraine, a deeply corrupt country. The fact that Ukraine is a country that is corrupt at all levels has already been stated by former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker – at all levels. And it's true! Almost every week, a new corruption scandal is unfolding in Ukraine: there is a mayor, there is a department head, the heads of the recruitment offices, a deputy minister of defense, and even the president himself is involved in the affair around the Pandora papers involved. Even the EU Court of Auditors notes that EU support for reforms is ineffective against corruption at the highest level. You now want to set up a €50 billion aid fund without any real means of control – €50 billion to self-serve corrupt politicians and officials. I really have to ask myself what is going on in the Commission. There is an economic crisis in Europe. People don't know how to afford housing and heating, and you want to send 50 billion euros to a country that is corrupt at all levels. You really can't help them anymore! (The speaker rejected a question on the ‘blue card’ procedure by Michaela Šojdrová)

2

Oct

2023

Speeches DE

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Economic coercion by third countries (debate)

Ms. President! This instrument against coercive measures is, in my view, a clear step forward in the European Union's trade policy. So far, the EU has relied primarily on the WTO. However, this is blocked by the US and, in addition, WTO arbitration procedures are often slow and unreliable. This is why this instrument is necessary to combat economic coercion. In order to counter coercion attempts by third countries, the EU must be able to react quickly and decisively. To put it in a nutshell: Anyone who deals with us must expect tough countermeasures. It is also a defensive instrument. The EU does not want to wage trade wars, but it is ready to defend itself at any time. I hope that we do not have to use this instrument. But I am glad that we will have the opportunity in the future.

11

Sep

2023

Speeches DE

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European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA) (debate)

Madam President, Let's talk plainly. What is this joint defence procurement about? Commissioner Vestager made it very clear: It is another step for a transfer of defense equipment to Ukraine. This is what it is all about: Hundreds of millions more for the war. And secondly, the Commission representative in Austria, Martin Selmayr, has revealed what this is all about. "The European army is NATO," he said. I tell him: NATO is a US-led alliance. For Austria as a neutral country, it is unacceptable to support a military alliance with Austrian tax money that serves the interests of a non-European power. To top it all off, the whole thing is to be financed with new own resources: new EU taxes, new EU taxes. This package is not only incompatible with Austrian neutrality. This package is a mockery pack from front to back. It's just more money for Ukraine, more money for NATO and new EU taxes.

11

Jul

2023

Speeches DE

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Financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2022 - Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2022 (joint debate - European Investment Bank)

Mr President! The role of the European Investment Bank is to ‘contribute to the balanced and smooth development of the internal market in the interest of the Union’. The same is true of Article 309 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Investment Bank will provide loans to European companies and national governments. The task of the European Investment Bank is not to finance the completely inverted and anti-citizen and anti-business climate policy of this EU Commission. The EIB is also not responsible for financing the wars of non-EU countries. Sufficient resources are also available to the EIB for these core tasks. An increase in the funds to finance the megalomaniacal plans of a completely out of bounds Commission is strictly to be rejected. And the EIB, you can believe me, will have sufficient investment needs in the EU itself in the coming years and decades to eliminate the consequences of this Commission's self-destructive policy.

11

Jul

2023

Speeches DE

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Nature restoration (debate)

Madam President, With this so-called Nature Restoration Law, this ordinance for the supposed restoration of nature, one can in truth only do one thing, namely reject it in bulk. It expropriates farmers, it creates artificial food shortages in Europe itself and in the countries supplied by Europe, it leads to shortages, and it leads to even more inflation. With this unfortunate draft, the equally unfortunate and hostile EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen can be disposed of immediately. The majority of citizens reject their ideology-driven policies, and rightly so. The impact of this Commission's policy so far has been disastrous: massive inflation in all areas, unsafe energy supply, increasing deindustrialisation, rising unemployment. So far, they have only brought disaster on the EU. Every day that this Commission is in office longer is a black day for Europe.

13

Jun

2023

Speeches DE

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Ensuring food security and the long-term resilience of EU agriculture (debate)

Madam President, This report is not without a certain tragic comedy. The EU now clearly recognises that the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork agricultural programme pose a serious threat to Europe’s food supply. ‘Green Deal“ means that food production is falling and prices are rising massively: minus 20 % production for cereals, minus 20 % for oilseeds, minus 20 % production for beef. Huge price increases: 58 % for beef, 48 % for pork, 36 % for raw milk, 15 % for fruit and vegetables. This is the result of the Green Deal, and it is already dawning on many people what a blazingly dangerous madness this Green Deal is and that the Green Deal will be a reality. Green Deal In truth, one green desaster is. If you really want to ensure food security in Europe, if you want to be honest, then move the Green Deal to where it belongs: On the heap of history.

8

May

2023

Speeches DE

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Methane emissions reduction in the energy sector (debate)

Mr President! How meaningless and how illegal can a legal act of the EU actually be? The answer to this question is impressively provided by this methane regulation. The aim is to oblige the few remaining operators of coal mining shafts in the EU to carry out technical retrofitting. The billions of dollars in costs will drive up prices for consumers, regardless of whether these shafts are still in operation or have been shut down for a long time. If you point this out, you will hear that it is more about providing a kind of blueprint for coal-producing countries outside the EU, so that they please promote as the EU would like. And as if all this were not enough, the green rapporteur of this methane regulation, Jutta Paulus, spread a text of a Green lobby NGO among the political groups involved and then also issued it as her own work. If a banking or pharmaceutical lobbyist had intervened in the decision-making process in this way, the entire process would have been restarted. This does not happen in Brussels, however, when a left-wing NGO so outrageously and contrary to all internal rules is working with a Green rapporteur. (The speaker rejected a question on the ‘blue card’ procedure of Bogdan Rzońca.)

17

Apr

2023

Speeches DE

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Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System - Monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport - Carbon border adjustment mechanism - Social Climate Fund - Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System for aviation (debate)

Mr President! Apparently, the European Commission wants to ruin Europe as soon as possible. This planned extension of emission allowance trading and carbon pricing to the construction and transport sectors will bring the next major wave of inflation for citizens and businesses. And in conjunction with the ban on combustion engines, mobility is thus becoming a luxury good for a few rich people and for the EU cantons. Housing – an indispensable basic need – is also becoming increasingly unaffordable. The next coup d'état from Brussels is the carbon offset mechanism. Energy prices are being pushed up by the EU itself, and our European companies are losing their competitiveness on the world market. CO2 tariffs don't change that either, and that doesn't help the climate either. Business churn and deindustrialization are the result. With this program Fit for 55 The EU itself is destroying the economic livelihoods of Europeans.

15

Feb

2023

Speeches DE

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European Central Bank - annual report 2022 (debate)

Madam President, From 2019 to 2022, the ECB increased its balance sheet total by EUR 4.1 trillion. Every single day, the ECB has printed 4.5 billion new euros, which is also the real cause of high inflation in Europe; There is no need to talk about the war in Ukraine. Why did the ECB do this? It was nothing more than covert state funding. The ECB has been working on its task of price stability to rehabilitate ailing public finances. And now all this politics is flying around your ears. And that's where you're going to do the next big damage: First, you're driving inflation to enormous heights with a flood of money, and now you're driving companies to ruin with abrupt rate hikes. Unfortunately, their policy fits seamlessly into the Commission's policy: Ruinous, pointless, dangerous to citizens and the economy.

14

Feb

2023

Speeches DE

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CO2 emission standards for cars and vans (debate)

Mr President! The EU accounts for 8% of global CO2 emissions, of which the transport sector concerned has 15% within the EU. This 15% of 8% is just 1.2% of global CO2 emissions. The ban on the combustion engine from 2035 will therefore reduce global CO2 emissions by just 1.2%. And that is why you are ruining European industry, destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs and destroying our prosperity in Europe. China, India, Russia, the US shake their heads at this madness and rub their hands. With the more than 200 coal-fired power plants that China is currently building, this 1.2% CO2 reduction is more than compensated for within a week. This will not save the climate. They are destroying Europe. That's insane.

18

Jan

2023

Speeches DE

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Terrorist threats posed by far-right extremist networks defying the democratic constitutional order (debate)

Madam President, Europol's terrorism report documents 52 left-wing extremist terrorist attacks, 43 Islamist attacks, 15 separatist attacks and nine right-wing extremist-motivated attacks over the past three years. I do not remember when we would have ever had a debate in this House about extreme left-wing terror. No, you're all blind in your left eye. And how disguised is your political compass that you see no threat in violent leftists? But even this is the subject of a study prepared for the Commission by Radicalization awareness network, And this also clearly addresses the downplaying of left-wing extremism by the political establishment. So while right-wing extremist terrorist networks fortunately lead a pitiful shadowy existence and left-wing extremism is downplayed by the Commission and Parliament, a whole new, larger threat is emerging in Europe's major cities: I am talking here about a generation of young, violent migrants who reject our state and our values. Look to Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Brussels. Even in a small town like Linz, where I come from, an Iraqi asylum seeker caused a shooting last week. But this debate, you don't want to have. Your completely misguided migration policy would be exposed, and you want to distract from it by all means. It is pathetic that this Parliament focuses solely on right-wing extremists for ideological reasons, completely ignoring both violent left-wing extremism and jihadism as well as violent and anti-state young migrants.

16

Jan

2023

Speeches DE

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Shipments of waste (debate)

Mr President! In 2021, more than 130,000 tonnes of plastic waste were shipped abroad from Austria alone for recycling. In February 2021, Austria had to take back 100 tonnes of plastic waste contaminated with chemicals from Malaysia. This scandal was not only a disgrace for the Austrian Green Minister for the Environment. This scandal also shows how problematic the export of waste can be. The shipment of 100 tonnes of waste halfway around the world and back again cannot, at best, be described as environmentally friendly. So there is definitely a need for action here. However, and this is important to me, consideration must be given to small and medium-sized enterprises in particular. Legal certainty must be established without excessive bureaucratic burdens for companies.

23

Nov

2022

Speeches DE

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

Mr President! There are now more than 20,000 wolves in Europe, more than a favourable conservation status. Accordingly, the number of wolf cracks in Austria alone has more than doubled to almost 700 cracks within one year. On the other hand, the EU rules are from 1992, when there were almost no wolves in all of Europe. It is therefore high time to take account of the changed situation. Alpine pasture and pasture farming in particular is under serious threat, and therefore local authorities must finally be able to react flexibly. To this end, the protection status of the wolf in the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive must be moved from Annex 4 to Annex 5. This would make it possible for local authorities to take swift, efficient and, above all, legally sound measures. And that is why I appeal to the Commission: Give up your blockage posture! Enable a positive coexistence of humans, wolf and livestock in the future!

21

Nov

2022

Speeches DE

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Borrowing strategy to finance NextGenerationEU (debate)

Madam President, The main purpose of this bond program is not the targeted promotion of promising economic sectors, but only the taboo break to finally be able to make debt. Under the pretext of fighting the crisis, the EU simply continues to expand its powers in the area of the budget – and that is what it is all about. In addition, the funds are also allocated in a non-transparent manner and without any parliamentary scrutiny. In reality, the EU is distributing debt-based money to the Member States more or less arbitrarily, without any control, and is also breaking its own rules. And it is the height of impudence to call it NextGenerationEU. For the next generation, nothing remains but a mountain of debt and an even more inflated Union. It is a moral image of this Commission: undemocratic, non-transparent, costly and pointless.