What Virginijus spoke about.

6

Feb

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Water crisis and droughts in the EU as a consequence of the global climate crisis and the need for a sustainable, resilient water strategy for Europe (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, first of all thank you very much for this lively debate, which shows once again the importance of this topic. It also reflects the complexity – and there are no easy solutions – but thank you very much for a very clear call for a new EU Blue Deal. Let me just reiterate that the initiative that we will put forward will, first of all, focus on a number of immediat…

6

Feb

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Water crisis and droughts in the EU as a consequence of the global climate crisis and the need for a sustainable, resilient water strategy for Europe (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, let me welcome the strong involvement and frequent debates of the Parliament on the topic of water. It is a vital issue because five of the last six years in Europe have been exceptionally dry, and this has caused significant economic damage to agriculture, energy and inland navigation worth some EUR 9 billion every year, and the latest climate projections sugge…

18

Jan

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Implementation of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation in fisheries and aquaculture - Regulation (EU) 1379/2013 (debate)

– Mr President, dear colleagues, I’ll be very brief. First of all, let me thank Ms Bilbao and the PECH Committee for an excellent report, where we, I think, fundamentally agree on the things that need to be done and need to be improved. So we commit ourselves to further work with all stakeholders along the supply chain to ensure that things are swiftly improved.…

18

Jan

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Implementation of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation in fisheries and aquaculture - Regulation (EU) 1379/2013 (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, let me start by thanking Ms Bilbao, the shadow rapporteurs and the entire PECH Committee for the work done on this own initiative report, which the Commission welcomes. I’m happy to see that most of your findings concur with the Commission’s own report that we adopted in February 2023. In particular, we both conclude that the Common Market Organisation Regulatio…

18

Jan

2024

EN Speech

Watch

EU Action Plan: protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries (debate)

– Mr President, Members of the Parliament, thank you very much for this enriching debate, which has helped us to clarify and share our views regarding the action plan, but also reaffirm once more that we all want to remedy the negative environmental impacts, because the future of our fisheries will depend on our ability to react and adapt. And let me now come to some points that you have raised. F…

18

Jan

2024

EN Speech

Watch

EU Action Plan: protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, first of all let me thank the rapporteur, Mr Herbst, the shadow rapporteurs and, of course, the European Parliament, for this report and for their contributions to the discussions on the Marine Action Plan. It is important that these discussions are taking place publicly as they touch upon fundamental questions on how we see the future of our fisheries sector an…

18

Jan

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy and future perspectives (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, it was a truly rich debate, and, of course, thank you for the variety of views that you have expressed. Let me react to some which I found most important, which were repeated by a few Members of Parliament. First of all, on the reform of common fisheries policy, the existing legislative framework provides the stability the fisheries sector needs. Several challen…

18

Jan

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy and future perspectives (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, given the cumulative crisis we have been or are still faced with, be it climate change or the loss of natural resources, COVID-19 or the energy crisis, it is our collective responsibility to help the EU fisheries and aquaculture sectors to become more resilient so that they can continue to provide citizens with high-quality food. I would like to, first of all, s…

18

Jan

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Recent ecological catastrophe involving plastic pellet losses and its impact on micro plastic pollution in the maritime and coastal habitats (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, first of all, what is very clear is that today’s debate shows the importance of tackling pollution by plastic pellets as well as the complexity of this issue. There are no easy solutions, but we do need bold and decisive action to protect our oceans and to deliver on the zero pollution target. We are committed to reducing plastic litter at sea by 50% and micropl…

18

Jan

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Recent ecological catastrophe involving plastic pellet losses and its impact on micro plastic pollution in the maritime and coastal habitats (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, good morning. Plastic pellet spills, like the recent event on the Spanish coast or the French coast last year, give rise to a wave of public concern. Such accidents are occasional, but they create sudden and significant negative impacts on some regions. Other regions have been struggling with the endemic pollution by plastic pellets due to poor handling at every…

21

Nov

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Packaging and packaging waste (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, let me start with the very positive: first of all, truly thank you for your contributions, because they clearly showed that we are all seriously concerned about the rapid, unsustainable growth in packaging waste. We also understand that our task to set the framework for a resource-efficient packaging sector is a truly challenging one. The linear system of ‘take,…

21

Nov

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Packaging and packaging waste (debate)

– Madam President, honourable Members, thank you for this opportunity to address you today ahead of a vote that is crucial for our environment, our single market, our industries, and our citizens. Let me start by thanking, first of all, the rapporteur, Ms Ries, all shadow rapporteurs, the rapporteurs of the three opinion-giving committees and the many of you whom I also met over the last months to…

20

Nov

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Common rules promoting the repair of goods

– Mr President, honourable Members, allow me to thank you again for this very rich debate. Tackling barriers to repair is a major challenge, as these barriers are complex and require pragmatic solutions. But today’s debate once again confirmed that we are on the right path, and this is what truly Europeans want. The proposal discussed today is an important step towards creating a right to repair f…

20

Nov

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Common rules promoting the repair of goods

– Madam President, honourable Members, I am pleased to be with you for this debate about the proposal on promoting the repair of goods. This proposal is a major contribution to the green transition, aiming to make repair a more attractive alternative to replacement. And together with other initiatives, such as the adopted proposal for a directive on empowering consumers for the green transition an…

20

Nov

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s net-zero technology products manufacturing ecosystem (Net Zero Industry Act) (debate)

– Ladies and gentlemen, Members of Parliament, dear rapporteur, I would like to thank you for the quality of your contributions and, in general, for the spirit of compromise that has emerged from this debate. The Commission has taken note that on several elements of the Commission’s proposal, Parliament wishes to go even further or in a direction that sometimes differs from the proposal, and I am …

17

Oct

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Water scarcity and structural investments in access to water in the EU (debate)

– Honourable Members, this lively debate shows the importance of this topic. It also clearly reflects the complexity and there are no easy solutions. But if we truly want to progress towards SDG 6 and clean water for all, we must be decisive and we must be bold. I would like to address one matter in particular about Mayotte. I think what is very clear, is that we must ensure access to water throug…

17

Oct

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Water scarcity and structural investments in access to water in the EU (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, Secretary of State. Let me start by thanking you for adding this important point to today’s agenda. It shows once more the strong interest of this House in securing sustainable water management and access to clean water for all citizens. Water has been high on our political agenda since the beginning of this mandate, and your support in raising further awareness…

12

Sep

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, thank you for your valuable reflections and views and let me briefly reply to the key points that you have raised. First of all, I would like to stress again what I have said during my introduction. Proposed standards: they are both realistic and implementable and we assessed that we could not align, unfortunately, to WHO standards for 2030, but only setting a t…

12

Sep

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (debate)

– Madam President, honourable Members, first of all, let me start by thanking rapporteur Javi López for the excellent work done to advance this file. Clean air is essential for all of us: our health, our environment, and our whole economy depend on it. So we must tackle this problem with ambition and a sense of urgency and with the clear objective of achieving better air quality by 2030 and zero p…

11

Sep

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Surface water and groundwater pollutants (debate)

– Madam President, honourable Members, I have found it very enriching to listen to the positions and concerns expressed during this debate. And it’s encouraging that so many of the interventions have been supportive of the Commission proposal and that there are few points on which honourable Members substantially disagree. Let me point out first, as regards the watch list, about making it mandator…

11

Sep

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Surface water and groundwater pollutants (debate)

– Madam President, honourable Members, good afternoon. Pollution is a major pressure on water and biodiversity. It affects life in rivers, lakes and seas, and our ability to use this resource for drinking water or irrigation. As droughts become more common, we cannot afford to pollute the waters that remain. This debate on a key deliverable in the zero-pollution package is therefore very timely. M…

11

Sep

2023

EN Speech

Watch

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

– Madam President, honourable Members, thank you for all your contributions. The Commission appreciates that there is a consensus on the need to step-up efforts to support Ukraine and adapt our defence industry to the new challenges the European security faces. EDIRPA is a limited action in budgetary terms, as we are all aware, but its importance should not be overlooked. As mentioned in the intro…

11

Sep

2023

EN Speech

Watch

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

– Madam President, honourable Members, today we mark a new stage in European defence integration. As Russia’s unprovoked war continues to rage on European soil, we are about to adopt EDIRPA, a new instrument to support the joint procurement of armaments. And I would like to thank the co-rapporteurs, the shadow rapporteurs and the individual Member States who worked on this text, which tomorrow the…

12

Jul

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Fishing in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Agreement area (A9-0136/2022 - Ladislav Ilčić) (vote)

– Madam President, honourable Members, the Commission is currently preparing a proposal for implementing the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean recommendation stemming from the GFCM annual session in 2021 and 2022, with a view to presenting this proposal to the European Parliament and the Council in a timely manner.…

11

Jul

2023

EN Speech

Watch

Ecodesign Regulation (debate)

– Mr President, honourable Members, thank you for your contributions today. This evening’s debate is a testament to your ongoing engagement with this legislative proposal for which we need a strong collective effort. And as I have already pointed out, a significant amount of work remains to be done. So I am therefore looking forward for tomorrow’s plenary vote. It is the next key link in the chain…