Speeches

The next item is the debate on five motions for resolutions1 on the case of Zarema Musaeva in Chechnya (2023/2882(RSP)). __________ 1 See minutes.

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, we are witnessing a new crusade in the middle of Europe. The well-financed, organised and transnational anti-gender movement is crusading against the so-called gender ideology, dividing our societies, assailing basic human rights, spreading hateful LGBTI propaganda and inspiring hate crimes. Many reports reveal financial flows from Russia and from American evangelicals, which support the so-called anti—gender movement. Annual spending of this anti-gender movement in Europe has increased by a factor of four since 2009 and amounts to over USD 100 million. And it is a sad reality that many populist parties and far-right parties, including in this House, are part of this shameful movement. Let me be very clear: there is no gender ideology; there is no LGBTIQ agenda. These concepts are figments of their imagination, trying to divert from problems for which they have no answers. We who fight for a Union of equality are merely defending human rights and promoting anti—discrimination so that every European can live a life of their choice, free from fear and full of love. They call us ideologists, they accuse us of spreading propaganda – they should take a hard look into the mirror. They are the ideologists; they want to uphold a patriarchal society at all costs. And I wonder, why are they so afraid of equality? Let me also conclude, being an LGBTIQ person is not an ideology, but it is an identity and certainly not a choice. But being homo- and transphobic – that is a choice, and we have to condemn that.

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear Secretary of State, dear colleagues, housing is a human right, and all Europeans must have access to decent and affordable housing. Yet every day more and more people struggle to pay their rents and their mortgages. To help solve the housing crisis, we call for an integrated EU strategy to create a favourable framework for national, regional and local authorities. As Socialists and Democrats, we also call for a number of progressive policies, such as rental price control, the exclusion of social spending from fiscal policies, and the revision of the housing cost overburden rate. The rampant housing crisis is a clear market failure. Housing has become an object of speculation. At the same time, the Airbnb effect is speeding up the spiral of renting prices and gentrification to a level where local residents and young people can no longer find affordable housing. We must ensure that there is a well-regulated market capable of providing affordable housing to all. The S&D Group demands that housing affordability is included in the European Semester and that national affordable housing plans should be incorporated in the national reform programmes. Everybody deserves a place that they can call home.

Dear colleague, it is not appropriate to call migrants ‘criminals’. It is not acceptable. We will continue with our colleague Dolors Montserrat.

I have to announce that I will close the blue-card procedure because we are really running late and I want to take at least one person for the catch-the-eye from each group. And please respect your speaking time.

When it comes to Nazi language, you cannot use freedom of expression. I will report this to the Bureau and we will come back to this. Thank you very much.

I guess the question was addressed to myself, as Chair today. Of course, we do not accept Nazi terminology in this House. I will report this to the Bureau and we will discuss it with the President and with my colleagues in the Bureau. Thank you very much for this. I think the question was not addressed to you, but to myself. But you have 30 seconds to respond.

The next sitting is tomorrow, Wednesday 4 October, at 9.00. The agenda has been published and is available on the European Parliament website.

The next item is the debate on the statements by the Council and the Commission on the 10th consecutive increase in reference interest rates decided by the ECB and its consequences (2023/2891(RSP)).

The next item is the debate on the report by Maria Spyraki, on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on Classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (COM(2022)0748 – C9-0433/2022 – 2022/0432(COD)) (A9-0271/2023).

The next item is the oral question to the Commission, tabled by Bernd Lange on behalf of the Committee on International Trade, on the opening of negotiations of an agreement with the United States of America on strengthening international supply chains of critical minerals (2023/2772(RSP)) (O-000037/2023 – B9-0027/2023).

I think, colleague, you had a logo on the end of your paper, as I was informed. This is not according to the rules, so please refrain from doing that.

The next item is the report by Nicola Beer, on behalf of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials and amending Regulations (EU) 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1724 and (EU) 2019/1020 (COM(2023)0160 – C9-0061/2023 – 2023/0079(COD)) (A9-0260/2023).

The non-attached Members have notified the President of a decision relating to changes to appointments within a committee. This decision will be set out in the minutes of today’s sitting and takes effect on the date of this announcement.