What Barry spoke about.

5 Oct

2021

EN Speech

Disinformation and the role of social platforms (debate)

Watch

Madam President, democratic backsliding is at a crisis point, as Freedom House has pointed out. According to their democracy index, 2020 is the 16th consecutive year of the decline in global freedom. It is astonishing to record that less than 20% of people across the globe live in free countries in 2021. Commissioner Breton, as you yourself said, ‘Reforming the digital space is a matter of surviva…

5 Oct

2021

EN Speech

State of EU cyber defence capabilities (debate)

Watch

Madam President, the picture could not be any clearer. For state actors hostile to the EU, like Russia, the cost of attack is infinitesimally smaller than the rewards, and that has to change. For critical entities across the EU, including the Irish Health Service, the cost of doing nothing except repair and remediation was much less than the cost of adequate protection, and that has to change too.…

4 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The role of development policy in the response to biodiversity loss in developing countries, in the context of the achievement of the 2030 Agenda (debate)

Watch

Mr President, first of all, I would like to thank Commissioner Urpilainen for her assistance in the launch of the SDG Alliance here in Parliament two weeks ago. I very much welcome the many references to the SDGs in Ms Rivasi’s report and to Agenda 2030. It is very clear that the only way we will achieve policy coherence for sustainable development is if we can marshal the facts, if we have the da…

15 Sep

2021

EN Speech

EU contribution to transforming global food systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, 690 million people are chronically hungry today, and hunger has increased every year since 2015, when the SDGs were announced as a pathway to zero hunger. And yet one third of the food we produce is never eaten, and our diets are a major contribution to environmental damage and to loss of biodiversity. Our food system is broken. We have to change the way …

14 Sep

2021

EN Speech

Situation in Afghanistan (debate)

Watch

Madam President, the limited objectives achieved in the last 20 years in Afghanistan were all development objectives, normally achieved by development professionals. So when we suspend development aid, we must remember that we are suspending the salaries of the doctors and the nurses and the teachers that have achieved those objectives. But we must not end humanitarian aid. It must continue based …

6 Jul

2021

EN Speech

EU global human rights sanctions regime (EU Magnitsky Act) (debate)

Watch

Madam President, I wish to make an argument for the extension of our sanctions regime to crimes of corruption and fraud. In April the UK extended its sanctions regime to 14 Russian nationals, the same 14 Russian nationals who were uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky himself. The same 14 Russian nationals were subjected to no sanctions here in the EU. They’re not even on the EU consolidated financial san…

6 Jul

2021

GA Speech

Foreign interference in democratic processes (debate)

Watch

Mr President, High Representative Borrell, this debate is focused on foreign intervention in the democratic operation of the European Union. I believe, however, that we need to bring domestic efforts to accuracy. To put this idea before you, I want to go back to an event that happened in the Subcommittee on Security and Defence of the European Parliament, last April. During the committee meeting, …