What Dorien spoke about.

9

May

2023

NL Speech

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Revision of the Stability and Growth Pact (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the EU has known the SGP since 1997. These are fiscal rules to ensure that EU countries do not spend too much money and do not incur too much debt. That's important. The housekeeping book needs to be in order. Too many Member States spend too much money and are over-indebted. Too much is never good. New rules, as proposed by the Commission, will – I am afraid – not chan…

16

Mar

2023

NL Speech

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European Citizens’ Initiative "Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment" (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, we can therefore make our voices heard in Europe with the European Citizens' Initiative. The citizens' initiative is a special and necessary democratic instrument. In the Netherlands, confidence in politics is low. The government is responsible for a long series of scandals and the neglect of the real problems in our country, as well as the threat to biodiversity and th…

16

Feb

2023

NL Speech

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Developing an EU cycling strategy (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, no matter how sympathetic, this is exactly one of those projects where people say: “What the hell are they doing in Brussels? Aren't there more important issues?’ Developing an EU cycling strategy to double cycling transport? It sounds nice, but it's about EU interference, with building regulations, municipal budgets and democratic decision-making processes. It would be…

15

Feb

2023

NL Speech

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European Central Bank - annual report 2022 (debate)

Mr President, Mrs Lagarde, should the ECB take into account the possibility of euro area countries wishing to leave the euro? A few months ago, I asked you whether the ECB has a roadmap for managing the exit of highly indebted euro area countries that are no longer able to pay interest. You replied in the negative, stating that the ECB does not have a roadmap for this. Meanwhile, the situation has…

14

Feb

2023

NL Speech

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Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence: EU accession (continuation of debate)

Madam President, every eight days in the Netherlands a woman or girl is murdered by her partner or ex-partner. Every eight days. A few years ago, this was every ten days. So the problem has aggravated. But that is not what this debate is about. This debate is about the EU joining the Istanbul Convention, not about improving the protection of women in the EU. And that's what it should be about. The…

18

Jan

2023

NL Speech

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Protection of the EU’s financial interests - combating fraud - annual report 2021 (debate)

Mr President, the money that the EU has provided has been received from taxpayers through the Member States in order to do sensible things with it. EU Member States are responsible for the lawful spending of EU funds and therefore also for the fight against fraud. I believe that it is important to prevent fraud. This is more important than trying afterwards to bring the culprits to justice, with a…

18

Jan

2023

NL Speech

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Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2021 (debate)

Mr President, Vice-President, Commissioner, the European Investment Bank (EIB) provides governments and businesses with more than EUR 60 billion in soft loans every year. The aim is to unify the European market and contribute to EU objectives. I would like to highlight two things. The rapporteur calls for the focus to be shifted to SMEs, but in principle the EIB was not set up for this purpose. Pr…

17

Jan

2023

EN Speech

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Consumer protection in online video games: a European Single Market approach (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it – this should be the important guideline for EU institutions to cope with the risk of overregulation. The rapporteur has made a balanced report about consumer protection in the gaming industry. There is no real problem but she demands more regulation. She states explicitly that the existing consumer protection regulation is a strong basi…

22

Nov

2022

NL Speech

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Gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges (debate)

I'm here to stop the plethora of laws and regulations, among other things. I know from good examples from America, for example, that it is quite possible to achieve your goals without an abundance of laws and regulations, but that requires innovation. I am in favor of a world that is safe. I am against human trafficking, I am against forced labour and I am a strong supporter of human rights. But I…

22

Nov

2022

NL Speech

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Gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges (debate)

Mr President, can we use laws and regulations to create the ideal world? Many MEPs seem to think so. The European Union wants to use laws and regulations to control the world through anti-money laundering legislation, sustainability requirements such as the CSDDD and gender provisions. Putting the world in your hand with a torrent of laws and regulations is impossible and also dangerous. Everyone …

9

Nov

2022

NL Speech

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REPowerEU chapters in recovery and resilience plans (debate)

Mr President, Europe's dependence on Russia for energy supply is a problem that should not be solved with panic football, but with proper analysis. The high energy prices resulting from liberalisation and speculation, as well as the rejection of nuclear energy, make our dependence on Russia intolerable. However, the EU blames itself for this. These issues are the result of EU policies. The EU is a…

19

Oct

2022

NL Speech

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EU-Western Balkans relations in light of the new enlargement package (continuation of debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, some problems resolve themselves, and some things require attention and action. Good governance depends on being able to distinguish between the two. Political objections to the accession of Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia to the Union are disappearing under pressure from Putin’s misconduct. Additional demands proposed by Mr Borrell are unwise. It leads …

4

Oct

2022

NL Speech

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The death of Mahsa Amini and the repression of women's rights protesters in Iran (debate)

Mr President, I have infinite respect for the women and men in Iran who stand up against a criminal regime. It takes courage. That makes me quiet. It takes little courage to stand here and express my horror at the regime in Iran. In Europe, I can dress how I want and I can speak out about what I want. The protesters in Iran are putting their lives at risk in the hope of a better future, a future t…

15

Sep

2022

NL Speech

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Statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations (debate)

Mr President, voters, pay attention! Under the guise of strengthening democracy, European parties will soon be able to count on more money from the European Union. That is the Commission's proposal. With this money they can set up campaigns in all European Member States, and with this the relations in the Member States are completely removed from their context. Even worse: a so-called ‘uncontrolla…

14

Sep

2022

NL Speech

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Situation of fundamental rights in the EU in 2020 and 2021 (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, I am concerned about the abuse of power. I am concerned about respect for human rights, but I am also concerned about the political abuse of human rights. This report on fundamental rights in the EU erodes the principle, because it is political and goes far beyond fundamental rights. It's a pamphlet, with unproven claims and suspicion. It is a report unworthy of the EU.…

7

Jul

2022

NL Speech

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Better regulation: joining forces to make better laws (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the costly, disruptive relocation circus here is a result of European laws and regulations. People in Europe don't understand it at all. In the Netherlands alone, billions are spent annually on legislation to combat money laundering. It doesn't work for a meter and the customers suffer. It is now almost impossible to open a bank account – a consequ…

6

Jul

2022

NL Speech

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Protection of the EU’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2020 (debate)

Mr President, there will always be people who are fooling around. If there is a motive and there is an opportunity, then many simply cannot resist the temptation. Especially because it is of great hope and the view that it is very easy to steal from the EU. In 2020, fraud was reported for a total of EUR 371 million. This is serious money. And these were just the reported cases. With a consistent p…

18

May

2022

EN Speech

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2021 Report on North Macedonia (debate)

Mr President, why are we still having this discussion? The Council decided to start negotiations in 2020. Why are they not getting things done, like they promised the people of the West Balkan countries? The EU is founded on the promise of peace. Offering all of the Western Balkan countries, especially Macedonia, membership of the EU contributes to peace in Europe. We don’t want to give Russia any…

4

Apr

2022

NL Speech

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Use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, critics often accuse the EU of being impractical and slow and of giving preferential treatment to powerful countries and large companies. That is often justified. Brussels bureaucrats often turn their ears to the lobbies of vested interests. That is why more and more people are moving away from the EU. This Directive seems to be an exception. It is now easier fo…

7

Mar

2022

NL Speech

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Role of culture, education, media and sport in the fight against racism (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, discrimination on the basis of sex, colour or any other ground has been prohibited by law for years, and this has been enshrined in many treaties and legislation. And it is an important principle that I fully endorse. Now it is important that everyone puts the principle of non-discrimination into practice, because this makes our society so much more valuable. Sport, edu…

20

Jan

2022

NL Speech

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Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the European Union (continuation of debate)

Mr President, in these times of international tension, it is important to maintain unity within Europe, but the Left – led by Macron – wants to include abortion in European fundamental rights, because an extension of fundamental rights means an extension of Brussels' powers. We clearly disagree here in the European Parliament. Abortion law is a national competence. The situation has grown cultural…

16

Dec

2021

NL Speech

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Forced labour in the Linglong factory and environmental protests in Serbia

Mr President, Serbia is becoming a Chinese colony with Chinese factories and Chinese working conditions. Serbia also has strategic raw materials and is therefore important for the EU. With the Dutch government and, more importantly, the French government holding back the accession of Serbia and the other states in the Western Balkans, China has every opportunity to give itself a strategic position…

14

Dec

2021

EN Speech

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Cooperation on the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans (continuation of debate)

Mr President, before the EU imposes new requirements, it needs to deliver, too. That is how relations work. They require mutual understanding and respect. Kosovo has been an independent country since 2008. It has since then been recognised by the United States. However, in the EU, certain Member States have still not recognised Kosovo for petty, nationalistic reasons. I fully agree with the rappor…

24

Nov

2021

NL Speech

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Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report 2020 (debate)

Mr President, the EU Court of Auditors has, for the second time in a row, rejected EU spending. In 2.7% of cases, the budget was demonstrably not well spent, which is more than the accounting rules allow. The EU is itself responsible for the poor control of expenditure. The rules on EU subsidies are too complex and a source of error. Recommendations on this point are not sufficiently followed up. …

23

Nov

2021

EN Speech

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Common agricultural policy - support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States and financed by the EAGF and by the EAFRD - Common agricultural policy: financing, management and monitoring - Common agricultural policy – amendment of the CMO and other regulations (debate)

Madam President, thank you almost everybody here and especially the European Commission for being brave enough to create a huge paradigm shift. The CAP will evolve from a top-down, prescriptive, administrative process to a bottom-up, horizontally-controlled framework, and this is great news. Good people don’t like to be told what to do, and we need good farmers to produce healthy food in huge quan…