Speeches

Mr President, what a week it was right after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. On the Tuesday, Ukraine applied for EU membership. On the Wednesday, Georgia applied for EU membership. And on the Thursday, Moldova applied for EU membership. All our three association partners. And we must be very firm in our support for the European way of Moldova. I very much believe that they are doing everything they can in this fragile situation to be able to finally get candidate status for membership. We have to help Moldova to get rid of this near-total dependency on Russian energy. We have to help them to balance the ownership of media, help them to get rid of disinformation, which is really damaging their European way. And of course, Transnistria is a real danger now. We see that the first of the Eastern Partner frozen conflicts is a real threat to Moldova’s situation in this attack and this is a crucial moment when Moldova really needs all our support.

Madam President, the dictator of Cambodia has been nearly 37 years in power, and almost uninterrupted. What we see is a total crackdown of political opposition, imprisoning of political opposition leaders, many murders of trade unionists, criminalisation of environmental activists who defend land and national resources in the country. The situation should quickly improve. If not, then the European Union should consider new measures to influence the situation. This is why the European Parliament will call for targeted sanctions, and urges the Council to adopt restrictive measures, which include travel bans and asset freezes against those who are complicit and in charge of these very severe restrictions and human rights violations. The European Union, the Commission partially suspended the Everything But Arms benefits (EBA) last year, and it is not excluded that the Commission should consider a complete suspension of those trade benefits. I would like very much to emphasise that any European companies dealing with Cambodia, doing business there, should do their due diligence with utmost care because the situation is extremely difficult, and the risks of conducting business in that country are extremely big for being complicit in the human rights violations, but also for the reputation of companies.

Thank you very much, Commissioner Simson. Thank you colleagues. Question hour is finished and I think it was very informative, so it’s a good test.

Okay, thank you, but I need to say that it is for questions and one minute at a time for the first question and then 30 seconds. You spoke for two and a half, I think. I give the floor to the Commissioner.

The next item is Question Time with the Commission (Rule 137). First of all, I would like to welcome Commissioner Kadri Simson to this Question Time. The topic of this Question Time is “European energy independence: the strategic importance of renewable energy sources, energy interconnections and energy efficiency’. I need to read some instructions for you. It is therefore a question of testing some of the recommendations of the Focus Group on Plenary Reform, and putting Question Time back on the agenda is one of them. This question time takes about 90 minutes. Questions are not issued in advance to individual members. One minute for the question, two minutes for the Commissioner's answer, half a minute for the representative's supplementary question, and then two minutes for the Commissioner's supplementary answer. I would point out that any supplementary question should relate to the actual question and should not constitute a new question. So if you want to ask a question, I would ask you to register your request now by using the catch-the-eye function on your voting machine after the voting card has been inserted. Guidance on this is available in the Chamber. I would also like to inform you that you are free to choose your seat in the Chamber, with the exception of the first two lines for group leaders. In other words, the questions will now be taken from your own place. I urge all speakers to stick to the time allocated to each speaker. Colleagues may need a moment to register their request to ask a question on the voting machine. I would ask you to register your request now, and then we will start with the first question.

The next item is the report by Sara Skyttedal, on behalf of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, on the Schengen evaluation mechanism (COM(2021)0278 – C9-0349/2021 – 2021/0140(CNS) (A9-0054/2022). I would remind you that you are still free to choose your seat in the Chamber, with the exception of the first two lines, which are intended for group leaders. You can also apply for catch-the-eye and blue card statements on request via your voting machine after you have put your voting card on the machine. I would also like to remind you that interventions in the Chamber will continue to be made from the rostrum in the centre of the Chamber, with the exception of on-demand interventions, blue card interventions and points of order.

The next item is the Council and Commission statements on breaches of the right to asylum and non-refoulement in EU Member States (2022/2588(RSP)). I would remind you that you are free to choose your seat in the Chamber, with the exception of the first two lines for group leaders. You can also request the speakers on request and the blue card speakers via your voting machine after you have put your voting card on the machine. I would also like to remind you that interventions in the Chamber will continue to be made from the rostrum in the centre of the Chamber, with the exception of on-demand interventions, blue card interventions and points of order.

The next item is the report by Petri Sarvamaa, on behalf of the Committee on Budgetary Control, on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027: combating oligarchic structures, protecting EU funds from fraud and conflicts of interest [2020/2126(INI)] (A9-0039/2022).

Madam President, one year after the military coup of 1 February 2021, we can see that the situation is very dire and that we need to add to the pressure against the military junta. We as Parliament welcome sanctions which have now come to four rounds, but we would demand that more needs to be done as for sanctions. We can still add, for instance, the State Administrative Council to the list as an entity, not just as a person. We welcome the fact that now, finally, the Council has added the national oil and gas company, MOGE, to the sanctions. But we demand that a derogation allowing European oil and gas companies to operate and conduct transactions in the country be removed. So what more can be done? I believe that it's very important to point out to European businesses that they should not mix with anything in the business of Myanmar which touches the interests and adds to the interests of the army, the Tatmadaw. And finally, I want to say that we need to find support for the refugees fleeing the country. We especially need to expect that there will be no forced returns to Thailand, China and India as neighbouring countries.

Madam President, the report is very timely, and it has a wealth of recommendations. Starting from our own institutions, we need to be much more aware that some MEPs have become channels of undue foreign influence. Those travelling to authoritarian countries to observe fake elections should be sanctioned much more severely than is now the case, and the so-called friendship groups should be made much more transparent and accountable. The report also names and shames a number of members of political elites who have been captures in the service of authoritarian regimes, including two former Finnish Prime Ministers, Paavo Lipponen and Esko Aho, who have both long worked to advance Putin’s political and economic interests in Europe. In hindsight, the warfare by Russia against Ukraine is a logical continuation of information warfare. We admire the courageous Ukrainian resistance but, at the same time, in Russia a distorted version of reality prevails. Seventeen Russian—speaking writers, among them Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich, have started an appeal to all Russian language speakers in the world to use all possible means of communication to contact directly their acquaintances and friends living in Russia, telling them the truth about the war and about the tragic shelling of civilians. Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov stressed in a hearing last week in this Parliament that there is another Russia to the one represented by Putin and his cronies. We must inspire the whole of society to combat the lies and disinformation.

The next item is the report by Sophia in 't Veld, on behalf of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, on the proposals to the Commission on investor citizenship and residence schemes (A9-0028/2022) (2021/2026(INL)). Members are reminded that during this part-session there will be no catch-the-eye debates and no blue card questions will be accepted. I would also like to point out that, as in recent part-sessions, it is possible to speak remotely from the Liaison Offices of the Member States. I would also like to remind you that interventions in the Chamber will continue to be made from the rostrum in the centre of the Chamber. I therefore urge you to follow the list of speakers and move close to the podium when your speaking time is about to start.

Thank you, colleague. I also thank you for speaking so slowly and clearly so that the interpreters will get the message across to even the Finnish language and English language and all the languages.

This is not personal, but there are a number of languages involved, not just English and your language. So please wait a little bit, we will fix the problem, and we will not steal any speaking time from you.