What Michiel spoke about.

22 Jun

2022

NL Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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President, in 2012 the Rutte II cabinet took office in the Netherlands. There was surprise abroad, because how could a prime minister who made the election promise to respect European budgetary standards be re-elected? $16 billion has been cut and increased. The AOW age was increased faster, the mortgage interest deduction limited. Excise duties on fuel have resulted in the highest prices in the E…

22 Jun

2022

NL Speech

Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (debate)

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Mr President, NextGenerationEU, also known as the Corona Recovery Fund, is a homemade cigar for the Netherlands. The core of the fund is the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and since it was set up in response to the coronavirus crisis, it would be thought that this money would benefit healthcare, research and disease control. But what is included in the national recovery plans? France recei…

9 Jun

2022

EN Speech

The call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (debate)

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Mr President, this Parliament might be a federal fantasyland, but the world out there is not. According to some colleagues, we need to call for a convention so they can change the Treaties. But why? After the Conference on the Future of Europe, it was claimed that we needed to listen to the citizens. Well, in that respect, please let me give you some results on how the Dutch feel about the EU. Get…

6 Jun

2022

NL Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, we have been warning about the loss of purchasing power for more than a year now. In the meantime, we have been overtaken by reality. And that is not only because of Putin and also not because of the disruption in supply chains. It is the reality of excessive public spending, a war on fossil fuels, regulatory pressure on companies and the printing of money by the European Central Ban…

18 May

2022

NL Speech

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Mr President, on 9 May the Conference on the Future of Europe concluded with a final event in Strasbourg. No expense was spared, children danced through Parliament. The presidents were very satisfied, as were the carefully selected citizens. We received roaring speeches from President Macron and of course Guy Verhofstadt, who expressed their European federalist dreams. Nothing new under the sun. H…

18 May

2022

NL Speech

Minimum level of taxation for multinational groups (debate)

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Mr President, we are in favour of fair taxation and, as far as possible, a level playing field. At the same time, we are also in favour of an internal market with sufficient competition. This also means tax competition. At a time when our citizens are hit hard by rising prices, additional burdens on companies are not the right answer, because who will pay extra business taxes? Employees, as eviden…

3 May

2022

EN Speech

The follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (debate)

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Madam President, I thank Mr Boeselager for his explanation on how to dare more democracy. Now we have conducted a poll in the Netherlands, an independent poll amongst 2 400 people. And we conducted the poll on the recommendations of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Only 23% were in favour of transnational lists. 63% of the Dutch people were against European taxes, and 55% are not in favour …

3 May

2022

EN Speech

The follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (debate)

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Madam President, as strong believers in democracy, we are always open to new initiatives to engage the citizens. The Conference on the Future of Europe was an interesting experiment; however, used to legitimise a predetermined outcome. The ideas on a digital platform barely used, the representatives of the national citizens panels, outspoken views in favour of EU integration. Eight hundred randoml…

2 May

2022

NL Speech

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Mr President, for the people at home, everything has been getting more expensive for quite some time. We have been warning about inflation for some time now. Brussels and Frankfurt said it was all good. When inflation continued to rise, it was said that this was only temporary; The prices would rise for a while, but this was nothing to be awake about. As inflation breaks one record after another, …

2 May

2022

NL Speech

Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

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Mr President, every five years the electorate does not warm up very much to the European elections. To change that, the Spitzenkandidaten system has been imposed on us since 2014, under which pan-European lead candidates pull through the EU and campaign. They debate with each other and chatter, but it does not come to a real connection with the citizen. The only interest there is comes from the in…

6 Apr

2022

EN Speech

Human rights situation in North Korea, including the persecution of religious minorities

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Mr President, in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, stories about its leaders are often told in epic biblical proportions. The ‘eternal president’ Kim Il Sung and his sons not only fulfil the role of political leader to the Korean people, but also of liberator, saviour, reformer, spiritual guide and even Saint Nicholas. This is the reason why religion is almost non—existent in North Korea …

4 Apr

2022

NL Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, the Conference on the Future of Europe was set up to involve citizens in the EU. Panels would allow citizens from each EU country to express their views on the EU. However, the selected citizens are guided from the outset by pre-appointed experts towards one possible outcome: More power for the EU. The outcome of the panels can therefore be guessed: there must be a new European const…

4 Apr

2022

NL Speech

Urgent need to adopt the minimum tax directive (debate)

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Mr President, today we are talking about the global minimum tax, the so-called ‘Pillar Two model rules’. A noble aspiration, but there are practical objections. When our citizens are hit hard by rising prices, an additional burden on businesses is not the right answer. Who will pay extra business taxes? According to a study by the IMF, employees are the main beneficiaries of corporate taxes. It ex…

23 Mar

2022

NL Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, the European Central Bank is increasingly in the political seat. Inflation breaks record after record, but the ECB seems obsessed with a politically biased agenda of ‘climate change risks’. Last week, ECB Executive Director Isabel Schnabel spoke about a new era of inflation: ‘climate inflation’, ‘fossil flatie’ and ‘green flatie’. Meanwhile, citizens are paying the price: groceries a…

23 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Pilot regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology (debate)

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Madam President, the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be a tremendous ally in the quest for a stronger capital markets union. The current regulatory framework is not sufficiently equipped to deal with the increasing digitalisation of the financial sector. Well-targeted derogations from existing legislation should allow our capital markets to take advantage of the opportunities offere…

9 Mar

2022

NL Speech

Fair and simple taxation supporting the recovery strategy (continuation of debate)

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Mr. President, James Madison, the father of the U.S. Constitution and later president, once said: ‘The power to tax people is essential to the existence of the national government.’ Indeed, ‘national government’. Paying taxes is a necessary evil. If you ever want to stand in a short line, stand in line with the people who feel they pay too little tax. But it is necessary to pay for public services…

9 Mar

2022

NL Speech

European Semester for economic policy coordination: annual sustainable growth survey 2022 – European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social aspects in the annual sustainable growth strategy survey 2022 (debate)

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Mr President, over the past two years we have faced unprecedented challenges. The pandemic left our economy unbalanced, leading to huge inflation. The future requires us to pursue sensible economic policies: reforms, sustainable public debt, and Member States complying with the commitments made. Although this is addressed in the European Semester, we lack a plan to address people's problems at hom…

7 Mar

2022

NL Speech

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Mr President, EU federalists are abusing the war in Ukraine, this terrible war, for their own agenda. They want to "reform" the EU as soon as possible, create a geopolitical European Commission and abolish the Member States' right of veto. But how has the Commission been doing in recent days? We saw an overambitious Borrell who thought he could deliver fighter jets, an impulsive Von der Leyen who …

17 Feb

2022

NL Speech

The death penalty in Iran

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Mr President, in view of the situation in Iran, the resolution condemning the death penalty in Iran is a sympathetic resolution that we support. Why, however, has the European Parliament decided to speak out on this issue? Indeed, yesterday, Parliament adopted a report on the implementation of the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, calling for the relaunch of the Joint Comprehens…

14 Feb

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President, I fear a collective laziness is creeping into this House. It is now almost two years since the European Parliament was subject to COVID restrictions. We understood the situation, however, we now see COVID on the decline, Member States getting rid of restrictions and many colleagues in national parliaments fully back to work. Not the European Parliament, where some colleagues even …

14 Feb

2022

NL Speech

European Central Bank – annual report 2021 (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, when we started the euro 20 years ago, it was promised that the euro would be a strong and reliable currency, guaranteed by a robust Stability and Growth Pact. This is no longer the case. The euro area has become a quarrel zone – the sparse North versus the spiny South. The European Central Bank, meanwhile, has the objective of price stability, but is increasingly operating political…

19 Jan

2022

EN Speech

Situation in Kazakhstan

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Mr President, Kazakhstan is a country on a geopolitical tightrope. The Russian Federation and China on the one hand, the West on the other. After the end of the Cold War, Kazakhstan inherited the world’s fourth-largest nuclear weapons arsenal. It denuclearised and is now mainly reliant on Russia for its security. On the other hand, the EU has grown to become Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner, a…

14 Dec

2021

EN Speech

Implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification scheme (debate)

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Mr President, as European Conservatives, we believe national sovereignty resides in the people. In that respect, we believe the natural resources of a country are the sovereign property of its people, and they are not for others to exploit. In the past, this has led to the disruption of the African continent through the rough diamond market. The trade in these conflict diamonds, or ‘blood diamonds…

13 Dec

2021

NL Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, we are between hammer and anvil. Inflation raises the prices of energy, food and houses. Savers don't get a penny of interest anymore. The European Commission and the European Central Bank tell us that inflation is temporary. But what is the uncomfortable truth? The EU is totally stuck. Governments, and the European Commission in particular, are spending money like water. With the Ne…

13 Dec

2021

NL Speech

Equality between women and men in the European Union in 2018-2020 (debate)

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Mr President, the pay gap exists, let that be clear. The unadjusted pay gap arises, among other things, because women work more part-time, have sector-specific interests and because men work more overtime. After this correction, a small percentage remains for which we have no explanation. Possibly discrimination. We condemn discrimination in all its forms, including on grounds of sex. And we are n…