What Sophie spoke about.

The next item on the agenda is the debate on a Commission statement on protecting the EU budget and ensuring that EU funds do not benefit entities or individuals linked to terrorist or Islamist movements (2024/2855(RSP)).

Mr President, Commissioner, the Commission's annual report on the rule of law is valuable in ensuring that European values are respected. Since its creation, it has already evolved a lot, in particular by incorporating recommendations specific to each Member State, but this does not mean that respect for the rule of law in Europe is acquired, unfortunately. This sad observation, I agree, must push us to do better. So how can we do that? In a thousand ways, but I will mention here only a few tracks. The first: by extending the scope of the report to all the values mentioned in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union – I am thinking, for example, of equality between women and men. The second: strengthening the follow-up of recommendations, based on specific indicators and with clearly defined deadlines. The third: systematically linking the implementation of recommendations to access to EU funds, making the tool more credible and certainly more effective. And finally the fourth: enhancing inter-institutional cooperation, which is a matter of coherence and complementarity. Parliament has always advocated this, and it is time for this appeal to be heard.

Madam President, Prime Minister, Commissioner, what is the rule of law? In simple terms, is the principle that law constrains authority, therefore protecting our rights and civil liberties from any kind of abuses of power. Rule of law is obviously not your cup of tea, Prime Minister, just take a look at the rule of law annual report. And let's not also forget, when I was sitting next to you at the Council in 2020, that you blocked at length the introduction of the conditionality regulation to protect the EU budget. It also not the forte of the Hungarian Presidency, as you demonstrated by the space dedicated to the rule of law in your programme – one paragraph out of 44 pages. And this space is used to complain that the toolbox does not allow checks on the EU institutions themselves, perhaps trying to cast suspicions elsewhere to divert attention from your own track records. Rule of law is indeed not your forte, but a value that your government consciously and repeatedly undermines to gain more power. No later than yesterday, we at Renew met Hungarian academics and media professionals – not yours, the independent ones. Their testimonies were appalling and very courageous, as many of them live now under extreme pressure, to say the least. So, as Renew, and with the help of other democrats in the assembly and beyond, we will keep working on what your presidency and government tries to avoid. We will keep working to make sure that the rule of law toolbox is more coherent, more efficient and more binding. We will keep working on them to make sure that your government, and any other one who wishes to follow your lead in Europe, will be held really accountable for the action. We will keep working because we know that, unfortunately, your presidency legacy will be summed up by your attempts to put migrants in special convoys to Brussels and a handshake with President Putin.

Madam President, Commissioner, this debate is based on very concrete situations, such as that of Audi Forest, where at least 3 000 jobs are threatened, not to mention all indirect jobs. If each company has its own contingencies, this is a demonstration that we must find solutions to protect both competitiveness and employment in this sector. Because behind the jobs, there are families; behind these families there are plans for life; and behind these jobs, there is also purchasing power, which remains, we must not forget, one of the first concerns of our fellow citizens. The cost of cars produced in Europe is on average 30% higher, as you said. Since the trend is towards electrification of the car fleet and additional tariffs will be imposed on some electric vehicles, it is imperative not only to have a plan, indeed, but to go fast to ensure sufficient production of electric cars at an affordable price. This is a fundamental principle for all our citizens. We therefore expect an integrated strategy and a clear timetable to move in that direction.