Speeches

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. There is a saying in my country, Poland: ‘To be wise only after harm.’ In the case of Ukraine, the European Union was not wise before the damage. She was stupid. In the case of many European politicians, she was simply corrupted by dirty Russian money. This is the only way to explain the actions of many countries of the European Union, which in recent years, instead of becoming independent from Russian oil and gas supplies, have become increasingly dependent. This is the only way to explain the actions of many European countries, which, after the introduction of the arms embargo on Russia in 2014, bypassed this embargo, while refusing to supply arms to Ukraine. Why am I talking about Ukraine during the Moldova debate? Because Moldova may be another target of this madman Putin. And I hope that in the case of Moldova, the European Union will be wise before harm. I thank the Commissioner for his work in providing humanitarian aid to Moldovans, but we need more. We need a special fund for refugees in countries like Moldova, in their country, in Hungary or in my country, Poland – comparable to what the European Union has allocated to Turkey, that is, nine billion euros. We need to grant Moldova the status of candidate country for the European Union. Finally, we need military assistance, which, fortunately, Charles Michel is now announcing during his stay in the Moldovan capital this week. I hope we'll all be wise before harm this time.

Madam President, Cambodia, as the current chair of ASEAN, has recently called on the leaders of Myanmar’s military junta to let a special Southeast Asian envoy meet with ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an effort to promote peace in the region. Against this background, I’m wondering why the Cambodian Prime Minister is not applying the same logic of fairness to his own country’s political situation. Indeed, under the false pretext of shielding the population from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cambodian Government has been drastically limiting civil society and human rights, from harassing political opposition and criminalising free speech to forbidding peaceful assembly throughout the country. In this context, I call on the Cambodian authorities to take action to restore political freedoms in the country and to work towards strengthening democracy and the respect of fundamental freedoms.

Mr President, thank you very much. At the same time, during Russia’s current bestial attack on Ukraine, the Kremlin has stepped up its hybrid warfare tactics, including a large-scale disinformation campaign. This once again proves how important digital technology has become. No one can doubt that the current Russian regime, seeking to change its borders and take away the sovereignty of other countries, is threatening stability and security not only in neighbouring countries, but on the entire continent. The European Union can no longer turn a blind eye to this threat. That is why I would also like to express my disappointment at the absence of the French Presidency in such an important debate. Shouldn't we have tried after the presidential election? And right now, we do not need more calls to Putin, but decisive action to increase the ability to prevent hybrid threats coming from Russia in areas such as state terrorism, cyberattacks or energy security. Further steps are also needed to strengthen cooperation between the European Union and NATO in the fight against indiscriminate attacks by hacker groups. I believe that together with our allies we will be able to resist Putin's totalitarian tendencies.

Madam President, I welcome the Commission’s announcement to put forward, later this year, a legislative proposal under the European Green Deal on the right to repair. It is an important matter, as repairing broken or damaged products can save consumers money by helping them to postpone making replacement purchases, while bringing benefits to the environment. Today, we are asking for effective options for everyone who wants to repair electronics and other devices. In the resolution, we asked for lowering technical, legal, and economic barriers that make it difficult for consumers to repair their own goods. I also believe it should go together with the importance of a sound business environment. That is why my Group has put forward several amendments at the committee and plenary level. We strongly believe in the business balance, respect for trade secrets and safeguards such as impact assessments. Indeed, we should avoid any disproportionate costs on manufacturers and distributors. We also suggested to improve the single market, especially for services, by removing cross-border barriers for providing repairs. This was regretfully not included in the final text of the resolution. By removing unjustified cross-border barriers for repairs, we would indeed deliver measurable results for citizens, such as more available repair services and more competition. It would eventually bring affordable and better-quality repairs. I strongly believe that we should refrain from considering any measure that could impose disproportionate costs. We should keep as one of our core values the protection of manufacturers, distributors, citizens and consumers across the single market. I hope the Commission will take this into account when proposing the new legislative proposal on the right to repair.

Madam President, since the military coup in February 2021, the Myanmar military has committed serious crimes and has violated a range of human rights by murdering civilians, arbitrarily detaining prisoners, forcing displacements of thousands of people and oppressing ethnic and religious minorities. With over 14 million people in humanitarian need, the targeting of civilians and humanitarian actors is unthinkable. Yet it is happening in Myanmar. It is a blatant violation of international law. So today we urge Myanmar military authorities to immediately reinstate the civilian government, allowing a swift return of Myanmar to the path of democracy and to release immediately and unconditionally all political prisoners. I welcome the recent round of sanctions adopted by the Council against people and entities involved in the coup. This is an important EU instrument to sanction violators of human rights. But we should intensify our help by all possible means. The international community must relentlessly continue to take additional actions to help Myanmar citizens fighting for democracy. Fundamental rights should never be compromised.

Madam President, the regulation modernises the EU’s regulatory framework for batteries and aims, among other things, at strengthening the internal market, while reducing the environmental impact of batteries. Although I support the original intentions of this regulation, I believe the final position of the European Parliament is too ambitious and may prove not to be realistic. Without the right balance, it could hinder innovation and eventually increase battery prices. This is especially important as, by 2030, at least 30 million zero—emission electric vehicles are expected to be on EU roads. Too high environmental and social standards, combined with shorter deadlines, risk hindering customers choice to switch to zero—emission vehicles. Consequently, new, greener and more ethical batteries would ultimately, and paradoxically, not become an effective tool to combat climate change. We need to use the leverage of the internal market to establish an EU world—leading competitive cell battery industry and reduce our dependency on other parts of the world. I fear that this legislation, as it stands, could weaken the desired result. Despite my reluctance regarding some proposals in the final text, I nevertheless welcome the fact that the issues and risks related to the manufacturing of batteries are addressed in the regulation, including child labour and other human rights violations.

Mr President, thank you very much. The European Union's efforts to deepen the fundamental freedoms of the Single Market, which will increase Europe's sovereignty and competitiveness, especially now that we have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, should be a priority for us. I am therefore all the more pleased that this report, initiated by my political group of European Conservatives and Reformists, has been drawn up. The report takes into account a number of extremely important problems that we have to face in the European market. Barriers, which are particularly present in the services sector, hamper the potential of European companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises operating in a cross-border environment. The report focuses on practical solutions, calls for more digitalisation and streamlined procedures. It is crucial to move towards greater harmonisation without increasing the regulatory burden on businesses. I congratulate the author of this report, Mr Kosma Złotowski. I hope that his report will guide the European Commission in making better use of the freedoms of the single market and in implementing pragmatic solutions to the problems raised by businesses.

Mr President, the Digital Services Act is a key legislation of this term, changing the functioning of the digital market across the entire European Union. First of all I would like to thank the rapporteur, Ms Schaldemose, for her hard work done on this important file during the last few months. I would also like to express my support for the horizontal character of the text that we managed to maintain. My group was focused on preserving a robust and open digital economy in Europe that proved its importance to citizens and businesses during the COVID pandemic. This would not be possible without maintaining the key elements of the e—Commerce Directive, like the limited liability regime. In my capacity as the shadow rapporteur in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, I mainly focus on strengthening the freedom-of-speech safeguards, on protecting users’ freedoms in the online world, and on removing the incentives that could cause hasty removal of content by platforms, which could consequently introduce soft internet censorship. Indeed, the European Conservatives and Reformists support an open internet where users can move around freely, have content at their disposal and where their freedoms are respected. Consequently, we closed loopholes in the text which would have encouraged the excessive removal of content, just in case there was a suspicion of its illegality. There was also a need to define when platforms should step in to tackle illegal content. There must be clarity so that users are preserved from the unilateral restriction of their freedom of expression. In this context, it is worth pointing out that we have succeeded in introducing some provisions to challenge platform discussions on content moderation. Thanks to my Group’s negotiations, the new tool will provide additional protection for users in the event of arbitrary decisions by websites. In addition to the platform’s internal complaints-handling system, users will be able to quickly and easily seek redress through the courts in their country of residence. It means that internet users will eventually gain access to robust tools, strengthening their position. However, despite a very good final text, I still believe it requires further improvements, especially regarding the introduction of social media definition, which has been included in my plenary amendments. Member States cannot remain idle and inclusively rely on limited administrative capabilities, while very large social media platforms alter public discourse and arbitrarily influence the debate or are used for disinformation. I hope that during the trilogues with the Council and the Commission, together with Members from other political groups, we will continue the dialogue and achieve a better digital environment for European citizens. We shall also remember that the digital market not only represents threats, but also great opportunities.

Madam President, I'm sorry. During the huge border crisis between the European Union and Belarus, for which Putin is certainly also co-responsible, Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, the most since the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan, while intensifying the tactics of hybrid warfare and desinformation campaign. Therefore, fears of a potential second invasion of Ukraine seem more than justified. No one can doubt that the current Russian regime is threatening peace and security across Europe, once again seeking to change borders and take away sovereignty from other countries. In this context, we can see how wrong it was for some European countries, with Germany at the forefront, to adopt a policy of apeasment and allowing Putin to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, significantly increasing Europe's dependence on Russian gas. I believe that Russia's demands for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic future and its energy blackmail against the European Union and its partner countries are unacceptable. Ukraine cannot be treated as a bargaining chip in Putin's political game. I therefore call for consideration to be given to significantly tightening sanctions, including the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT system, which has already been proposed here.

Mr President, Mr High Representative, Daniel Ortega now rules Nicaragua as an autocrat without a democratic mandate. Indeed, Mr Ortega eliminated all credible electoral competition by blocking political parties from participating in the elections, and used systematic arbitrary incarceration, harassment and intimidation. I deplore the fact that the Nicaraguan Government deprived its people of their civil and political rights and freedom of expression, and did not respect its commitments to human rights. I strongly condemn the undemocratic election process in Nicaragua that violated all international democratic standards. That is why we call today for the immediate release of all detained political prisoners. In parallel, the EU institutions and all Member States should work with like—minded countries and organisations to assess possible further steps, including sanctions. We should also maintain our support for the democratic aspirations of the citizens of Nicaragua.

Madam President, Commissioners, first of all, I would like to thank the Rapporteur, Mr Schwab, for all his work. I would also like to express my support for Mr Schwab’s approach towards developing a position that takes account of the views across Parliament. My group supports the general objective behind the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Commission’s original intent to tackle a limited number of behaviours and practices as a priority. We support moving the DMA forward into trilogues, but caution that some additional ideas will require a deeper consideration and revision, in order to avoid there being penalties on the very companies we want the DMA to help. This is the case of targeted advertising, where my group is cautious about revising advertising rules, particularly as small businesses find it crucial to be able to easily and cost-effectively reach their audience. Additionally, I believe the outcome of the trilogues should avoid any unintended consequences for smaller companies, given that this proposal is intended to reinforce their continuing and improved competitiveness in the European digital market. Indeed, the DMA must lead to improvements for businesses across Europe and not just a few companies who have a bone to pick with the digital giants. I am also focused on making sure that the DMA can be implemented. In this regard. I am happy to see the ECR’s approach to a true regulatory dialogue process maintained, and national experts involved in managing the DMA roll-out. I believe this will be crucial to creating a DMA that delivers for all.

Madam President, the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, seasonal floods, plant disputes and the gradual withdrawal of the African Union mission, increased insecurity and instability across Somalia. Among the direct consequences, the humanitarian situation, and especially food security, has been deteriorating even further throughout Somalia. There are now close to six million people in need of humanitarian assistance. In addition to this, the terrorist group, al-Shabab has stepped up attacks, ambushes, suicide bombings, and targeted assassinations of government officials. I deeply regret al-Shabab’s attacks, which deliberately disrupt the electoral process in Somalia. We cannot remain neither idle nor indifferent to this deteriorating situation. The EU and the other relevant external action bodies must urgently address humanitarian access constraints in the country, as well as support the strengthening of Somalia’s democracy. We should intensify our help by all possible means.

Mr President, thank you very much. The 2009 Motor Insurance Directive is an effective instrument to protect road users and the harmonisation of minimum standards for the protection of victims in cross-border traffic allows Europeans to travel within the Union without having to have additional insurance. I support the revision and clarification of this Directive, as it addresses important consumer protection issues that have arisen since 2009 and includes segways, scooters and e-bikes among others. First of all, I welcome greater transparency, the strengthening of the rights of our citizens in the event of an accident regardless of the Member State, and the streamlining of procedures to compensate injured parties in a timely manner. This is a key step forward, as with the new harmonised claims history statement, the new directive will make it easier to switch insurers both at home and across the European Union. It will also increase competition in Europe and consumer choice by tackling discrimination based on nationality or previous residence.

Mr President, I welcome the EU decision to reiterate its commitment to the Western Balkans getting closer to our Union during the recent summit in Slovenia. However, I deplore that the summit did not bring any breakthrough or concrete next steps in that sense. I believe we should accelerate the enlargement process. This is crucial as a loss of credibility of the EU in the Western Balkans threatens to increase foreign influence in Europe, notably given Russia’s and China’s interests in the region. I fear the lack of a decision to open negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania can accelerate this process of growing external influence. In a world of fragile and changing alliances, this enlargement could be a further guarantee of proper development, stability and peace on our continent.

Madam President, 10 years after the Arab Spring, Tunisia continues to face serious political security and economic challenges. The country is greatly affected by political instability and the health crisis. With the decision to suspend the assembly and the constitution, President Saied has struck an even stronger blow on Tunisian democracy and now holds almost all executive, legislative and judicial powers. In this growing unrest, which could lead to violent civil confrontations, we call today on Tunisian President Kais Saied to enter into a peaceful dialogue with the country’s major political parties and civil society representatives to find a way out of the political crisis in the country. In parallel, the EU institutions and the Member States should maintain their support for the democratic aspirations of the Tunisian people.

Mr President, since 2013 the European Union has, politically and financially, supported Myanmar’s process towards democratic transition. Regrettably, since February’s coup, the situation has been extremely aggravating. Murders, arbitrary detentions, forced displacements and the use of collective punishment, the violation of freedom of religion and the increased oppression of Christians are but a few examples of the abrupt deterioration of the political climate in the country. We cannot remain idle. This is why I am calling on the Council to keep imposing targeted and robust sanctions, while ensuring that these do not harm the people of Myanmar. The international community must relentlessly condemn countries backing the junta militarily and economically and must continue to take additional action to help Myanmar citizens fighting for democracy.

Madam President, the global phenomenon and challenge of online disinformation gained visibility over the recent years. The 2016 US presidential elections, Brexit and Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine are only examples of this growing trend. New serious cases of foreign interference and disinformation are being revealed every month. For instance, there is now the migration crisis from Belarus, which aims at weakening our community of democratic countries, and especially Poland and the Baltic states. Indeed, Lukashenko’s regime is instrumentally using human rights issues in the context of the migration crisis on the border to defame Poland and other Member States. All these events highlight the crucial role that online platforms play in spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation. I believe this issue is especially relevant today as we are legislating on the Digital Services Act. Against these growing threats the DSA should be designed to improve content moderation on social media platforms and to stop illegal content and disinformation from spreading. At the same time, we need to protect citizens’ freedom of speech and different views which fuel our democratic debate. As the shadow rapporteur of this legislation, I believe we should find the right balance between freedom of speech and fighting disinformation, while preventing over-removal of content online.

Madam President, the United Arab Emirates is a key partner and ally of the European Union in the Arabian Gulf. That is why we are deeply concerned about the persecution of human rights defenders in this country. I deplore the reports that Ahmed Mansoor has been subjected to forms of torture or ill treatment while in detention. Indeed, prolonged and indefinite solitary confinement can be defined as such. I call on the United Arab Emirates’ authorities to live up to their international obligations, and urge the removal of Mr Mansoor from solitary confinement. Fundamental rights, such as freedom of speech and expression, but also a fair trial, should always be respected. Finally, while maintaining high—level political dialogue, the EU – and especially the High Representative – should continue actively raising human rights concerns with the United Arab Emirates.

Mr President, the COVID—19 pandemic has unveiled new and unexpected threats to public health, but also highlighted and exacerbated existing weaknesses in the healthcare system of many Member States as well as beyond EU borders. It has demonstrated how a public health problem can affect the proper functioning of all European sectors and has shown that efforts to combat health emergencies require better coordination at EU level. Looking at this from an internal market perspective, the regulation on serious cross—border threats to health issues raises three important issues: supply chains, procurement and data sharing. Mainly, the pandemic has exposed the limited diversity of suppliers and over—reliance on a few particular supply chains. Such vulnerabilities need to be addressed by encouraging broader participation of small and medium—sized enterprises in joint procurement procedures. The EU should pay particular attention to providing technical assistance and reducing administrative burdens, to boost SMEs’ engagements in the process. Last but not least, the new regulation should ensure that data sets are equally accessible and usable across the EU for better coordination. I do hope that the proposed solution will contribute to the improvement of operational coordination in the EU. In this regard, I support the creation of the Health Emergency Response and Preparedness Authority.