What Barbara spoke about.

17

Jun

2026

Speeches NL

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Electrification Action Plan (debate)

Mr President, this Commission seems to be continuing to pursue a single path: electrification of everything. However, this one-sided focus is not without risks. Firstly, not everyone wants and can drive an electric car, for example. Let people have a choice in that. Moreover, not everything can be electrified. In sectors such as aviation, heavy goods transport, shipping or agriculture, alternatives will in any case remain necessary. Purchasing alleged carbon shipments with modern indulgences, such as the ETS system, does not make energy cleaner, but it does make it much more expensive. That is why it is important that we in Europe maintain technological neutrality. We must not rule out solutions in advance. Nuclear energy, biofuels, e‑ fuels, hydrogen, solar and wind energy, geothermal energy and also fossil fuels should all be part of the energy mix. And that mix should not be imposed here, but should be and remain a choice of the Member States. Our priority should always be: affordable and reliable energy.

21

May

2026

Speeches EN

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Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban's adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts (RC-B10-0247/2026, B10-0246/2026, B10-0247/2026, B10-0249/2026, B10-0251/2026, B10-0252/2026, B10-0254/2026, B10-0255/2026, B10-0258/2026) (vote)

Mr President, recent reports have highlighted that the Taliban's new regulations also effectively legitimise child marriage, treating virgin girls, sometimes infants as young as 20 days old, as sellable property. An explicit reference to child marriages in this resolution is therefore necessary to reflect the gravity of these abuses. I would therefore like to table an oral amendment to paragraph two. After the words 'gender apartheid', I propose to add the words 'and child marriages. So, in full, paragraph two: 'Declares that the Taliban regime has institutionalised slavery, gender apartheid, and child marriage; calls on the Council and the Commission to call this out in all diplomatic engagements and to support their recognition as crimes against humanity in the proposed Crimes Against Humanity Treaty'. I trust, colleagues, that you will support this oral amendment.

19

May

2026

Speeches NL

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Presentation of the Fertilisers Action Plan (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the fertiliser crisis is a crisis that Europe has for the most part created itself. Today, our farmers are confronted with skyrocketing fertilizer prices, insecure supplies and an increasingly difficult European fertilizer industry. This is of course due to an excess of climate rules, skyrocketing energy costs and geopolitical shocks that have never been adequately absorbed. And what is the Commission doing now? Propose an action plan with many fine words and many fine promises, but unfortunately I see zero point zero structural, concrete measures. For me, this is a missed opportunity. Too little, too late. Commissioner, there is a need for real decisive action. Stop making it impossible for our fertilizer producers by bullying them with climate rules. Give farmers more room for the use of animal manure and therefore immediately and without delay review the highly outdated nitrates directive. Our farmers are begging for it. It's five past twelve. Farmers are begging for help. Help them.

30

Apr

2026

Speeches NL

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How to secure a sustainable future for the EU livestock sector in light of the need to ensure food security, farmers’ resilience and the challenges posed by animal diseases? (debate)

Mr President, we are talking here about the future of livestock farming. And that's necessary. Because, let's be honest, today the EU is undermining its own livestock farmers. More and more absurd, unworkable rules due to, among other things, the Green Deal, rising costs and also, to top it all off, a Mercosur agreement, which will be implemented from tomorrow, 1 May, without the consent of this Parliament. This opens the door to imports of products that do not meet our standards, while our farmers have to meet increasingly strict requirements. And then we talk about a future for the sector. Food security starts with production on our own soil. If we really choose quality and high standards, we keep that production here. We don't outsource it. And we must also act wisely in the case of animal diseases: focus on prevention, vaccination and control and not on the eradication of the entire herd. Strong livestock farming requires fair competition, a workable framework and, above all, trust in our livestock farmers.

29

Apr

2026

Speeches NL

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EU strategy in response to the ongoing Middle East crisis, its implications on energy prices and the availability of fertilizers (joint debate)

11

Mar

2026

Speeches NL

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Building Europe's clean, independent and secure energy following the 2026 North Sea Summit (debate)

12

Feb

2026

Speeches NL

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Recommendation to the Council on EU priorities for the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (debate)

20

Jan

2026

Speeches NL

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Brutal repression against protesters in Iran (debate)

Mr President, what is currently happening in Iran leaves no room for diplomatic detours. We see atrocities and systematic terror by the Islamic ayatollah regime against its own population. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is responsible for mass arrests, horrific torture and deadly violence against many thousands of people. It is the regime's instrument of terror and has tentacles reaching into Europe. Nevertheless, the European Union is still reluctant to place this organisation on the European terror list. This is incomprehensible. As long as we do not do this, we will continue to have its networks and funding in Europe. Legal or diplomatic objections can no longer be an excuse for this. Europe needs to make a clear statement: not symbolic politics and empty statements, but decisiveness. Only in this way can we truly help the Iranian people.

16

Dec

2025

Speeches NL

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European Citizens’ Initiative ‘My voice, my choice: for safe and accessible abortion’ (debate)

27

Nov

2025

Speeches NL

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Outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference - Belém (COP30) (debate)

Mr President, the UN climate conference is more dead than alive and that is a good thing. It has only harmed Europe. Thirty years of summits, statements and expensive delegations have led to a destructive platform – a platform where Europe is sacrificing itself while the rest of the world is just laughing at our naivety. Yet the majority of Parliament continues to defend this climate circus as if it were sacred, while everyone sees what is happening. Our companies and our industry are leaving. Citizens are becoming poorer and our energy prices are swinging through the outdated and outdated Green Deal. Europe accounts for only 6% of global CO2 emissions, but we act as if we can save the planet on our own, when in reality we are only harming ourselves. This policy is unworkable, ineffective and completely unrelated to reality. The only rational choice is clear: Stop risking our prosperity, stop the Green Deal.

25

Nov

2025

Speeches NL

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Effective use of the EU trade and industrial policy to tackle China’s export restrictions (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, China's export restrictions on rare earth materials reveal a painful truth. Europe is vulnerable and by sticking to dogmatic climate policies and green symbolic politics for years, we have ensured that we have become completely dependent on China. Beijing knows this and is now using this dependence as a political tool of power, threatening to bleed our industry even further to death. The Commission is now full of teeth. Yes, we see a lot of plans, a lot of strategies, but all too slow and all too late. Prices have risen up to six times, production lines are at risk of shutting down, and even defence programs are at risk. Europe simply no longer has time. We therefore need quick decisions. First and foremost: take immediate steps towards own mining and refining, enter into binding partnerships with reliable countries and build up strategic stocks that are built up within months and not years. Europe must not delay, Europe must act now.

8

Oct

2025

Speeches NL

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Europe’s automotive future – reversing the ban on the sale of combustion cars in the EU (topical debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Commission is rapidly turning our economy into a planned economy. The sale of cars with internal combustion engines will soon be banned, a technology in which Europe has always been a pioneer and which has brought mobility and prosperity to millions of people. They want to artificially increase the demand for electric cars, against the will of the motorist. Why doesn't the driver want these cars? Because they are too expensive, because the network is not ready and the charging infrastructure is inadequate. Ideological images are sold that are not feasible in practice. Production and jobs are disappearing to countries outside the EU, while the bill is being passed on to our families and businesses. My call is clear: Let the free market do its job and stop the ban on diesel and gasoline cars. Planned economies have never worked, on the contrary. Let different technologies compete with each other and give the consumer back his freedom, because only free choice brings real progress.

7

Oct

2025

Speeches NL

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Common agricultural policy (joint debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission wants us to believe that there will now be a simplification of agricultural policy. In reality, it is only a cosmetic intervention, because in practice our farmers remain entangled in a web of rules, sanctions and performance reports, imposed by people who have rarely, if ever, seen a field or a stable up close. Farmers now have to submit full performance accounts every year as if they were no longer trusted. And as if that were not enough, the European Commission is now opening the door to foreign competition through the Mercosur agreement. Our farmers do not deserve this mistrust. They must once again be given the freedom to do what they are good at: producing, caring for, managing. Less time on paperwork, more time on the field. We want an agricultural policy that rewards entrepreneurship, enables innovation and guarantees Europe's food security. Let the farmer finally be a farmer again.

10

Sep

2025

Speeches NL

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After 10 years, time to end mass migration now - protect our women and children (topical debate)

Mr. President, Lisa was 17 years old. She was brutally murdered by an asylum seeker. Not by chance, not by bad street lights, not by toxic masculinity, but because of something our media and left-wing politicians are terribly silent about: The policy of open borders. The truth is simple: Mass migration makes our society unsafe. How many more Lisas to follow? How many women? How many daughters? I really don't care that asylum seekers feel unsafe in their countries when our women feel unsafe in our countries. It's time to choose: mass migration or remigration. If we women want to feel safe again, there is only one answer: remigration.

10

Jul

2025

Speeches NL

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Post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the common agricultural policy must put the farmer first, not the bureaucracy. Our farmers demand less dogmatic rules, less unnecessary paperwork and more trust. Let our farmers focus on their core task: provide us with the best products of the highest quality. We call for real support for innovation. Techniques such as renure and especially new genomic techniques, the so-called NGTs, must be fully developed and applied, because they make agriculture more sustainable and efficient. Fair competition is also essential. Products from outside the EU must meet the same standards as those of our farmers. Reciprocity in trade policy is essential. Nor should plant protection products simply be banned without viable and affordable alternatives, because that is unworkable and unfair. Finally, the Green Deal must go. Green ideology must not undermine our agriculture. Farmers deserve legal certainty and a fair future perspective.

7

Jul

2025

Speeches NL

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Resumption of the sitting

Mr President, I am basing myself on Rule 25 of the Rules of Procedure. On March 1st, a disaster was narrowly avoided in my home city of Ghent in Flanders. Not by accident, but by climate activists engaged in life-threatening sabotage: servers destroyed, cables cut and the risk of explosion at ArcelorMittal, among others. According to a report by the Belgian government, there is far-reaching radicalisation in the climate movement that considers the destruction of pipelines as legitimate action tactics. This is no longer activism. This is climate terrorism. When critical infrastructure in Europe is targeted by terrorists, all alarm bells must ring. Meanwhile, the EU continues to subsidise NGOs that support these movements. My call is simple: Stop subsidizing climate extremists and stop giving a forum to such sujetten in this parliament!

17

Jun

2025

Speeches NL

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Latest developments on the revision of the air passenger rights and airline liability regulations (debate)

Mr President, please propose: Your flight is delayed. You have to wait for hours at the airport. You will no longer be able to catch your connecting flight and all your plans will fall apart. Normally, you can then apply for compensation if your flight is delayed by more than three hours. Now, after twelve years, a proposal is on the table that aims to significantly reduce the right to compensation by increasing the minimum time to four hours. Essential consumer rights are at risk of being undermined under the guise of simplification, and passengers are now in reality going to be given much less protection. Moreover, the current procedure for applying for compensation is also very complicated, so that as many as two out of three travellers who are entitled to compensation do not actually receive it. Instead of defending the rights of citizens, the EU seems to have listened mainly to the wishes of the airlines. The rights of the traveller must be protected, not eroded, because every affected passenger must be given what he or she is entitled to.

7

May

2025

Speeches NL

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High levels of retail food prices and their consequences for European consumers (debate)

Mr President, food prices remain a major concern for many families. A shopping cart is becoming more and more expensive and while multinationals are making record profits, the ordinary citizen is paying for the costs. This is not a coincidence, but the direct result of political failure. The obsolete Green Deal and the compulsive climate rules have squeezed out our farmers. Production costs have skyrocketed, food is becoming scarcer and our farmers are dropping out. And at the same time, the EU allows cheap imports, often produced under conditions that are prohibited here. That is pure unfair competition and a globalist dumping model that is destroying our own market. That is why we urgently need to put an end to this outdated system. The Green Deal must disappear. These ideological and outdated climate rules must be removed. We choose common sense, for our farmers and for affordable food for our people.

5

May

2025

Speeches NL

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Preparation of the EU-UK summit (debate)

2

Apr

2025

Speeches NL

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Energy-intensive industries (debate)

Mr President, our industry is on the brink of collapse. The disastrous Green Deal is pushing companies towards closure or relocation abroad. Companies are struggling with skyrocketing energy prices, a speculative CO2market and a carbon border adjustment mechanism that, in its current form, penalises rather than protects. Take, for example, the pharmaceutical sector in Flanders: a global player, but heavily dependent on stable and affordable energy. We cannot allow this production to be moved outside the European Union, purely for the sake of climate dogmas, and to become dependent on others. That is why I am calling for a stable, predictable industrial policy. This includes: revision or abolition of the overdue Green Deal, deregulation and simplification, and recognition of natural gas as an essential part of the energy mix. After all, some processes simply cannot do without them at the moment. Let us not forget that without a strong industry there can be no prosperity.

1

Apr

2025

Speeches NL

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EU Preparedness Union Strategy (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we have all undoubtedly seen the video in which Commissioner Lahbib presented her preparedness strategy a few days ago. Of the threats that have kept citizens awake for years, the Commission seems to have no clue. Citizens are confronted every day with the negative consequences of mass migration, including increasing insecurity and social tensions. Attacks, gunshots and even grenade blasts have been a reality in many European cities for many years. But, according to the Commissioner, preparedness in Brussels means a handbag containing a deck of cards and a radio. The only thing missing is toilet paper. What a strangeness of the world! If I walk down the street as a woman in Brussels or take the metro there and I am attacked and intimidated for the umpteenth time, this is not going to help me. Mrs Lahbib, it is time that you stop looking away from reality and have an eye for the real problems.

13

Mar

2025

Speeches NL

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A Vision for Agriculture and Food (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the agricultural sector is the backbone of our society. Without agriculture we have no food and without food we cannot survive as humans. It is of the utmost importance that we in Europe provide our own food so that we do not run on the leash of other countries. You have rightly referred to this, Commissioner, but I have the impression that you are not fully aware of this. For example, the Green Deal continues to be persistently adhered to. This undermines the agricultural sector with unrealistic rules and costs, with all the consequences that this entails. Farmers stop, production drops and we lose control of our own food production. To top it all off, this European Union also wants to push through the Mercosur agreement, which threatens to completely destroy the sector and make us dependent on foreign production. That is why I ask three things to save the agricultural sector: Abolition of the Green Deal, no Mercosur agreement and more respect for the farmer and his work. Without farmers, there is no food and no future.

11

Mar

2025

Speeches NL

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Clean Industrial Deal (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, do you know the definition of madness? That is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result. It is exactly what the European Commission is now doing with the Clean Industrial Deal. It is no more than a little patchwork to deal with the disastrous consequences of the Green Deal. It's just more of the same. This plan is not going to save our industry, it's going to destroy it. Brussels claims that this deal should strengthen European industry. But at the same time, companies are obliged to expensive CO2-reductions, additional regulations and skyrocketing energy costs. The solution is not yet a European plan, but the abolition of the Green Deal. We must therefore focus on three things: firstly, affordable energy through nuclear energy, secondly, protecting our industry from unfair competition, and thirdly, less EU interference and less bureaucracy. This is the only way for industry to have a future in Europe.

13

Feb

2025

Speeches NL

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EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement (debate)

Mr President, the Mercosur agreement will strike our European farmers straight in the heart. After all that our farmers have already had to collect with the Green Deal, which was implemented under pressure from green NGOs subsidised by the Commission, this is yet another attack on everything farmers have built up over generations. The Green Deal has already forced farms to change their business model. Many farms have been forced to close their doors. This Mercosur agreement threatens to be the death blow for our farmers. Why should our market be flooded with cheap beef, poultry and dairy from South America, while we produce the best food in Europe that meets the highest standards? Why should the future of 9 million farms be put at risk? It is already clear that this agreement will disrupt the market. It will put further pressure on the prices farmers receive for their products. It will definitely wring the necks of the smaller farms. Stop this self-destruction. Stop this Mercosur agreement.

11

Feb

2025

Speeches NL

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US AI chip export restrictions: a challenge to European AI development and economic resilience (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, in the field of artificial intelligence, Europe is almost entirely dependent on foreign technology, which of course makes us very vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. Why have we become so dependent? One important reason is that companies in the United States and in Asia can set up new factories much faster, while in Europe the construction of chip factories is delayed by overregulation and bureaucracy. The European Commission announced today that it is investing EUR 200 billion in artificial intelligence. That is, of course, a lot of money, but if we do not put an end to the suffocating bureaucracy and overregulation, even with so much money it will never succeed. Let this latest tightening of U.S. export restrictions be an alarm bell for us. We need to be able to produce AI chips ourselves in Europe, especially in a world dominated by artificial intelligence in the coming years. Strategic independence in AI chips and semiconductors is therefore an absolute necessity.