What Barbara spoke about.

11

Feb

2025

NL Speech

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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 delay…

22

Jan

2025

NL Speech

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Failure of the negotiations in Busan for a UN plastic treaty and the urgent need to tackle plastic pollution at international and Union level (debate)

Mr President, this is why the EU is known all over the world: a plastic bottle with a fastened cap. While other countries are investing their time in innovative space, artificial intelligence and the development of semiconductors, this is what the EU is working on. It is the only guarantee the EU can offer: Regulate everything to the smallest detail. As always, the EU wants to be the moral leader …

20

Jan

2025

NL Speech

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Powering Europe’s future - advancing the fusion industry for energy independence and innovation (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, overregulation and green-left dogmas are making many European Member States vulnerable in their energy supply today. That is why Europe must today dare to opt for an independent and sustainable energy infrastructure, an infrastructure based on innovation in nuclear energy and on the accelerated development of nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is a pro…

18

Dec

2024

NL Speech

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Challenges facing EU farmers and agricultural workers: improving working conditions, including their mental well-being (debate)

Mr President, the Green Deal policy has destroyed our European agricultural sector and the Mercosur agreement will take our farmers completely to the edge of the abyss. For many years, the European Union has advocated a sustainable agricultural model. Farmers had to be squeezed under strict rules, adjusting their entire business model. Many were forced to stop. This is an destruction of life's wor…

18

Dec

2024

NL Speech

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Restoring the EU’s competitive edge – the need for an impact assessment on the Green Deal policies (topical debate)

Mr President, impact assessments can indeed be very useful to know the impact of a given policy. But we needed it five years ago. Now it's too late. Because today, the result of the Green Deal is abundantly clear. Our industry, once a symbol of progress, employment and prosperity, is cracking under unaffordable energy prices, heavy regulation and unrealistic goals. Investment decisions are being p…

28

Nov

2024

NL Speech

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Strengthening children’s rights in the EU - 35th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, for me, children's rights policy starts with protecting children's fundamental rights: a solid education, access to excellent education without left-wing indoctrination and a safe and secure home situation. Children must be able to grow up to be strong and free individuals in a warm and stimulating environment. We must therefore nurture and strengthen traditional famili…

25

Nov

2024

NL Speech

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Outcome of the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 in Cali, Colombia (COP16) (debate)

Mr President, farmers have an interest in biodiversity, but the European Union's current biodiversity strategy risks seriously affecting our farmers. I would like to reiterate this in the light of the Biodiversity Conference. The compulsory restoration of 20% of Europe's natural areas affects our farmers in particular. They risk losing a large part of their land to new nature projects. For many fa…

23

Oct

2024

NL Speech

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U-turn on EU bureaucracy: the need to axe unnecessary burdens and reporting to unleash competitiveness and innovation (topical debate)

Mr President, the European People's Party is calling for an axe to be taken in the excessive regulation, something I can only support. But who has led the European Union for decades? Right: the European People's Party itself. Mrs von der Leyen argues that reporting obligations should be reduced by a quarter, but who introduced those absurd obligations? Exactly: the Commission led by Ms von der Ley…

8

Oct

2024

NL Speech

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The crisis facing the EU’s automotive industry, potential plant closures and the need to enhance competitiveness and maintain jobs in Europe (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the European car industry is going through a very serious storm. The red numbers are piling up and factories like Audi Brussels in my country are on the brink of closure. If we do not intervene, there will be a point of no return and one day we will wake up in an economic cemetery. We can't let this happen. The main culprit for this crisis is the EU itself. Who introduc…

17

Sep

2024

NL Speech

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State of the Energy union (debate)

Mr President, for ordinary citizens, the energy bill has simply become unaffordable. Our industry suffers from gas prices that are still three to six times higher than in the United States. Our prosperity is at stake. The European Commission is failing to address people's real problems. The mandatory switch to renewable energy is a totally unrealistic and unattainable dream of Brussels bureaucrats…

16

Sep

2024

NL Speech

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Outcome of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture (debate)

Mr President, yesterday we celebrated Agriculture Day in Flanders. However, there was not much to celebrate. Our agricultural sector is being destroyed. I don't know yet whether this is intentional or the result of boundless naivety. The Green Deal policy has brought the European agricultural sector to the brink of collapse. This innovative sector has been reduced by dogmatic climate rules to a se…