What Kris spoke about.

13

Feb

2025

NL Speech

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EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, I welcome the agreement with Mercosur with open arms, because it is not only the largest trade agreement the EU has ever concluded, but it is also important for three reasons. At a time when US President Trump is imposing tariffs on our steel and aluminium, it is high time to tap into new markets and not leave that area to China alone. Secondly, it confirms our belief i…

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, it has taken us a pandemic to realise how crucial the continuity of the chip supply is. With the European Chips Act, we have focused on research and development, something that is crucial for a knowledge region and open economy like Flanders, where I come from. But after the measures taken by the Americans, we must first make it clear to them that our internal market is…

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, the EU urgently needs a merger policy based on facts and science rather than dogmas, which is now often affecting our policy. A realistic policy adapted to today's geopolitical context, with key drivers such as energy security, security and affordability. Let's be clear: Nuclear fusion is of a completely different order than nuclear fission. Nuclear fusion requires less…

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, Minister, Commissioner. Climate change alone is not the culprit. However, the lack of attention to its impact on competitiveness, industry and transport. The cost of overregulation is enormous. Graydon calculated that 30% of our companies are threatened by the reporting obligations of the ESG criteria. European legislation is too detailed, too coercive and often incoherent. Today we …

27

Nov

2024

NL Speech

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Topical debate (Rule 169) - Budapest Declaration on the New European Competitiveness Deal - A future for the farming and manufacturing sectors in the EU (topical debate)

Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we all have a crushing responsibility to increase our competitiveness. The problems are known. And let's be honest: the solutions as well. We urgently need to reduce the regulatory burden with excessive reporting obligations. We have to make haste with an Industrial Deal that should already have been there together with the Green Deal. We…

24

Oct

2024

NL Speech

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Closing the EU skills gap: supporting people in the digital and green transitions to ensure inclusive growth and competitiveness in line with the Draghi report (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, I come from a country that does not have raw materials, but does have a brain. This is the best human capital. What applies to Flanders applies to a large extent to the whole of Europe. However, PISA results show us time and time again that the study results of our young people do not improve. On the contrary. We must therefore call on our Member States – not to replace…

8

Oct

2024

NL Speech

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Preparation of the European Council of 17-18 October 2024 (debate)

Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, our industry is not doing well: redundancies, company closures and large companies announcing that they are no longer investing in Europe. The energy cost and the multiplicity of rules are the well-known culprits. The legs of prosperity are being sawn away under our chair. I heard a call for action here. Well, here is an appeal to our European Council with a h…

7

Oct

2024

NL Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am addressing the Commission in particular. Finding an inexhaustible, nature-friendly energy source is, in my opinion, the great challenge for humanity. The JET reactor, the Joint European Torus in Culham, UK, started as a European project, is of great importance for the development of nuclear fusion. This experiment is hopeful. It is true, however, that the U…