What Sebastian spoke about.

20

Oct

2025

DE Answer

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Chemicals (joint debate)

Thank you for this important question. Medical progress, the protection of people, of citizens all over the world, can be ensured, and at the same time animal welfare can be granted. As has been mentioned several times before, the vast majority of animal experiments – there are figures, I believe, 80, 90 percent or even higher – cannot be transferred to humans. We're just not monkeys, rats, dogs a…

20

Oct

2025

DE Speech

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Chemicals (joint debate)

Mr President! More than 1.2 million citizens in the EU call for the citizens' initiative Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics An end to animal testing. Did you all know that in the EU, rats still have to swallow new detergents for weeks just to check tumor safety? Or that fish die in toxic substances just to test the environmental compatibility of new perfume ingredients? This is despite the fact that data…

7

Oct

2025

DE Speech

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Common agricultural policy (joint debate)

Mr President! Directly in advance: I'm the next one who wants to talk about it. Ladies and gentlemen, have you seen the headlines lately? Hundreds of Europeans, seriously ill after accidentally buying a vegan bratwurst. Have you seen these headlines? I don't. Dear Ms Imart, an initiative such as your amendment 113 would completely ignore a judgment of the European Court of Justice stating that the…

10

Sep

2025

DE Speech

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China’s unjustified decision to impose duties on imports of pork products from the EU and the need to support European farmers and workers (debate)

Mr President! The export of pork to China in 2024 was 1.15 million tonnes – tonnes! We are not talking about trade goods such as coal, steel or wheat. We are talking about formerly sentient beings. Pigs feel pain, suffering, joy and grief as we humans and also feel empathy with each other. And these intelligent creatures spend their short lives of mostly only 6 to 8 months crammed on crevice floor…

9

Sep

2025

DE Speech

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Wave of violence and continuous use of force against protesters in Serbia (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, In Serbia, the press, students and many others stand up for our European values, and how are these protests answered? With blinding grenades, tear gas and arrests. These people, as well as colleagues from this House, were insulted and attacked in the worst possible way by President Vučić. The EU and this House cannot tolerate such behaviour. Novi Sad is the t…

8

Jul

2025

DE Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on Albania (debate)

Madam President, "Everyone in the world has their dreams," said Albanian writer Ismail Kadare. My dream is that Albania sees environmental protection as a bridge on its way to the EU and not as an obstacle. However, recent developments such as Vlora Airport, which was built in the Vjosa Narta Protected Area, are of concern and are in breach of EU environmental law. We also need stronger measures t…

7

Jul

2025

DE Speech

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Resumption of the sitting

Madam President, I refer to Articles 61, 73 and 75. In the last plenary session, Parliament voted in favour of new rules for the protection of dogs and cats. One of the most important measures of the Plenarabstim was the microchip identification of all dogs and cats. After the vote, however, the AGRI rapporteur, who will lead the further negotiations, told Euractiv: We do not need to introduce a f…

7

Jul

2025

DE Speech

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Commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, We are here today to commemorate the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II. Thirty years ago, more than 8,000 people were systematically executed, including many minors, some only 12 years old, just because they were Bosniaks. But this is not about numbers. Even a single life lost under such circumstances would be a life too much. In addition, many of t…

19

Jun

2025

DE Speech

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Protecting bees: advancing the EU's New Deal for Pollinators (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Honey bees have no relevance for biodiversity. Even if textbooks and media often give us a different picture and most people think directly of the honey bee by the word bee: This is not threatened; In Germany alone, around 100,000 beekeepers are looking for them. On the other hand, half of the 561 wild bee species are on the Red List as threatened with extinc…

19

Jun

2025

DE Speech

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Institutional and political implications of the EU enlargement process and global challenges (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. When we talk about EU enlargement strategies, we need to talk much more about environmental, climate and animal welfare. It is shocking that in many reports on candidate countries these issues are only mentioned in passing or, as in the case of animal welfare, not at all. It goes without saying that all candidate countries must meet criteria relating to the rule…

17

Jun

2025

DE Speech

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European Ocean Pact (debate)

Madam President, Once again, a bay on the Faroe Islands has turned blood red in recent days. At least 245 pilot whales have been slaughtered in the most brutal manner, including 25 pregnant females and 13 juveniles, where whales play a central role in the ecological balance of our seas. In Ocean Pact There is no mention of animal welfare. Concrete measures for marine protected areas are also lacki…

21

May

2025

DE Speech

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Amending Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as regards simplifying and strengthening the carbon border adjustment mechanism (debate)

Mr President! If the main objective of CBAM is to reduce CO2If it is to be emissions, then why does it not apply to agricultural and food products? It must simply be noted that our citizens consume significantly more food than things made of steel, for example. In addition, the import of food from some third countries poses a risk to consumers because of lower food safety and hygiene standards. On…

6

May

2025

DE Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on Türkiye (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to take a moment to look at the animal welfare situation in Turkey. Last year, the Turkish parliament passed a law that could result in the deaths of millions of stray dogs. The situation of these animals worsens dramatically every day. Every day, countless dogs are caught, taken to completely overcrowded animal shelters or killed dire…

6

May

2025

DE Speech

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The protection status of the wolf (Canis lupus) (vote)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. I am clearly referring here to Rule 170 of our Rules of Procedure, because, on the one hand, there is no reason to support the urgency of this process. On the other hand, the competence under Article 19 of the Habitats Directive is clearly vested in the Council and not in the Parliament. Could it perhaps be that in some minds the idea has arisen that the strict …

2

Apr

2025

DE Speech

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European oceans pact (debate)

Mr President! The oceans – endless expanses and millions of undiscovered animal and plant species. Researchers even say that around two-thirds of all sea creatures are still unknown. These ecosystems need to be protected urgently. The Oceans Pact is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to send a strong signal – and this could be achieved by: Blue Manifesto It is the roadmap. Because the demands are ea…

13

Mar

2025

DE Answer

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A Vision for Agriculture and Food (debate)

Mr. Colleague! One minute is not enough to give you a complete tutoring in this area, from my vision. You may not have listened very carefully at the beginning: I was talking about a partnership with farmers – and that is very important to me. A vision, a future of agriculture can only take place together with farmers, and that is what I stand for. It should also be the interest of all farmers: Th…

13

Mar

2025

DE Speech

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A Vision for Agriculture and Food (debate)

Mr President! "What we do today decides what the world will look like tomorrow," said Austrian writer Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach. Commissioner, I have a vision where food is no longer linked to competitiveness. In this vision, farmers have a secure income and we are witnessing a partnership on an equal footing; On the other hand, consumers who are willing to buy regional and seasonal products, fre…

10

Feb

2025

DE Speech

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: the need for the European Union to contribute to resolving the humanitarian crisis of persons missing in wars and conflicts (debate)

Mr President! Dear colleagues! How can a lasting peace be mediated in many places around the world when families have no answer to the fate of their relatives? This represents one of the greatest obstacles to the healing, reconciliation and reconstruction of societies. The numbers are more than frightening, with more than 71,000 people missing in Africa and around 42,000 in Ukraine. Not only soldi…

23

Jan

2025

DE Answer

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Combating Desertification: 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention (debate)

Dear Mr. Colleague! Thank you very much for the objection, which I cannot understand in any way. It has been scientifically proven that industrial factory farming – animal farming in principle – is a huge emitter of greenhouse gases. And forests are being cut down without end for the cultivation of feed. And if all this were to go away, more land would be free to grow food for starving people. Ins…

23

Jan

2025

DE Speech

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Combating Desertification: 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! ‘Forests precede peoples, deserts follow them’. This was already said in the 17th century by the French writer Chateaubriand. Climate change and the massive use of fertilizers are exacerbating soil erosion and species extinction. Groundwater abstraction for mining activities, industrial factory farming and irrigation in agriculture deprives forests of the ground…

22

Jan

2025

DE Speech

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Stepping up international action to protect whales following Iceland’s decision to extend commercial whaling until 2029 (debate)

Madam President, In Europe, whales have been hunted since at least the 9th century – a very dark time when people were usually unable to read and write, fighting terrible diseases due to lack of hygiene. Fortunately, we have evolved in many areas in Europe. Now it is time to finish one of the last chapters of the Dark Ages. Since 2002, more than 1,500 whales have been killed in Iceland, including …

19

Dec

2024

DE Speech

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Commission’s plans to include the revision of the outstanding proposals on animal welfare in its work plan for 2025 (debate)

Madam President, Dear Commissioner, “It is the anonymity of the animal victims that makes us deaf to their cries” - this is what the writer Luise Rinser said, and she is right. If you want to eat something healthy, you can often find fitness salads on menus. Curiously enough, this does not include vegetable proteins, but chicken meat. In the EU, 6 billion chickens are slaughtered every year. That …

18

Dec

2024

DE Speech

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Urgent need for EU action to preserve nature and protect biodiversity to avoid the extinction of species (debate)

Mr President! “You can cut one wire, you can cut a second wire, and the net will continue to work. However, if you cut the xth wire, it suddenly stops working.” This is how Bruno Oberle, then head of the World Conservation Organisation, described the loss of biodiversity. And even today, unfortunately, many contributions fail to recognize the dimensions in which we find ourselves. As the colleague…

28

Nov

2024

DE Answer

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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)

Dear colleague! That's what I was trying to do. Even though I belong to The Left, I am a representative of the German party Mensch Umwelt Tierschutz – Tierschutzpartei. We have no SED past. I therefore ask that this question be addressed to the right addressee. That's not me.…

28

Nov

2024

DE 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)

Madam President, Happy birthdayDear Convention on the Rights of the Child! Unfortunately, many recent surveys say that although many children and young people are familiar with the term – children’s rights – there is nothing concrete about it. This needs to be filled with much more tangible content by all educational institutions. In my opinion, children also have a right to a healthy, non-animal …