Speeches

Thank you so much, colleague, for your question. I do agree that strengthening our police forces at national level is important. But international criminals need a counterpart. They need someone at international level to fight them. And that's why we need a fully operational Europol. It's not this or this, it's together. I will say this, though. We know that there are crimes which are not being prosecuted in Europe because national police forces refused to intervene. So as the case in Malta with the assassination or the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. So we do have an operational force above them to intervene where necessary.

Madam President, Madam Commissioner, let me begin by expressing my deepest condolences with the families and friends of the shooting in Sweden and, of course, to the Swedish people as a whole. The far right of this Chamber has only one solution for fighting organised crime: let's close our borders and take back our country. But here comes a reality check. Criminals are laughing at your obsession with closing borders. For them, it's just a line. It's the point where they can shake off the national police. They operate extremely efficiently across borders, using bribes, laundering money through your beloved cryptocurrency, trafficking in weapons and recruiting new – very often very young – members for their gangs. Stop misleading Europeans with your naive idea of sovereignty and invest instead in our EU police and justice cooperation. At the beginning of the 20th century, when the American government was fighting their own criminal gangs, the Mafia, they tried closing state borders in and demonising migrants. You know, Mr Inselvini, those Italians, they were really bad. And to the colleagues from PiS: the Poles? Very bad. No good. Well, that did not work. But you know what worked? Founding the FBI. That did the trick. What Europe needs is a truly operational Europol. A European FBI with reinforced means, with oversight and with accountability. Also, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor's Office urgently need more competences, as they have shown to be extremely effective and instrumental in fighting organised crime. Commission, absent Council, step up to the challenge. Give our common security the priority it needs. And to my colleagues, if you are really serious about fighting crime, then you will support every single effort in this House at European level. And if you're not, then you're just interested in creating clickbait for your socials and I suggest you sit this one out.

I'm happy to hear about the initiatives in the field of demography of the Italian Government. I think that all governments should consider this subject very seriously. The Dutch Government has done so as well. But I was wondering, given that immigration into Italy was at an all time high last year, how do you combine that with the ideas that you just presented?

Mr President, I will keep saying this: Rule 10(4) of the Rules of Procedure make hate speech and offensive language something we should not allow. Hate speech is clearly defined. 'Population replacement' and every other synonym – this is Nazi terminology; we all know that. This should not be allowed in this Chamber.

Mr President, if we give our children the right to remain in their own region, we must also give others the right to come here. Many Europeans want to be able to continue living in their own village. To this end, there must be houses, the hospital in the region must remain open, there must be a school within walking distance and the village house must not go under due to high energy costs. This means that we need professionals from inside and outside Europe: more doctors and nurses, more teachers for the classroom and more people who can install solar panels on the roofs. This is the only way for Europeans to grow up and grow old in our regions. Instead of investing in the region and making progress possible, however, populists kick the brakes and shut the door to good craftsmen. We don't need populism, we need optimism: Looking out instead of the head in the sand.

Mr President, thank you for allowing my request. I refer to Rules of Procedure, Rule 10(4), that concerns hate speech or offensive language. The colleague from ESN used the term 'population replacement'. This is generally accepted as hate speech and offensive language, and I request that this be scrapped from the meeting and that the colleague be held responsible for using this hate speech.

Thank you, colleague, for your intervention. What I don't understand is, why are you so afraid for an investigation? If it's innocent, if there's nothing to prove, if there's nothing wrong, you should be the first one asking for an investigation, because the person who has nothing to hide is never afraid for an investigation at the hands of the competent authorities.

Mr President, we have yet another debate about the Orbán Government undermining the European Union, and it turns out that Orbán has most likely been spying on the European Anti-Fraud Office, which was investigating his abuse of EU taxpayers' money through corruption and nepotism. Now, in a healthy system, there should be, at the very least, tough reactions from the other governments. But instead, Hungary's fellow members of the Council keep silent. What are we dealing with here? A group of adults keeping a clean house together or school buddies that don't tell on each other? As for the Commission, can the Commission give an advice on whether it is still safe for the EU agencies to operate in Budapest, or to meet with the Hungarian authorities? Clarity must be given, and the Commission – yes, the Commission is the relevant authority – must open an investigation into these allegations immediately. The Council, under the leadership of Poland, should strongly support this action and if proven, espionage on the EU must be dealt with swiftly and forcefully.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, first of all the best wishes for this new year. May you and your loved ones know good luck and enjoy good health. Unfortunately, that will not be the case for the thousands of victims of fireworks during the turn of the year. Two Dutch people lost their lives, including a child. There were five people in Germany. Every year we see victims of very heavy fireworks, which come legally from the factory in one Member State and are illegally sold or imported in another Member State. Children play with fireworks with the explosive power of a hand grenade. Our streets are turning into a war zone. And this happens not only at the turn of the year but throughout the year. Criminals use this fireworks for their attacks all over Europe and this is a failure of the internal market, for which too high a price is paid. Our police officers, emergency responders and local administrators have had enough. Basta! Now is the time to intervene...

Mr President, it is a pity that Mr Kraus immediately walked out of the room, because I would have given him a chance to pronounce my name correctly with a blue card. Madam Commissioner, the figures cannot be repeated enough. We have heard a lot of them today: one in three adult women in the EU have experienced violence; One in six have experienced sexual violence. Someone said to me recently, 'Are you going to get mad again in Strasbourg?' Yes, I am, because one number that I cannot and I will not forget is 'one in eight'. Only one in eight aggressions is reported to the authorities because women do not feel safe to talk about what happened because we/they fear not being taken seriously, because they fear being blamed, being shamed. 'Oh, was your skirt maybe a bit too short, or did you drink a bit too much?' Those are the things that we, women, still hear in Europe when we report an act of sexual violence. So, Madam Commissioner, what can we do together to ensure that women are heard? Today, of all days, in the words of Gisèle Pelicot, 'shame changed sides' – from the victims and not for the abusers. I thank you in advance for your work on this crucial matter.

Dear colleague, thank you for for your intervention. I do have a question, because as we are used to from the interventions from colleagues from your party and your group, you tend to blame migrants for violence against women. I won't deny that migrant women are definitely at risk of violence, just like any other vulnerable population in Europe. But I would like to ask you very specifically about the latest data from the Commission, where Hungary, with about 0.5 % migrants, has much more violence against women than countries with many more migrants. How do you explain that?

Mr President, Commissioner Lahbib, which of those present has never lost their way here in the European Parliament? Try imagining what that would be like if you couldn't read the signs, because they're not in braille. Look around this building. In 2024, people with disabilities in Europe, including the Netherlands, are still often unable to move freely, attend education, exercise or work. Non-binding programmes, roadmaps and improvement projects have not yielded enough results in recent years and patience is running out. Hard rules are needed. People with disabilities must be actively involved in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of policies at national and European level. Civil servants, here too, must be structurally trained on their rights. And the UN treaty must be fully implemented. No more excuses. It's time for action.

Mr President, having listened to the other speakers, one thing that is clear is that fighting corruption should have the highest priority. Because corruption kills. It kills trust in public institutions. It enables organised crime and allows foreign interference in our democracy. And it literally kills young people in a train accident in Greece or journalists such as Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta. But corruption also kills our prosperity, costing the EU economy at least EUR 120 billion per year. Draghi's 800 billion is hiding in plain sight. So no effort can be spared in rooting out corruption. The new anti-corruption directive, as the Commissioner well said, will be key to achieve this in our Member States. But recent events have shown that much more is needed within our own European institutions. So, dear colleagues, Commissioner, are you willing to work together to fight corruption at all levels in the European Union? Citizens expect us to lead by example and we shall not fail them.

Madam President, Madam Commissioner, I heard a colleague saying 'we can't negate nature, we can't deny nature.' But you know what nature is? Nature is the pain in the eyes of the Bulgarian LGBTIQ+ activists who came to visit the European Parliament when they were telling us about being targeted by their own government. And you know why governments are targeting them? It is to hide their own corruption, their own clientelism, their own nepotism. Either they can't solve their real problems or they are part of the problem. So to distract society, they limit the rights of innocent people, keeping the lid on their own mess. We need to keep the pressure high. From the brand new Commission, I expect immediate action towards Bulgaria and any other country breaking down our fundamental freedoms. And no endless exchanges that take years. Close the money tap for the guilty governments and ensure that those who protect our Union values do have the means to keep doing so. And to those brave activists, I will tell you: you will always find partners in the European Parliament. We will stand with you and we will fight for you.

Madam President, thank you, colleague Wąsik for accepting my blue card and my question. You spoke about the right of parents to bring up their children according to their convictions. Do you think that parents also have the right to inflict enormous pain on their children when they subject them to conversion therapy?

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, thank you for your work the last few years and especially also for your efforts into this request, looking at the possibilities. But, colleagues, let's just face it: Putin can still continue his war of aggression against Ukraine, among other reasons because of corruption and money laundering in the European Union. Because money laundering is still too often facilitated by corruption, and Russia is using corruption in our Member States for the purpose of laundering money and interfering with our democracy, getting in the way of us achieving our common European goals and, above all, aiming at shifting public opinion about Russia and its war. Corruption kills in the EU and outside. So, we must do more. We must develop and enforce stronger anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering laws. In the coming days, as budget negotiations go on, Parliament and Council need to keep in mind the need to equip the European Public Prosecutor, Europol, Eurojust and the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority with all financial means necessary to do their job and keep Europeans and Ukrainians safe.

Mr President, here stands today a Spanish by birth, a Dutch and Frisian by choice, and a European by conviction. Because thanks to the European Union, I was able to follow love, work, study and start my family. From the capital Madrid to the Frisian village of Gorredijk: I have been able to seize all the opportunities that Europe has to offer. I give my daughters the same freedom. The freedom to choose to fly away, but above all to choose to stay close to the place where they feel at home. That they can then enjoy a clean Wadden Sea and a thriving, promising region, which is connected to the rest of Europe by means of the Lely Line. And easy access to European programmes, including to protect their language, Frisian. And that they can soberly answer the question ‘Is Europe here for us?’: “Yeah, sa is it, and like oars.’

My opinion is very simple: my opinion on abortion follows the guidelines of the World Health Organization. And, if you have not read those reports prepared by the best experts on issues of reproductive and sexual health of women, I invite you to do so. In those reports you will see my position.

Madam President, Commissioner, Ms de la Pisa Carrión, two years ago, Izabela Sajbor, aged 30, a European citizen, died because of the Polish abortion laws, because doctors would not help her when she went into premature labour and got sepsis, because they risked going to jail. Two months ago, a United Nations expert established that the Polish abortion laws discriminate against women, constitute unjustifiable, state-sanctioned coercion, causing intense physical and mental suffering and in some cases could amount to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The UN experts put into writing what most of us in this House know and feel is wrong, because we cannot let women suffer and be criminalised for their reproductive choices. Abortion bans do not lead to fewer abortions. How many more women need to suffer and die in Europe? Because before we enshrine access to safe and legal abortion in our Treaties, we owe it to Izabela, we owe it to our daughters, and we owe it to all of us.

Mrs De la Pisa Carrión, you said that we all have the right to our life and dignity. In your opinion, did Izabela Sajbor not have the same right to his life and dignity? I was thirty years old.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, since the beginning of this mandate, one thing has become crystal clear to me. A majority of this House wants an operational, well-funded Frontex which can enforce the law while respecting fundamental rights. It is therefore difficult to explain to our citizens back home that the Member States – the same governments who talk with big words and tear down the Schengen Area and steal our freedom of movement – those are the ones who are actively pushing for less money for Frontex, cutting its requested budget and making it impossible to perform adequately in the light of tremendous challenges. There are, of course, governments and groups in this Parliament who are not really interested in controlling migration and crime at our external border, because it takes away the oxygen from their populist message. But I also believe that many other governments, just like this Chamber, do see that this is the moment to put our money where our mouth is. And I trust your sense of responsibility. Let's work together.

Mr President, for a very long time, about three quarters of women in my country, the Netherlands, and everywhere in Europe, have been at some point in their life – and that has been so for a very long time – a victim of sexually inappropriate behaviour or harassment. I have been a victim of that, and a lot of women in this House probably as well, seeing the statistics. Your constant repetition that migrants are a main reason for that sort of behaviour and crime is just spreading hate. Should I be afraid of all the white men born in Europe in this House?

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, I was very happy to hear you say that 50 million Europeans live in border regions. They work across the border, they do their groceries across the border, they do business across the border. You mentioned to be proud of this, and I'm also very happy to hear this. But these people, these businesses are being hurt by internal border controls. In Germany, in Austria, in France, in Denmark, their freedom – which is our freedom – is being limited. And we don't even know if this is legal. Please correct me if I'm wrong because, since 2015, there have been 440 border control impositions, but the Commission has questioned one. One! Are the other 339 correct? Are they protecting us? The Commission concludes that the external borders are leaky, and Member States are failing to properly protect those borders, but are not ashamed of robbing us of our freedom of movement. So I'm sorry to say, but this Commission is failing EU citizens while trying to appease national governments. Please do better.

To hear the colleagues speak about the treatment of criminal offences in Germany, it's funny, because I never hear them talk about the 28 945 extreme right-motivated crimes in Germany in 2023. And why don't you talk about the 1 270 incidents with violence in Germany at the hands of the extreme right in the same year?

Madam President, Commissioner, thank you very much for your presence on this long day for you, for your presence tonight, although I must say that, from the Renew Europe Group, we would have preferred it to be Mr Borrell who appeared in this house, but, again, thank you very much for his presence. The Renew Group condemns the Cuban regime's repeated human rights abuses. We want to show in particular on this occasion our concern for the state of health, according to critical reports, both from José Daniel Ferrer García and from other groups of political prisoners within the regime. We therefore demand that the Cuban regime be released immediately and that they be offered adequate medical care. And we would also like to recall, especially at the beginning of this parliamentary term, that the diplomatic and foreign policy instruments of the European Union, such as the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and Cuba, instruments based on goodwill and reciprocity on both sides, will not be effective if we do not make it abundantly clear that their continued breaches must lead to the implementation of their sanctions regimes.