Speeches

Madam President! You're just peeing! There's nothing wrong! We women all know it. Most women have experienced not being taken seriously when they go to the doctor, and perhaps therefore women are diagnosed on average five years later than men. Women's health is being systematically deprioritised. When it comes to breast cancer, we see the consequences. Every year, 140 000 women are affected in the EU and 30 000 lose their lives. We have to take that seriously. We know how to save lives. Early detection and better screening. It provides faster treatment and it saves lives. That is why I am fighting for the EU to invest massively in research, common screening standards and rapid access to diagnosis. Women's health is not a niche area. That's half of any population. Let us make it a priority and let us work more closely together across the EU.

Thank you very much for taking the blue card. I have a couple of questions. I spent 30 years in the insurance industry, and I saw these events piling up. I acknowledge the fact that you want to help, but your help will not bring lives back. Your help will not bring houses back for the people who are homeless. So what are you actually going to do about the fact that the climate is changing? And do you acknowledge that the change is made by our CO2 emissions and that we can actually do something about it? Thousands of actuaries within the insurance industry and also meteorologists acknowledge this completely and they show us the way forward.

Thank you for taking the blue card. I just want to ask you a couple of questions. One question, would you support Ukraine to become, after peace, part of the European Union? And do you know, probably before you were born or close to when you were born, when Hungary joined the European Union? In my country, a lot of people were worried and thought that they were going to lose on agriculture and other areas, but we were a lot of people who wanted Hungary to be exactly part of Europe. Did you know that?

Thank you for taking the blue card. Just two questions: Who, please, started this war? And are you going to call Putin together with the far left? Have you got his phone number? And thirdly, who are you then going to call when you've got Russian soldiers and troops in your backyard?

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, the 2026 budget comes at a moment where Europe faces unprecedented pressure. We feel the competition from major global players such as the US and China, and we are confronted with migration and instability to the south. And we have war on our continent. In this context, the European Union must show what we stand for: freedom, prosperity and shared responsibility. I want to take the opportunity to thank my colleagues and to thank you especially, Mr Halicki, for the perfect stewardship. This budget is not just about numbers on a page. It is about Europe's ability to stay strong, to act swiftly and to protect the future of our citizens. We want to invest in research, innovation, green energy, health and defence because that is where Europe's strength and independence is built. Again, with this budget, we take a step towards an even more resilient and capable Europe – one that stands firm and defends its values and its model, strong businesses, access to education, healthcare and opportunities for all. These principles are under pressure, and that's precisely why this budget matters.

Thank you for taking the blue card. I just want to ask you, with the knowledge we have of all the information now sitting with big tech companies, driven – completely okay – by wanting to earn money and politically influenced, and also – an experience of my own – you're suddenly out, and you're not told why, you cannot get through to anybody. It's just 'you're out'. What are your concrete suggestions? How should we actually handle this? How should we protect you and I into the future?

Nice to see you here. I just wanted to ask you, can you name which countries in the EU have a larger gross national product than the two largest tech companies?

I actually do agree with the first two or three sentences that you had in your speech that we are living in completely different times, and there are many things that we have to get used to using these devices. But I want to understand, could you tell us, amongst the biggest companies in the world – because you said it's impossible for the companies to obey the rules that we set out here to protect our citizens – can you name how many of the 10 biggest companies in the world are tech companies?

I just want to put one simple question to you – or perhaps two. Are you the one who we should expect to call Putin? And who on earth is actually blocking the unanimity of this place? That is Orbán. It is your party's participant who is blocking that we cannot stand together. How are you going to solve that? Are you also going to call Orbán?

Europe is on fire. 10,000 square kilometers of forest have been burned away in southern Europe this summer. Corresponds to the whole of Zealand and Funen. Three times as much as a normal summer and the largest area since you started measuring. And that's no wonder, because Europe is the continent in the world that warms up the fastest. But while it does, the Danish People's Party and the so-called patriots are trying to completely sabotage the climate law, which is going to slow down global warming. Allow me to ask. Allow me to ask the Danish People's Party and the so-called patriots: How many actuaries from the insurance industry, how many firefighters, how many meteorologists, farmers with devastated harvests and victims of the flames must we gather in this Chamber before you see what is happening? Your provocations in the legislative work are a disgrace. Are you really looking for answers at the bottom of your coffee cup? Or do you just not want to know what's going on? Yes, it will cost us to change our habits and prevent disasters, but if we do not act, the price will be our prosperity and our well-being. Let's act together now.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, our Preparedness Union is getting real. I could have spoken about viruses, threatening situations, but I will focus on the positive. We can be efficient in countering global health threats. As a Union, we must think together, innovate together, purchase together, stockpile together, and be ready to act together. Build on rescEU. It's time to leverage the public procurement to make joint purchases of much needed vaccines and other countermeasures. Innovation is about preparedness, too. Yes, we can ensure that we are ready to invent, see new products in the market and invest. How? With more Europe. A strong co-ordinating role for the Commission, for ECDC and for HERA. That's what we need. That's what we're finally getting.

(start of speech off mic) ... now we are talking about how we vote. So when you, within your group, sit with the file on the 2040 targets, are you going to proactively work towards something that will really make a change in the future, so that we will prevent further climate change?

Madam President, dear Prime Minister, dear Commissioners, for the next half year, Denmark bears a great responsibility, and what an important time to do so. The challenges before us are numerous, urgent and complex. Europe is facing a busy agenda, from ensuring the security and defence of our borders to addressing the multifaceted threats we confront. We in the north and east must support our southern neighbours along the Mediterranean in strengthening our outer borders and fight illegal migration, while Europeans in the south and west must recognise the urgency of protecting our eastern borders against the rising threats from Putin's Russia. At the core, we must defend our fundamental values, enabling our businesses, big and small, to thrive and grow, transforming our single market into a truly united one. Simultaneously, we must simplify our processes without compromising on vital priorities: food security, environmental health, workplace safety and combating the devastating climate crisis, which is more urgent than ever. In other words, we need to work hard and work together. But I truly believe that, through dedication and determination, we can make a real difference for ourselves and for future generations.

I just want to ask you, what is your suggestion – to stay relying on Russian gas and oil and gas from the Middle East? What is your actual solution? What is your actual source of energy looking ahead? And do you know what investment means? That means investing now, with a relatively short payback period, with the cheapest energy you could ever imagine when we get the grid running.

Madam President, Commissioner, allow me to address the people of Greenland. Your presence in Greenland dates back many thousand years. Yet modern history has brought you close to the European Union and has indeed brought Europe close to Greenland, opening up many new opportunities to work together. It is not only diplomacy connecting us, but a common desire for living in peace, the well-being of our people and respect. We do indeed share pivotal values, such as democracy, rule of law, human rights and the value of a good welfare system. These values serve as a solid foundation for the next chapters of the Greenlandic story, a story where investments in infrastructure – indeed, partnerships for developing mining and other sectors of business – are crucial for the people of Greenland and your free choices for your country. Chapters where your vision and your hopes will guide you. We, European Parliamentarians from the Renew Group, will support your journey. We will work tirelessly to deepen our cooperation, and we will make sure that our Union will invest both money and effort in developing our relations further.

Mr President! Imagine a mother waking up her child every night to make sure he's still breathing. A father who spends more time navigating a chaotic healthcare system than playing with his daughter. Or a couple of parents who are thrown around between different doctors and hospitals and who spend several years getting the right diagnosis. In Denmark, you can feel completely alone with your rare diagnosis, but in Europe, 36 million citizens live with a rare disease. So why are we not doing more together in this area? If it were up to me, we worked much closer together in the EU, sharing data, sharing experiences and expertise with each other. Through cross-border collaboration, we can ensure that the best doctors, the best researchers and the best solutions reach patients who need it most. So, Commissioner Várhelyi; Thank you for starting. I expect more and, of course, we will fight for a better life for all 36 million Europeans.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, the world around us is changing rapidly. As we, the Members of this Parliament, work towards the next EU budget, we must make tough political decisions already today and act with responsibility. Our clean industrial deal must succeed. This means massive investments in grids, in electrification and hydrogen. Public health is an investment, not a cost. It is the foundation of our security. And in the words of our Commissioner, what we can do better and cheaper together, we must. Finally, Europe must rearm. We have no time to lose. We will need cool heads and warm hearts. Let us show that the majority of this Parliament is united. This week, as we vote on the guidelines, let's build the foundation of a strong political agreement. We will need it in the years to come.

Mr. President! When you listen to someone here in the European Parliament, you can better understand that we are still using Russian gas. I don't have to mention names. We know who it is. There is someone here who does not think that Putin has done anything wrong and who, incidentally, thinks that the door should be wide open. It leaves more work and responsibility to the rest of us, and we must take care of that. Every day we import Russian gas, we pay for the missiles that hit families' homes. It has to stop at any cost. All countries must stop importing Russian gas, and we must support that being possible now. We need to speed up the expansion of other energy, wind in the north and solar in the south, hydrogen and Power-to-X and what it's all called. And we need to invest massively in Europe's energy infrastructure so that we can transport energy in Europe. That's how we get rid of Russian gas. This is how we help the Ukrainians. That's how we help the climate, and that's how we preserve our own freedom.

Madam President! Ladies and gentlemen, dear Greenlanders. Greenland has built a proud society. A society built on values that we recognise here in Europe. Values such as democracy, freedom, welfare and the rule of law. What the future of Greenland should look like should be solely up to the Greenlanders. You can't buy your future. You can't buy Greenland. This ambition is a mockery of the Greenlandic people. But in the modern world, independence is the right to decide who you want to depend on. And that right is yours. And, of course, we still need to work closely with the Americans on, among other things, the defence and extraction of raw materials. Certainly, it is at least that we in the EU and in Denmark will always support Greenland for the future that Greenlanders want.

Mr President, Commissioner Ribera, dear colleagues, we are at a turning point. We must not just prevent climate disaster, we must also be more competitive. Europe must work on both agendas. And let us be clear: no U-turn, no rolling back on our ambitious and needed Green Deal. We should not let China run away with first place in changing to a low‑carbon economy and be competitive. Our ability to compete and our need to decarbonise go hand in hand. To move forward, we need a clean industrial deal and we must simplify existing rules. We must stop double reporting. We must remove bureaucracy in the EU system and in our countries, and we must build lower electricity prices in there. We must invest together, and together we will stand stronger.

Mr. President! In the summer of 2020, a Russian citizen who had lived in Denmark for twelve years was arrested. The following year he was sentenced to three years in prison for espionage and deportation from Denmark. For a number of years, the convicted person had handed over information against payment to a Russian intelligence service. ‘As open as possible, as closed as necessary’ – this is and must be our motto when we talk about a competitive and secure Europe. This also applies to our universities. The future of Europe is being shaped in our research laboratories and in our universities. But the future is also under attack. There are others who want to steal it. It shows the case, as I mentioned. What we need now for universities and the like is, of course, a one-stop shop and a toolbox to solve the problem. In the EU, we need to do more to protect sensitive research. This is what our future is all about.

Madam President, Commissioner! How many of you remember the Covid crisis? Do you remember that we lacked medical equipment? We lacked masks. We lacked test equipment. Yeah, we missed most of it. Let's talk about it again. When supply chains break down, it is ultimately the patients who pay the price. And supply chains have broken down in Europe. They've left home. We can no longer sit on our hands and just watch innovative companies move to the United States. We need to make sure that we can produce both critical medicines and medical equipment here - here in Europe. We must be able to do it ourselves - from research, innovation to manufacturing. It is about patient safety. It is about the safety of our citizens across Europe. We have brains in Europe. We have the skills in Europe. We must make sure that the conditions for the companies again become so good that they come home and do not dream of moving out at all. In this way, we can safeguard our citizens in Europe.

Mr President! I've been looking forward to this for two reasons. It is barely a year since I was nominated for the first time as a political candidate, and now I am here speaking in Parliament. I am deeply grateful and very happy for that. I have also rejoiced because this is where we can help solve some of the biggest crises of our time. In the last days, at least 10 people have died a few miles, 100 kilometers from here and from my homeland. Denmark, Romania, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic are under water, and it burns in Portugal and Greece. The European Union will of course come to the aid of those in need, but we will also have to act now if similar and perhaps worse disasters are not to be part of everyday life in Europe. In fact, the average temperature in Europe has already risen above 2 degrees, i.e. more than in the whole world, which is 1 degree. We need to act now, and we need to act together across Europe, because we need to fight the climate crisis.