Speeches

(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! The European budget must contain many important agendas of our time. Is it wise to save health? No, because there is a lot we can do together, and in many areas, things we can do together and can't do alone, country by country. As for resistance to antibiotics, ‑ is a dormant pandemic that costs 35,000 lives every year here in Europe. This applies to people with rare diagnoses - that is 36 million Europeans. We can, and we must, do more together without shifting responsibilities. For less money, we can actually create better solutions. Therefore, we must invest in health, not save. It pays to use our community precisely where no one can alone.

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.