What Mairead spoke about.

16 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Long term commitment to animal welfare (debate)

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– Mr President, honourable Members, for more than 40 years, the European Union has sought to improve the welfare of animals through legislation and other action. One example is the ban on unenriched cages. It has improved the conditions for 360 million laying hens in the European Union. Similarly, we improved the conditions for animal transport and how animals are handled in slaughterhouses. Howev…

16 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Lack of actions taken by the Commission in the context of the duty of sincere and loyal cooperation (debate)

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– Mr President, honourable Members, thank you for this debate. I just want to reiterate that the Commission has followed the work of the PEGA Committee with great attention. It has taken the matter very seriously and has always acted in sincere cooperation vis-à-vis the Parliament. There are, nonetheless, limits to the competence of the Commission that must be acknowledged, just as I, as a former …

16 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Lack of actions taken by the Commission in the context of the duty of sincere and loyal cooperation (debate)

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– Mr President, honourable Members, I would like to answer the questions raised by the PEGA Committee and indeed by Mr Lenaers on the Commission’s current and future actions in response to the alleged lack of sincere and loyal cooperation with the Inquiry Committee by Council and Member States. The Commission has already made clear that it condemns any illegal interference in personal communicatio…

16 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Advancing the 2022 Bridgetown Agenda (debate)

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– Mr President, thank you, colleagues, for this discussion. Whatever side of the House you come from, it’s very clear that we face an enormous problem, and we do need to act and act with some urgency. I will remind you, as I said earlier, that the Commission will continue to actively participate in the preparations for the upcoming summit for a new global financing pact. We have to engage all rele…

16 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Advancing the 2022 Bridgetown Agenda (debate)

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– Mr. President, colleagues, the Bridgetown Initiative is an international initiative on ways to scale up finance, to fund the changes needed, tackling climate change and help communities and vulnerable countries to do that. As we all know, we faced globally many short- and long—term crises over the past few years, and those crises have shown that we need more and better finance that is more readi…

16 Mar

2023

EN Speech

European Citizens’ Initiative "Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment" (debate)

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– Mr President, thank you, colleagues, for what was a really interesting debate and a very timely one. I think the number of speakers in this debate shows how there is really a huge interest in it, and rightly so. It’s about bees, farmers, but it’s about food. I think also – and you acknowledged this – the citizens’ initiative is a really powerful tool to get people involved in EU policymaking. If…

16 Mar

2023

EN Speech

European Citizens’ Initiative "Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment" (debate)

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– Madam President. Good morning, colleagues, like the farmers of Europe, we’re up early and having this really important debate. For obvious reasons, I’m very happy to be taking this very important debate. This European Citizens’ Initiative is talking about saving bees and farmers. We’ve heard very strong contributions from the Environment Committee, the Agriculture Committee and the Petitions Com…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Need for immediate reform of the internal rules of the Commission to ensure transparency and accountability in light of alleged conflicts of interests (debate)

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– Madam President, dear colleagues, thank you for the debate. The Commission’s internal procedures aim to ensure that the Commission and its staff cannot be unduly influenced by a third party. I agree with you that we need to operate under the highest ethical standards. Whenever the assessment of these rules by individual staff members puts these standards into question, the Commission’s competent…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Need for immediate reform of the internal rules of the Commission to ensure transparency and accountability in light of alleged conflicts of interests (debate)

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– Madam President, honourable Members, the members of the Commission and its staff are expected to adhere to the highest standards of professional ethics and integrity, and they are expected to comply with their obligations set out in the code of conduct and the staff regulations respectively. These high standards apply both to missions and to any gifts or hospitality offered. The Commission has a…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Deaths at sea: a common EU response to save lives and action to ensure safe and legal pathways (debate)

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– Mr President, good evening, colleagues. Really to just thank the Chamber for putting this debate on your agenda, and I speak obviously on behalf of Commissioner Johansson. I think, as we close this debate, we know that this discussion is far from over. People get into small boats and embark on dangerous journeys because there are no legal ways for them to get to Europe. Many of you have expresse…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Strengthening the EU Defence in the context of the war in Ukraine: speeding up production and deliveries to Ukraine of weapons and ammunitions (debate)

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– Madam President, I think we should reflect on the fact that we are very privileged in this House, that we can have different views and nobody stops us having those opinions. That is not the case elsewhere and indeed in Russia. So to close this debate, I have listened very carefully to all of the comments, including those who ask questions about the alternatives. We all want peace. I think there …

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Strengthening the EU Defence in the context of the war in Ukraine: speeding up production and deliveries to Ukraine of weapons and ammunitions (debate)

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– Madam President, thank you, Minister, Jessika, thank you, Colleagues, I take this debate on behalf of my colleague, Commissioner Breton and HR/VP Borrell. And as we know, over the last year the entire European Union has mobilised all its tools in support of Ukraine, including considerable military support. A conservative estimate puts EU Member States’ collective effort and support at EUR 12 bil…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Failure of the Silicon Valley Bank and the implications for financial stability in Europe (debate)

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– Madam President, this has been a really important debate, so thank you all very much for the contributions that you’ve made. And to say very clearly that we all know there is no room for complacency and that we do need to look and to learn lessons. But, to repeat a core point that I make frequently, the visitors in this Chamber today, they know that we are responsible for financial stability. Th…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Failure of the Silicon Valley Bank and the implications for financial stability in Europe (debate)

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– Madam President, thank you for the opportunity of this debate, which is very timely. We are monitoring the situation in the US carefully. The direct impact on the European Union seems to be limited, but we should reflect on whether there are lessons to be learned for the European Union’s banking sector. Let me start first by giving a brief overview of recent events. Over the last few days, we sa…

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

Access to strategic critical raw materials (debate)

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– Madam President, colleagues, this has been a very grounded debate and also a very sobering one. I think that’s no harm because I think we have to get to grips with what faces us, and it is not an easy task because access to strategic, critical raw materials is not guaranteed unless we take action. But I’m going to sober you all up a little bit more, because the truth is that Europe is not the on…

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

Access to strategic critical raw materials (debate)

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– Madam President, colleagues, this is a debate about one of the most important and structural challenges that our industry faces. Investing in refining, processing and recycling of raw materials here in Europe, as well as working with our trade partners to build resilient supply chains, is one of the essential elements of what President von der Leyen addressed as the greatest industrial transform…

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

European Central Bank - annual report 2022 (debate)

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– Madam President, colleagues, this has been a really important debate. I think sometimes there is the impression that financial matters, fiscal policy and monetary policy belong to experts. But everything that we do in this area impacts people, and I think the President of the ECB has already reflected that. I mean, many of you have expressed concerns about citizens, particularly vulnerable citiz…

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

European Central Bank - annual report 2022 (debate)

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– Madam President, as they say, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. I have to say, it’s my unexpected pleasure to be taking part in this debate and to recognise Madam Presidents around me. This is an important debate because we do recognise the independence of the ECB, but there is also a democratic accountability piece, and I think you outlined that very well in your contribution. My than…

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

EUCO conclusions: the need for the speedy finalisation of the Road Map (debate)

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– Madam President, colleagues, thank you for this debate. I really appreciate the sense of urgency in the House and the approach of Members from whatever side that we need a common pact on migration and asylum. Perhaps the last speaker in catch-the-eye stole a line of mine, but I do think we need to realise that we’re talking about human beings. They could be people like you and I, and I think tha…

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

EUCO conclusions: the need for the speedy finalisation of the Road Map (debate)

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– Madam President, honourable Members, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the conclusions of last week’s European Council and the need to adopt the pact on migration and asylum before the end of the mandate, as agreed by co-legislators under the joint roadmap. At the last plenary, President von der Leyen presented the Commission’s view on the way forward. As the President proposed in her let…

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

The erosion of the rule of law in Greece: the wiretapping scandal and media freedom (topical debate)

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– Madam President, I’ve listened very carefully to this debate and will, of course, report to my colleague Commissioner Reynders, but I want to underline that the Commission will continue our dialogue and our focus on the rule of law situation in different Member States and also to say that we remain at your disposal in that regard, whether it’s in plenary, in committee or in any other format. Whe…

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

The erosion of the rule of law in Greece: the wiretapping scandal and media freedom (topical debate)

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– Mr President, Minister Roswall, colleagues, I represent Commissioner Reynders here in this debate and he expresses his regret that he could not, unfortunately, join us. I want to say at the very outset that the Commission is monitoring developments concerning the rule of law in Greece in the context of its annual Rule of Law Report, as it does for all Member States. We adopted the third edition …

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age (continuation of debate)

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– Mr President, thank you and good luck in office, but you will need the hammer on some occasions. Look, this debate was interrupted to this morning and I think many of us were perhaps not in the chamber, but very important points were made by colleagues both before and after the debate. And while there was urgency around what we do to build our industrial capacity, I think there is also a danger …

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age (debate)

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– Madam President, good morning colleagues and good morning Minister. I think we all know that this is a decisive decade, that by 2030 we plan to cut emissions by 55%, and that this work started three years ago with the European Green Deal. We set out a very detailed roadmap, Fit for 55, and we accelerated our work with Next Generation EU using EUR 800 billion—worth of investment to emerge from th…

14 Feb

2023

EN Speech

Amendments to the European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIFs) Regulation (debate)

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– Thank you again colleagues, President, I’ll be brief and I just want to pick up a comment of Mr Kovařík about financial literacy and say that this Parliament, I believe, has an important role to play here because we do need to talk about knowledge, about money, and to make sure that citizens have the skills to invest and are aware of what’s happening. My second observation — and Paul, thank you,…