What Sophia spoke about.

13 Dec

2023

EN Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 14-15 December 2023 (debate)

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Madam President, just very briefly, I couldn’t help noticing that the President of the European Commission has left. The President of the European Commission is a member of the European Council. We’re having a debate about the European Council here. I think it would have been appropriate for the President of the Commission to remain here for the entire debate. And I’ve noticed this is not the firs…

13 Dec

2023

EN Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 14-15 December 2023 (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, the Lisbon Treaty says about the tasks of the European Council that it shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development. Impetus is speed, motion, but in reality, we see that the European Council is actually the biggest brake on the development of the European Union. Let’s start with enlargement. Enlargement is urgent. It is a politica…

12 Dec

2023

EN Speech

Defence of democracy package (debate)

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Madam President, dear Commissioners, there is a bitter irony – it will have escaped nobody’s attention – in the timing of this defence of democracy package, because it coincides exactly with the upcoming decision by the European Commission and the European Council to pay their bribes to the European kleptocrat-in-chief, Viktor Orbán. In addition, the European Commission in this package introduces …

22 Nov

2023

EN Speech

The lack of legislative follow-up by the Commission to the PEGA resolution (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, I listened with great interest to the first-year law student lecture we just got on what the law is, and what Member States should and should not do – that’s not the problem. When Member States do not comply with the law, then what does the Commission do? That’s the key question here. And the Commission says, ‘Oh, we condemn. We expect. We assist. We have no investigati…

22 Nov

2023

EN Speech

Cyprus Confidential - need to curb enablers of sanctions-evasion and money-laundering rules in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, very briefly, I have the feeling that we’re a bit in the Twilight Zone. There is a massive scandal and the Commission says after a debate like this, ‘Oh, we’re only responsible to see that EU laws are transposed and the Council says everything is fine because we have laws’. Who is responsible? We didn’t get an answer to that in this debate. I find this such a lack of respect, not jus…

22 Nov

2023

EN Speech

Cyprus Confidential - need to curb enablers of sanctions-evasion and money-laundering rules in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, I would like to start by thanking the journalists who, once again, were the ones who have uncovered wrongdoing. We are now talking about Cyprus Confidential, but it could be LuxLeaks, Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers ... We have to ask ourselves, why is it that journalists seem to be the ones who are actually in charge of law enforcement? Why is it that all this wrongdoing is not u…

21 Nov

2023

EN Question

Continuing threat to the rule of law, the independence of justice and the non-fulfilment of conditionality for EU funding in Hungary (debate)

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Dear colleague, you were singing the praises of the Hungarian people. And I entirely share your views. But then you seem to equal the Hungarian Government to the Hungarian people. Can you please explain if you agree with us, yes or no, that a government is not the same as the people? And Mr Orbán may think he is the people, but he actually is not. He’s the head of government. But there are lots of…

21 Nov

2023

EN Speech

Continuing threat to the rule of law, the independence of justice and the non-fulfilment of conditionality for EU funding in Hungary (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioners, Minister, I’m getting a little bit tired of this debate. It’s not the first time. No, no, no! You’re cheering for the wrong reasons there, okay? I’m getting a little bit tired because I think we all agree here – with the exception of you there in the back – that not a penny should go to the Hungarian Government. And I don’t want to have this debate, because every ti…

21 Nov

2023

EN Question

Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties (debate)

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My question was in the same vein. It was very short: why are you here? But you’ve just very eloquently explained that your presence here is absolutely useless, that your aim – your stated aim – is actually to be as useless as possible. And on top of that, you do not achieve anything. So do you not think you would serve your voters better by leaving?…

21 Nov

2023

EN Speech

Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties (debate)

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Mr President, colleagues, parliamentary democracy is in steep decline. Checks and balances, accountability and the separation of powers have been all but eliminated, and nowhere more than at EU level. As the EU is growing more powerful, its democracy is limp. And it is not by accident. The Lisbon Treaty ironically gave new powers to the Parliament, but it also made the European Union fundamentally…

18 Oct

2023

EN Question

Rule of Law in Malta: 6 years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the need to protect journalists (debate)

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Dear colleague Rangel, I hear what you say, and I’ve known you for many years, and I know your commitment to the rule of law. It is true that we are talking here about Malta today, because the EPP did not want to have a debate on Greece. Dear colleague Rangel, there is a systemic problem with the rule of law in Greece. You mentioned Daphne Caruana, you mentioned Ján Kuciak, but there’s one journal…

18 Oct

2023

EN Speech

Rule of Law in Malta: 6 years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the need to protect journalists (debate)

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Madam President, the day before yesterday was six years ago when Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered. Today, we pay tribute to her work. It continues to be necessary, and this House will continue to be involved until full justice is done and the culture of impunity has ended. Because two years after the report of the public inquiry, it is true that steps have taken, but all recommendations have no…

17 Oct

2023

EN Speech

Urgent need for a coordinated European response and legislative framework on intrusive spyware, based on the PEGA inquiry committee recommendations (debate)

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Mr President, Minister, Madam Commissioner, I’m a bit sad that the not all the responsible Commissioners are here. Honestly, looking at the reply of the Commission, which took you four months to draft, it is a complete and utter waste of paper. it is worse, it is a provocation, it is a slap in the face of those people who have been targeted with spyware and a slap in the face for the victims of br…

17 Oct

2023

EN Speech

Effectiveness of the EU sanctions on Russia (debate)

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Madam President, colleagues, I hear the Putin friends from the left and right extremes of this chamber argue against sanctions in great consensus, invoking the economic cost to European citizens. But they should tell the full story. The cost of war is infinitely higher, both materially and morally, and the cynical reality is that despite the sanctions, trade continues and we see Russians, rich Rus…

4 Oct

2023

EN Question

Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

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Mr President, maybe, actually, I should address the question to you, because I have had this exchange with Mr Vandendriessche many times. He is using a term which is a Nazi term, and he knows that full well. And I would like to ask you, Mr President, rather than Mr Vandendriessche, whether the use of Nazi terminology in this hemicycle is acceptable, he uses the term , which is the Dutch version of…

4 Oct

2023

EN Speech

Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

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Mr President, Mr Minister, Mr Commissioner, it has been said by many that the clock is ticking. We owe it to the citizens of Europe to finally adopt a proper asylum and migration policy. And so we are eagerly awaiting the position of the Council on the crisis regulation, which is the key to the rest of the package. But, I warn you, that's not the end of the process, because a negotiating mandate s…

12 Sep

2023

EN Question

EU-Tunisia Agreement - aspects related to external migration policy (debate)

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You mentioned the people smugglers. Surely, you are aware that since the conclusion of this deal, whatever it may be, that the business has actually boomed for people smugglers. Would the EPP consider this a successful outcome of the deal?…

12 Sep

2023

EN Speech

EU-Tunisia Agreement - aspects related to external migration policy (debate)

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Mr President, colleagues, we do not always have the luxury of choosing our neighbours, but as long as European standards on human rights, democracy and the rule of law are respected, of course we can conclude agreements. But the Tunisia deal does not meet any of those standards. It has the legal status of a beer coaster and was concluded by a fantasy body called Team Europe. It has not delivered o…

13 Jul

2023

EN Speech

Public access to documents – annual report for the years 2019-2021 (debate)

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Mr President, Madam Commissioner, colleagues, I am very grateful for the report of the rapporteur, but I would disagree with you, rapporteur, on one tiny detail: you said ‘transparency, access to documents is a fundamental right’. That’s true in itself. But there is something much more important – it is a key element of democracy. Without transparency and access to documents, there is no scrutiny.…

12 Jul

2023

EN Speech

The need for EU action on search and rescue in the Mediterranean (debate)

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Madam President, Madam Commissioner, Mr Minister, let’s compare here. The billionaire on board the shipwrecked Titan was a Pakistani citizen and holder of a Maltese golden passport. The 209 Pakistani people on board the Adriana had no golden passport, indeed no legal pathways. Yes, people smuggling is a despicable crime that must be fought. But don’t try to distract and shift the blame because onc…

11 Jul

2023

EN Speech

2023 Annual Rule of law report (debate)

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Madam President, Mr Commissioner, Minister, as the original architect of this report, this annual debate is always a special moment for me. The Annual Rule of Law Report – in its fourth edition this year – have become a document of reference for everybody, and including recommendations was clearly a big improvement. However, key weaknesses remain because our original idea was to have standards app…

14 Jun

2023

EN Speech

Extension of the mandate of the EPPO with regard to the criminal offence of violation of Union restrictive measures (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, as the rapporteur for the Directive on ‘VURM’, as we call it – the violation of Union restrictive measures – I am very committed to working fast and concluding the file as quickly as possible, and I am glad to say that all the groups have committed to that because everybody understands the importance of this piece of legislation. But we also know that in pr…

14 Jun

2023

EN Speech

Investigation of the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware - Investigation of the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (draft recommendation) (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, thank you for this debate. We have often referred to this scandal as Watergate. The European or Greek or Spanish or Hungarian equivalent of Watergate. Actually, it isn’t. It’s like this movie called ‘The Lives of Others’, which is about the former Eastern European Stasi spying on its citizens, a repressive regime. That is what this is about. And colleagues, …

14 Jun

2023

EN Question

Investigation of the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware - Investigation of the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (draft recommendation) (debate)

Watch

Mr Mariani, you were frustrated that after the revelations of the NSA spying etc. nothing has been done by the European Union. You said, ‘Why doesn’t the European Union act?’ But then my question is, why are you – your party and your group – opposed to giving the powers to the European Union to act? Because you’ve tabled amendments and during the debates you’ve opposed action by the European Union…

14 Jun

2023

EN Speech

Investigation of the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware - Investigation of the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (draft recommendation) (debate)

Watch

Madam President, dear colleagues, today we are going to have the debate and tomorrow the vote on the recommendations put forward by the PEGA Committee, which is the conclusion of the work that we have been doing for 14 or 15 months. And let us go back a little bit to what it is that we are talking about: spyware. You know, this stuff that creeps into your mobile phone and takes over your life with…