Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner! Please allow me to read a social media post. I quote: We have killed 22 NUP terrorists since last week. NUP stands for National Unity Platform, the opposition party. I quote further: I'm praying the 23rd is Kabobi. Kabobi stands for Bobi Wine, the opposition leader and candidate for the presidency. The quote comes from the president's son, who is also the head of the Ugandan army. Meanwhile, the post was removed, apparently out of fear of international reactions. I am in favour of giving money to strengthen democracy; I am in favour of protecting human rights, including through our cooperation. But this is an outrageous injustice, and I expect the Commission to act; I expect the Member States and the Council to act. The European Parliament will not let go.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Africa is the youngest continent in the world. 40% of the population is under the age of 15. These are hundreds of millions of young people who are eagerly waiting for good education and training, for meaningful work with which they can contribute to the future of their countries. This is where the challenge of the summit in Angola lies, but also the opportunity. We can help to do great things. We can be partners – if our programmes are geared towards, our cooperation is geared towards, in fact, solving the problems. Fighting inequality, value creation in partner countries call for good jobs for the future: This must be included in the Europeans’ agenda for this summit – nothing less, and we want to contribute to this.

Mr President, Commissioner, honourable Presidency of the Council, ladies and gentlemen! If you want to live in prosperity and peace tomorrow, you have to invest in international, reliable partnerships today. This is the commandment of the hour. We are talking about opportunities – yes, that is right. We have to be there when others withdraw. But, Commissioner, please tell us in your reply: How much money is still in the budget for next year – for good education and work, for international aid in the event of a crisis, for humanitarian assistance? That is why the external committees rightly state that there must be a significant increase in international engagement, because otherwise we will no longer be able to act internationally. I believe – and this is addressed to the Commission as well as to the Council – that this window of opportunity must not be overlooked.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, Madam Minister! I don't know if everyone in Seville understood the former minister of Senegal correctly: What she wanted was a real partnership. She pleaded for this, and she invited us to enter into a real partnership. This is precisely why such people are invited to discuss with us how this can be done in practice so that we can have a common success. That is my firm conviction. I just want to point out that a year ago in New York it was the Global South that, together with Europe, saved the multilateral system and linked hopes with it. We have reacted by massively reducing our development cooperation. Commissioner, I hope, Madam Minister, I hope that there will be more left of Seville. I want to express a warning, a wish to the address of Mrs. von der Leyen: If it presents the Multiannual Financial Framework next week, it should be an opportunity to do so, not a diminution of our chances by the fact that we can no longer measure what we want to do together.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, Madam Minister! I don't know if everyone in Seville understood the former minister of Senegal correctly: What she wanted was a real partnership. She pleaded for this, and she invited us to enter into a real partnership. This is precisely why such people are invited to discuss with us how this can be done in practice so that we can have a common success. That is my firm conviction. I just want to point out that a year ago in New York it was the Global South that, together with Europe, saved the multilateral system and linked hopes with it. We have reacted by massively reducing our development cooperation. Commissioner, I hope, Madam Minister, I hope that there will be more left of Seville. I want to express a warning, a wish to the address of Mrs. von der Leyen: If it presents the Multiannual Financial Framework next week, it should be an opportunity to do so, not a diminution of our chances by the fact that we can no longer measure what we want to do together.

Madam President, Commissioner! Dear colleagues! punitive tariffs on friendly nations, the dismantling of its own development agency, the adoption of the Paris Agreement, yes, the announcement to withdraw from the obligations of the World Bank and other international funds: This is not Washington as we know it. This is Neanderthal, this is club-winging before any civilization. For me it is clear: The US after Trump will be weaker and more isolated and have fewer friends than ever before in its history. The net profiteers are located in China. What is the lesson for the European Union? Show your face! In fact, we are stepping up cooperation with the countries in the world that want to cooperate with us, in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America. They are waiting for the increased commitment of Europeans, and that is the only thing that will help us to build a sustainable, solidarity-based world. This is the commandment of the hour.

Mr President! Dear colleagues! We see the extent of the atrocities in the east of the Congo, the atrocities committed by the warring parties, but especially also by the M23 militia. We see the indescribable extent of sexual violence. Innocent people are victims of war. CommissionerYou heard the house: This must stop, because it must not be that the industrialized states also become the profiteers of mass murders, because it must not be that our economic interests trump human rights. Therefore: There is no hypocrisy in this discussion. They must act massively where the European Union has influence, and that is in Rwanda. We finance a large part of the budget. We have signed a memorandum containing moral obligations in economic policy and economic exchange. That's what we're waiting for, that's what this house is pushing for.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! The Commissioner is right: It was a success in New York. The summit for the future was a success. The Pact for the Future is a success. Why? Let me point this out again, Commissioner. Not because we have already achieved everything that urgently needs to happen. No, we do not yet have a global agreement on a common tax concept. No, we do not yet have the large start-up funding for the SDGs, all that is still to come. But nevertheless: You are absolutely right, it was a huge success because Putin's attempt at sabotage of the multilateral order has been rejected by a large majority. We owe this not only to those who negotiated - Namibia and Germany - no, you rightly said it: African nations, Latin America and the peoples of Asia. Why have these countries called for a pact for the future, which should make it possible for joint action on this globe to continue tomorrow? Because they have very specific expectations of this, which we now have to fulfil: Yes, the reform of the Security Council, but also the sustainable financing of its fight against climate change and ensuring that inequality is tackled on this globe. We have the opportunity to: COP 29, G20, there are a lot of assemblies that enable us to act and that call on the European Union to act. There's only one thing you can't do: that the EU gives the impression, as in these days, that we are cutting funds and only looking inward. My group will pay attention to this in this mandate, but also in the discussions with the candidates who now want to become Commissioners.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. I was able to visit the region last week, on both sides, in Palestine and in Israel. What we are seeing here is an unspeakable, a diabolical spiral of hatred and violence on both sides. That's why you're doing me a favor: It is not about us; It is not a question of how we traditionally approach this conflict. Today and tomorrow, the vote is all about one thing: Can we help make the dying, the starving, the suffering stop? This must be our benchmark, ladies and gentlemen. That is why we need a ceasefire, immediate and comprehensive, to prevent further killing. We need the unconditional release of the hostages, innocently still in Hamas' custody. And what we urgently need is a comprehensive and immediate improvement of the humanitarian situation by land, sea and air – all that helps. Let's speak with a strong voice tomorrow! This is not a place for the usual clashes, this is a place for a strong voice of the European Parliament.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, we want – no, we even need – to break new ground. We need to move to new shores – the world's crises demand this. And our partners in the Global South also demand this from us. could be an essential answer to this challenge. But I ask: Do we already offer the partnership for good education and work, the partnership to fight poverty and diseases that are really needed? Do we create the energy of tomorrow so that added value remains in the countries where it is generated, which makes up the wealth of the world? Or does it remain with headlines, empty promises, messages that do not find a connection in practice? I have an urgent advice to the Commission and the Member States: Finally, create a parliamentary basis for Global Gateway – he is sick of it. And if you do not really want to miss the target, you are involving the European Parliament in a different way from what has happened so far.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I have a request. Contribute to making this debate today a part of the response to the situation. Contribute to getting a strong resolution, because it makes no sense that we take one side or the other and thus only contribute to the spiral of violence continuing to turn and continue to die and suffer. Death must stop in Gaza. We need to help people finally find food, water, medical care. And that's why the weapons must remain silent, but at the same time the shelling of Israel must stop. The hostages must be freed. And that is not a but, that is a ‘simultaneous’! Let us support what has been said about good proposals from the Commission and the Council. But I ask the Commission, I ask the Council, to finally debate with us why our influence in the region is so low. We need a political strengthening of our geostrategic, our foreign policy, especially in the region! So that suffering stops and we can contribute to the better and a better future.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, When hostages are released, when pauses in fire are observed, these are important and right steps – but it is not enough. The people in the death zones of Israel, the people in the death zones of Gaza need more. And yes, Mr Borrell is right: We need to look towards peace. But what does that mean? This means for the European Union that we must also have the strength and courage to pave the way for it. The people of Israel must be able to live in peace and security. Where are the representatives of the neighbouring Arab states who raise their voices and guarantee this? Yes – where are the friends of Israel, who clearly and unequivocally make it clear that no more innocent people are allowed to die and that the violence of the settlers belongs to be stopped? Commissioner, Mr High Commissioner, let us be part of the answer! Let's be part of the solution that stops the death spiral once and for all!

Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner! Yes, it is halfway through the 2030 Agenda, halfway through the Sustainable Development Strategy of the United Nations and its Member States – our common plan for the world of tomorrow. You have already mentioned it: The interim balance sheet is extremely worrying. With around 30 percent of our goals, there is no improvement, yes, even deterioration. Very scary, but also significant: The number of hungry people has increased dramatically, people who are undernourished or at risk of starvation. Just a few years ago, and this is far too much, more than 570 million, now 730 million and more, who are suffering this fate. In many countries of the world, the most necessary, but of course also the financial possibilities to invest in education, in health, in good work, and the possibilities to fight the impending climate crisis are lacking. And that's why we're discussing this today: because it is about our common future and because there will only be one future for all in peace and freedom and a desirable life if we make fundamental changes to the relationship between North and South when we open a new chapter. That is why, ladies and gentlemen, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, is right to say that we need an additional 500 billion to create air for investment, to create air for the countries of the Global South. Value creation must remain in these countries. There must be an end to tax evasion and tax havens, which are also supported by the West, which are also supported by the North. And yes, the World Bank, the IMF and our promotional banks need to reposition themselves to meet these requirements. Let's work together, it's high time.

Madam President, Mr Executive Vice-President! My heartfelt congratulations from me too! I have a request to the Commission when it comes to discussing the 2024 work programme. Ms von der Leyen has started with the promise to establish a global commission, a commission of international responsibility. Let's start with that! Yes, we want to support them in this. We have to show how to do this. We like to do this together, and there is a foundation: Article 21 – Human rights. The European Union is committed to supporting and enforcing human rights wherever it can, by all means. Where was that in the so-called Tunisian deal? Where do we read about human rights? It won't work. The same goes for the African debate. Yes, we like to make a new announcement, a new explanation, but let's talk about deeds. We must make sure that the young nations of our neighbouring continent have air to breathe. A word to the right in this House, which again speaks so loudly today: No, we will not allow you to undress and dehumanise the European Union's policy of solidarity. This House will stand together for solidarity and human rights!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. It's been a year since Jaina Mahsa Amini was killed. We have seen the courageous demonstrations, the rebellion of the people of Iran, especially women, and we have seen the regime's brutal reaction: the crackdown, the repression of the opposition, the acts of violence and the situation are deteriorating – this year alone, over 500 people have been executed. Human rights are indivisible – they apply everywhere and to everyone. This is the teaching of courageous people for us. But they have an opponent: This is our silence, this is our stopping. Mr. Borrell, we need to pick up other strings. Yes, the Revolutionary Guards must be placed on the list of terrorist organizations. And we must stop the financial ties with which this regime secures itself internationally. That's what we have to do. And that is what our Member States need to understand. If we don't act now, when will we act? We rely on you and your commitment to make sure that this finally happens.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, President Saied receives more than one billion euros while committing key human rights violations and continuing to dismantle democracy in Tunisia. Commissioner Várhelyi, you have to answer questions, very specific questions. Why has an agreement not been attempted under the existing association agreement with Tunisia, Article 2 of which binds us precisely to respect for human rights? Is that a coincidence? They have to answer questions that also relate to the statements of Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who recently noted in June how much the situation is deteriorating. Have you ever talked to him? And how do you want to guarantee that the principles of the European Union are respected in Article 21 of the EU Treaty – human rights are the yardstick of our foreign policy?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, The progressive inequalities in this world are killing. This is especially true for the poorer countries of the Global South, countries that are actually very rich, very often rich in resources, but almost always rich – which is much more important – in young people who want to take their fate into their own hands, who want to do something in the truest sense of the word, but who lack the means to do so. Africa alone loses more than $80 billion a year in tax evasion, and that is why, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, we must steam up at the G20 in New Delhi in September and at the other international conferences: Implement minimum taxes, fight tax evasion together, and finally close our tax havens so that people around the world have a chance to benefit from wealth.

Madam President, Commissioner! I would like to thank all the colleagues who have been so active in the debate. The debate, ladies and gentlemen, has underlined the urgency with which we are called to act, and there are opportunities for that. It has been mentioned: We will go in July to High-level Political Forum United Nations in New York. There will be a United Nations meeting in September dedicated to the sustainability strategy and its mid-term review - we need to be present, we need to speak. But there is also an opportunity next week in Paris: the International Conference on Financing for Development. Please let us not forget that half of low- and middle-income countries suffer from an immeasurable debt burden and that there is a concrete danger that the Global South will be slowed down, crushed by debt. This is where we have to act. There must also be a participation of private lenders in debt relief. And we must ensure that those countries that invest in the SDGs are rewarded, in the education of their children, in the opportunities of their young people, in the sustainability of their jobs of the future. Let's speak with one voice tomorrow with a strong vote and go to New York with a strong report. Let us support the Commission in its attempt to take the lead. We need to work together. This is the commandment of the hour. The world needs this, and we can support it.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, my dear co-rapporteur, Petros Kokkalis! I also thank the shadow rapporteurs who have worked so constructively on the report. In 2015, the international community agreed on a major reform programme: the 2030 Agenda - the concept for a sustainable, social and better world. If we make a mid-term review today, eight years later, we will have to deal with massive problems. The number of refugees worldwide has risen to over 110 million people. We could have 140 million climate refugees in 2050 alone. Hunger is back on the globe. More than 830 million people are at risk. What is the answer? Abandoning the 2030 Agenda? That can't be the solution. Quite the contrary. We need this holistic approach more than ever before as a compass to deal with the crises and as a guide for our international policy, for the international community, but especially for the European Union, which must play a pioneering role in the international concert. What means do we have? The NDICI-Global Europe instrument, our international portfolio, has €80 billion until 2027. Team Europe and Global Gateway wants to increase this to 300 billion. 150 billion is to be invested in Africa alone. The Commission promises us that this approach to Global Gateway must serve the SDGs from start to finish - and indeed we want to support that, Commissioner, we want to implement this together with you. But we also want to check it out. We also want to be able to measure it. Why is this so important? What does this mean that we are committed to the sustainability concept for our partner countries? We will see a situation in a few years, by 2030, where one in four young people in the world, one in four young people, comes from Africa, just to give an example. These young people - and we want to do so - should be able to become engineers because they have to be the ones who develop the sustainable, renewable energy systems in Namibia and elsewhere, because they have to be the ones who take the fate of their countries into their own hands. Yes, and it is the young people of today who will advance the expansion of the digital infrastructure in Mauritania tomorrow as IT experts. We want our partner countries to empoweredbe empowered to shape their societies in a social and future-oriented manner. That is why we need the concept of sustainability strategy. It must determine our foreign policy as well as our domestic policy.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! We know the numbers. A continent like Africa loses around $80 billion a year due to illicit capital flight alone. That's about the amount Africa needs for its annual modernization investments, for schools, for hospitals and for transport routes. When will we finally wake up and draw the necessary consequences from it? Yes, we want global minimum taxes, as the rapporteur Fuglsang rightly calls for. Yes, we want to help effective tax systems, our partner countries - for decent authorities doing their job. But first of all: We have to drain our own tax havens, make sure that we do not feed the letterbox companies and the tax evaders ourselves. This is the daily task if we want to overcome the problems and ensure that there is better cooperation on tax policy internationally.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Putin has not only instigated a criminal war of aggression against Ukraine, he is trying to destroy the identity of an entire people. Since the beginning of the war, well over 16,000 children have been separated from their families and taken to Russia. Every single case is a war crime. Every single case is an attempt to destroy families, deprive children of their identity, and wipe out a nation. Let us say this to all those who appease that somehow two warring parties have clashed, and let us say this to all those who tell nonsense – confused nonsense – including in this House. Dear colleagues, the International Criminal Court has cleaned up these lies. We must implement his decision and ensure that these children can return to their families intact. This is our joint commitment.

Mr President, High Representative, Mr Vice-President of the Commission! Yes, Mrs. von der Leyen gave an interesting speech. Let's take care of our economic interests, let's take care of our technological interests. That's right. She mentions human rights. This is also the most serious injury in China. But what does that mean? This aspect is not declensed, and that is a problem. Are we willing to use our global sanctions regime against the companies that deliver technologies that persecute and oppress people? Are we ready to shape our trade relations to meet standards against forced labour in Xinjiang And elsewhere? Are we ready to make the supply chain law so strong that it really has teeth? This is what we urgently need. And can we finally ensure in our development and foreign economic policy that where European money is spent, only companies that comply with our standards of human rights will benefit? This is a common task, ladies and gentlemen, for all the European institutions, including for us in this House.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The defenders of human rights, the courageous women and men who stand with those whose rights are being oppressed – they need our protection. The External Action Service, the European Commission, but also the Member States of the EU have every reason to check where we stand with our policies and where we need to improve. Colleague Hannah Neumann is explicitly right when she calls in her excellent report for the silos to be broken up, for the one-sided considerations to no longer bear, and for new policies and new initiatives to be needed. If people risk their lives because they fight against war and violence, against the restrictions on democratic freedoms and, yes, more and more against the destruction of the livelihoods, our all livelihoods in nature, then this is reason enough to review not only our human rights policy, but also our trade policy, our economic policy, our entire foreign policy. That is why we welcome the report and hope that it will have as much impact as possible.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Ja, dieser Korruptionsskandal muss rückhaltlos – rückhaltlos heißt: without ifs and buts – be enlightened. Das gilt in Bezug auf ausländische Regierungen, die Einfluss genommen haben. This applies to deputies or ex-deputies who, as the case may be, have exerted influence. And it also applies to sham NGOs, which have taken advantage of the good attribute of the non-governmental organization, the good attribute, the good characteristics of civil society. Ich kann für den Unterausschuss, den ich übernommen habe, den Menschenrechtsausschuss, sagen, dass die Kolleginnen und Kollegen wild entschlossen sind, nichts durchgehen zu lassen, was unsere Arbeit in irgendeiner Weise in Misskredit bringt. Quite the contrary. We are there for the people who have no voice, whose rights are being violated, but not for those who carry money cases through the area. Mrs Hohlmeier is right: We have to be careful. Aber lassen Sie uns vielleicht noch ein bisschen radikaler werden. It is not non-governmental organisations alone that are suspected of misrepresenting or abusing funds. All who receive funds from us are placed in the same bank and investigated to the same extent and must be accountable in the same way. And we need to review our practices, but not only in committees and not just in the Commission. Sometimes, Mrs Hohlmeier, we – and you will be surprised – have to be more careful in our services to the very top of this House if we grant authorisations to use the House's scientific services or other resources without registering the relevant civil society institutions. That won't be allowed to happen anymore. I expect a constructive debate, but one without witch-hunts against the people in civil society that we urgently need.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Global Gateway is a huge opportunity. It is our chance to put the European Union’s opportunity, relations with the Global South – and this is a long time to come – on a new footing, on a partnership basis that creates the basis for us to shape our future together. But the political direction must be right. It is about 300 billion euros by 2027 for education, for health, for infrastructure. What does that mean, the political direction has to be right? Our partner countries need to be empowered to go their own way towards a sustainable future, with clean energy and a good economy, with a perspective for the millions of boys and girls who want to go to school, who want to learn something to live their lives in a self-determined way – a good life in their respective countries – and to contribute to personal success. That is, we need to develop sustainability strategies, and we need to fight the sky-rocketing inequalities with this tool – inequalities that continue to grow. And that is one of the main reasons why our partner countries are not getting on their feet. This is the compass we are talking about. Discussions about this, and I say this quite frankly, we miss. We miss concepts that we can say are already fit for purpose today. Yes, we miss the dialogue with the European Parliament. The European Parliament is a legislator and a budgetary authority. And yes, I think it will be more difficult if Member States are to come on board and if private investors are to be won. But this is my message from this morning's debate: There is no way around constructive dialogue with the European Parliament and it is high time that it is conducted.