What Jeroen spoke about.

21

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Assessment of Hungary's compliance with the rule of law conditions under the Conditionality Regulation and state of play of the Hungarian RRP (debate)

Madam President, I never quite understand the position of our Hungarian Fidesz colleagues, because for years they have been telling us that there is nothing wrong in Hungary on the rule of law, on democracy, on anti—corruption, that all is good and that everybody who criticises it is part of an ideological jihad against Hungary, etc. and we are all part of the extreme left here. Now there is EUR 7…

19

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report 2021 (debate)

Madam President, let me first thank President Murphy for the presentation today, but mainly for the work that the Court of Auditors does in general. It’s crucial work, also in the context of our work here in this House on the discharge procedures. Now, on the annual report, I want to make three brief points. Firstly, it is concerning that the Court reports an error rate of 3% for expenditure, whic…

18

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Impact of Russian invasion of Ukraine on migration flows to the EU (debate)

Mr President, the Russian invasion of Ukraine had, of course, a huge and a direct impact on migratory migration flows to the EU. More than 11 million Ukrainians crossed the border of the European Union. A significant number have returned, indeed, but over 4 million of them have registered for temporary protection in the EU. And the EU delivered on this TPD. And we can be proud about how millions o…

17

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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FRONTEX's responsibility for fundamental rights violations at EU's external borders in light of the OLAF report (debate)

Mr President, dear Commissioner, the timing of this debate was a bit spontaneous – I will try to make it work. But first of all, thanks a lot to OLAF for the very thorough work they have done in preparing this report. I think it goes without saying that the behaviour of the three persons concerned, as it is described in the OLAF report, is very concerning, and that they have seriously hurt the ima…

17

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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The Rule of Law in Malta, five years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia (debate)

Mr President, five years ago, Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated. The ultimate punishment for exposing the corruption at the highest level of the Maltese Government: a government that carries responsibility for her murder by creating a favourable climate for anyone who wanted to eliminate her. Whoever planned and carried out the assassination did so in the knowledge they would be protected. A…

4

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Commission proposal for measures under the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation in the case of Hungary (debate)

Madam President, the EU has long been toothless in the fight to protect the rule of law in certain Member States. National leaders refuse to hold each other to account. And the other Article 7 procedures initiated by the Commission and Parliament failed to deliver real results. So last year, January was truly a historic moment. Finally some teeth; finally an instrument that makes an impact, both b…

14

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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Illegal detention of the opposition leader in Bulgaria (topical debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, six months ago Bulgarian opposition leader and former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov was arrested, house searched and detained for 24 hours – an opposition leader arrested upon the explicit request of the ruling Prime Minister, Mr Petkov, without the involvement of a single judge or prosecutor or any kind of due process. It’s a scandal. And it’s a scandal that it is no…

13

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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The urgent need for action at EU level to ensure humane treatment of migrants in Europe, including at the borders (debate)

Madam President, in June of this year, 70 000 people applied for asylum in the EU. It was the highest level recorded in a single month since 2016. Overall, asylum applications are up 68% compared to last year. Of course, we need to ensure that all migrants are treated humanely. This is what our European fundamental values are about. But at the same time, it is not hard to imagine that these number…

12

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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Surveillance and predator spyware systems in Greece (debate)

Mr President, it is not our first debate on spyware in Europe, and it probably will not be our last. We were absolutely right earlier this year to set up our committee of inquiry into this matter, because it goes without saying that illegal surveillance of members communications is unacceptable. As we have also said from the beginning, this is not about a particular Member State or a particular te…

8

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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The Commission's proposal for "Attracting skills and talent to the EU", particularly the Talent Partnerships with North African countries (topical debate)

Mr President, Europe is a rapidly aging continent: our working population is shrinking and will continue to shrink in the foreseeable future. And we already see today all over Europe that employers are faced with significant labour shortages. So it’s good that also at the European level, we look for innovative ways to increase the attractiveness of our Union to talent from third countries. And, ye…

7

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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The rule of law and the potential approval of the Polish national Recovery Plan (RRF) (debate)

Mr President, we cannot, and will not, allow our common values to be put at risk; the Commission will act. These were your words, Madam President, in this House in October last year during the debate on Poland. Those words were accompanied by clear demands, and you mentioned them today as well: the dismantling of the disciplinary chamber, ending the disciplinary regime for Polish judges and the re…

19

May

2022

EN Speech

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The fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, we have all witnessed the atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces against innocent Ukrainian men, women and children. These images speak for themselves, even when there are simply no words to describe the horror they depict. There can be no impunity for war crimes in Ukraine. The perpetrators must be held to account. For that we need evidence; evidence that is collected on t…

4

May

2022

EN Speech

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Use of the Pegasus Software by EU Member States against individuals including MEPs and the violation of fundamental rights (topical debate)

Mr President, when we had a similar debate here about two months ago, I predicted that we had not yet discovered the full depths of the Pegasus spyware scandal and I think the revelations of recent weeks have certainly proven the point. It has also proven that it was a very good decision of this Parliament to set up a committee of inquiry and get to the bottom of this, because that is exactly what…

4

May

2022

EN Speech

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Discharge 2020 (debate)

Madam President, it’s fair to say that this year’s ECA discharge was quite eventful. At the end of this procedure, I would like to draw two main conclusions. First, that the Court has spent its budget in full compliance with the applicable rules, as was also confirmed by independent external auditors. Secondly, that some of these rules are in need of an update to improve the functioning of the Cou…

3

May

2022

EN Speech

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Strengthening Europol’s mandate: cooperation with private parties, processing of personal data, and support for research and innovation (debate)

Mr President, Europeans rightly expect a high level of security in the European Union, and this is why a strong Europol has always been and will always be a key priority for our group. And this is also why this new mandate is such a good thing, because the threats of today and tomorrow are not the same as those of yesterday, and so must be our response. Crime is becoming ever more digital, and we …

3

May

2022

EN Speech

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Ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

Madam President, before I go into the content of my contribution here today, I do have to say that I find it disappointing that we are having this debate today only with Commissioner Reynders. This is nothing personal against Commissioner Reynders obviously, but the fact that we’re talking about the ongoing Article 7 procedures and there is an empty chair on my left, even though we all know that t…

6

Apr

2022

EN Speech

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Ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

Madam President, now, Poland is not Hungary, and Hungary is not Poland, and both countries merit very much their own assessment and individual evaluation. On Hungary, we welcome the announcement yesterday that a notification has been sent under the Rule of Law Conditionality. It’s an important step, and it means the Commission is now convinced there is a clear case of rule of law violations that e…

5

Apr

2022

NL Speech

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EU Protection of children and young people fleeing the war against Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, millions of people have fled Ukraine, fleeing from Putin's bombs and war crimes. We have seen in recent days – in Bucha – where these people have fled and what the terrible fate is for those who have been left behind. Those images will remain burned on our retinas forever. 90% of refugees are women and children, children who must first and foremost be able to be children, who must be…

8

Mar

2022

EN Speech

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The deterioration of the situation of refugees as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, this is a debate I never imagined having in my lifetime. A horrific war is ongoing on our continent, and thanks to the courageous work of many journalists we can see what is happening and the images are heart-breaking. We see death, destruction, families ripped apart, children running away from missiles and tanks instead of running behind a football, grandparents fleeing, in some …

7

Mar

2022

EN Speech

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Citizenship and residence by investment schemes (debate)

Mr President, for many, many years, we have been warning the Commission and the Member States about the risks and dangers of golden passports. We’ve been sharing our concerns about security, money laundering, tax evasion, corruption and organised crime in connection with these schemes, even arguing why EU citizenship should never be for sale, as it goes against the very values of the European Unio…

16

Feb

2022

EN Speech

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The Rule of Law and the consequences of the ECJ ruling (debate)

Madam President, today’s court ruling is a victory for all Europeans that care about the rule of law, and I am grateful that the ECJ explicitly mentioned solidarity and the rule of law as values that define the very identity of the European Union. If you don’t comply with these values, you cannot expect to simply continue to enjoy all the rights and benefits that come with EU membership. The EU mu…

15

Feb

2022

EN Speech

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The surveillance of politicians, prosecutors, lawyers and journalists, and other persons and entities in EU Member States using cyber surveillance software(debate)

Madam President, if anything became clear in these past weeks, it is that we have yet to discover the full depths of this Pegasus spyware scandal, so it’s very good and important that we have this debate here today. There are three points that I would like to make. First, that we cannot overemphasise the severity of this scandal. I think it’s important for all of us to put ourselves in the place o…

15

Dec

2021

EN Speech

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The proposed Council decision on provisional emergency measures for the external border with Belarus based on article 78(3) TFEU (continuation of debate)

Madam President, in recent months, the EU has been confronted with an unprecedented situation at our external border, confronted with a hybrid attack from a wicked dictator instrumentalising migrants in an attempt to blackmail our European Union. Even though his actions are directed against the whole of the European Union, the consequences are most severely felt in our Member States at the eastern…

24

Nov

2021

EN Speech

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Fundamental rights and the rule of law in Slovenia, in particular the delayed nomination of EPPO prosecutors (debate)

Mr President, to be honest I wasn’t sure about the necessity of this debate on the late nomination of the EPPO prosecutors today, but I have to admit, the colleagues who insisted on it do have impeccable timing, because this morning the two Slovenian prosecutors were indeed appointed by the College of the EPPO and the EPPO is now finally fully operational. So this debate comes at the right moment …

23

Nov

2021

EN Speech

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Situation in Belarus and at its border with the EU and the security and humanitarian consequences (debate)

Mr President, what’s happening at our eastern borders is not just a migration crisis, it is hybrid warfare from a wicked dictator in Minsk, and it demands a determined European response. And we’ve seen that determination in the past weeks, with Vice-President Schinas building partnerships with third countries to make sure their airports are no longer exploited by smugglers colluding with the Belar…