What Martin spoke about.

17 Jun

2026

DE Speech

Plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed (A10-0175/2026 - Jessica Polfjärd) (vote)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. The trilogue result is clearly against what we wanted here in Parliament, namely no patents on seeds; We had a very clear majority. Now they're supposed to come suddenly. This threatens the European seed sector, it threatens the rights of growers, and we are opening the door wide for American, Chinese GMO companies. Do we really want that? I don't think we can a…

19 May

2026

DE Speech

Presentation of the Fertilisers Action Plan (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Our most important task must be to reduce the dependence on Lukashenka, Putin and the Gulf states for imports of fertilisers. That is the central task! Anyone who now calls for tariff cuts or the abolition of CBAM ultimately ruins the European fertiliser industry must be clear! We need to strengthen them, not weaken them! Switching to renewables in nitrogen p…

30 Apr

2026

DE Speech

How to secure a sustainable future for the EU livestock sector in light of the need to ensure food security, farmers’ resilience and the challenges posed by animal diseases? (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. We have a lot of problems in animal husbandry. Above all, we have a huge problem with the small pet owners who suffer from the price pressure. On the other hand, we have an increasing concentration of livestock farming on fattening farms – with consequences for the environment, for groundwater, but also for animal welfare. We still have, and I repeat, we still h…

7 Oct

2025

DE Speech

Common agricultural policy (joint debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. There are wild farmers driving through Brussels, and what does the Commission do immediately? She says that under the guise of de-bureaucratization, many environmental regulations will be abolished. This is a de-greening of the CAP. Commissioner, you yourself were the rapporteur of the ENVI Committee when the new CAP was drawn up. Didn't you also say at the time…

10 Jul

2025

DE Speech

Post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, We need to spend the money better. What have we been doing in recent years? We promoted land ownership. The more land, the more money. No, we have to support farmers who do something for the environment, for the climate, for biodiversity. That's where the money has to go. I think we agree on this: We need a strong second pillar. We need rural development. We …

7 May

2025

DE Speech

Democratic legitimacy and the Commission’s continued authorisation of genetically modified organisms despite Parliament’s objections (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Parliament has objected 84 times to the import of genetically treated maize, soybean in particular. There was no qualified majority in the Council. Nevertheless, the Commission has wiped all these concerns off the table with egregious ignorance, as if what Parliament is saying is worthless. Highly problematic maize has been imported and soybean made resistant…

13 Mar

2025

DE Speech

A Vision for Agriculture and Food (debate)

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Mr President! Commissioner, I am honest: I would have expected more from the vision. The Strategy Commission has presented it. We have set targets in the Strategy Commission: Fighting climate change, strengthening and not weakening biodiversity, empowering farmers in the chain. Where has the promotion of sustainable production gone? Where are the 25 % organic farming, which is once in the Farm to …

18 Dec

2024

DE Speech

Challenges facing EU farmers and agricultural workers: improving working conditions, including their mental well-being (debate)

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Mr President! Commissioner, you know this: The frustration in agriculture is huge. But not only among the farmers, but also among the 4 million workers – migrant workers, it must be said – who bring in crops in Europe and work in poor social conditions. This too urgently needs to change. The frustration among the farmers is also so great because they actually see: Others make big profits in the ag…

16 Sep

2024

DE Speech

Outcome of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner! First of all, I would like to thank Mr Strohschneider. Who would have thought recently that 29 associations would find themselves and sign a paper that is truly groundbreaking for sustainable, more ecological agriculture. The paper clearly shows: Agriculture is only possible together with a sustainable environmental and climate protection policy, and unfortunately many …

23 Apr

2024

DE Speech

Production and marketing of plant reproductive material - Production and marketing of forest reproductive material (joint debate - Plant and forest reproductive material)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! I think if we remember: Ten years ago, the Commission's proposal for a new seed law failed. Why? Because here, I think, many have found it has gone too far in the direction of industry. The Commission's new proposal was and is better. I believe in the negotiations with Herbert Dorfmann – we made him even better than he was. Why? Because we …

14 Mar

2024

DE Speech

Promised revision of the EU animal welfare legislation and the animal welfare-related European citizens’ initiatives (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. It must be said that these were five lost years for animal welfare in Europe. 1.4 million people have demanded that cage farming be abolished. What happened? Nothing. There was a demand for a ban on fur farming, which was really very painful. What happened? Nothing. And now, at the end of the legislature, the Commission is coming up with a proposal on animal tra…

12 Mar

2024

DE Speech

Need to impose sanctions on the import of Russian and Belarusian food and agricultural products to the EU and to ensure stability of EU agricultural production (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. A frequently asked question: Where's Wojciechowski? He doesn't show up, he's not in debate. For months there have been polemics against the import of Ukrainian grain. European farmers’ associations claim that the fall in prices was due to the duty-free import of Ukrainian grain, even though Ukraine has been exporting again via the Black Sea since January – it ha…

7 Feb

2024

DE Speech

Empowering farmers and rural communities - a dialogue towards sustainable and fairly rewarded EU agriculture (debate)

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Madam President, Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we all have a great understanding of the farmers’ protests; There is no need to burn trees in front of Parliament. The economic situation of farmers is catastrophic in many areas, especially in the case of small and medium-sized farms, and prices are falling. And the fatal thing is that the price range between what the farmer gets and what…

6 Feb

2024

DE Speech

Plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. There was once great hope: the strategy. Fewer pesticides, fewer antibiotics, fewer chemical fertilizers. What has become of it? Nothing. What do you do now? liberalise genetic engineering; There is no other way to call it. This sounds like an aid program for Bayer-Monsanto, which is currently being launched. The EU is abandoning its precautionary principle. It …

21 Nov

2023

DE Speech

Sustainable use of plant protection products (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Tomorrow we can send a good signal for Europe if we accept this proposal from Mrs Wiener. It is about protecting biodiversity, but it is also about protecting the health of European citizens. This is also part of the truth: In the long term, we need to do a different kind of farming, with fewer pesticides. Those who say that it is only possible with pesticide…

4 Oct

2023

DE Speech

The proposed extension of glyphosate in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Some of those present have talked about a plant protection product. That's nonsense! It is a plant destroyer, total destroyer. That's why you're being honest. Also, be honest about why glyphosate is used so much: It's easy to use, it's cheap, it's made for agro-industrial agriculture. And how is it done? All syringe, sow, done. We are told that there must be alt…

11 Sep

2023

DE Speech

Renewable Energy Directive (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! We are, of course, really behind this agreement on many points, especially on raising the target. Only goals can be increased quickly, the implementation, that is now the difficult task. That's why we really agree on one point: We need to accelerate the expansion of renewables. For six months, for new wind turbines one year. This must be the aim, w…

11 Sep

2023

DE Speech

Surface water and groundwater pollutants (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! We welcome this proposal from the Commission, because it is in fact urgently needed: We must protect the source of all life, we must protect the water more and more intensively. We also need to ensure that certain products, which may not have been so central to the discussion in recent years, are supplemented. We talked for a long time about nit…

12 Jul

2023

DE Speech

Delivering on the Green Deal: risk of compromising the EU path to the green transition and its international commitments (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, It is a good day today – I think many agree on this – not only for the environment, but we can finally implement our commitments under the Montreal Agreement. Europe is once again at the forefront – hopefully. I think we should also mention one point here: The EPP has once again chosen agriculture as the main battlefield to fight against the Nature Restoratio…

15 Jun

2023

DE Speech

The water crisis in Europe (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Yes, we are dealing with a very serious problem. One third of humanity is already suffering from water shortages, and soon it will be half of humanity. We also have a similar situation in Europe, and we need to rethink in many areas. Above all, we need to rethink agriculture. Do we really need to drain wetlands to grow strawberries and avocados? That's a ques…

13 Jun

2023

DE Speech

Ensuring food security and the long-term resilience of EU agriculture (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. I must say, for example, that Mrs Mortler did not take into account any request from the ENVI Committee at all. It's a bad style, I have to say. I was also a shadow rapporteur. But if you read your report correctly, it actually reads according to the motto: "Environmental measures jeopardise food security", as can be seen from their campaign against "farm to for…

10 May

2023

DE Speech

The role of farmers as enablers of the green transition and a resilient agricultural sector (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. What the EPP has been doing here for days is a frontal attack on the strategy. This is where the policy of the Committee on Agriculture continues, as we have all seen for months: Either Timmermans is to blame for the decline of agriculture, the wolf or the greens. It's unbelievable what's going on. Not a word, Mr. Dorfmann, about the climate catastrophe, not a s…

19 Apr

2023

DE Speech

Keeping people healthy, water drinkable and soil liveable: getting rid of forever pollutants and strengthening EU chemical legislation now (topical debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, PFAS have come to stay – unfortunately. They are highly toxic and should have been removed from circulation long ago. But you can't see them, you can't dodge them, both in products and in water, air and soil. But what is actually being done? In Germany, 1,500 locations are polluted. However, we still have six factories in Germany and the largest number of fac…

16 Mar

2023

DE Speech

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

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! We've been talking for years about finally having to do something to stop species loss. We're talking about drastic numbers: 70% of insects disappear, field birds disappear. As soon as the Commission comes out with the first initiative to reduce pesticides by 50%, then the agricultural industry runs, then Copa-Cogeca runs, and then some conservativ…

13 Dec

2022

DE Speech

Renewable Energy, Energy Performance of Buildings and Energy Efficiency Directives: amendments (REPowerEU) (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! We agree on many points: We need to accelerate to reach the renewables targets – no doubt about it. We need to grant permits more quickly, renewables need to be given priority – clearly, we agree on that. And we need a priority above all for wind and solar. These are our greatest potentials. But we must not forget, Commissioner, that you mention…