What Jens spoke about.

7 Jul

2026

DE Speech

Presentation of the Action Plan on Cybersecurity and AI (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Many colleagues have already pointed out from here how high the security risks have become in cyberspace. And it is now an everyday experience that either criminal sources or third countries, which do not really like the security of the European Union, attack us again and again on the spot. It is not an abstract danger – it is complex and concrete,…

25 Mar

2026

DE Speech

Energy security, independence and supply in the geopolitical context - ensuring market stability and affordable energy for industry and citizens (debate)

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Mr President! To Minister Raouna for her opinion: I underline what you have said, that Europe must find its way out of dependencies. I support that. The fossils are number one. But if I follow the debate here and then hear again and again that we have to find our way back to the wider use of nuclear energy, I have to ask myself: Aren't we also importing uranium? Aren't we also dep…

11 Mar

2026

DE Speech

Building Europe's clean, independent and secure energy following the 2026 North Sea Summit (debate)

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10 Mar

2026

DE Speech

Presentation of the Energy Package (debate)

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16 Dec

2025

DE Speech

Grids package and tackling raising energy prices through robust infrastructure (debate)

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16 Dec

2025

DE Speech

Phasing out Russian natural gas imports and improving monitoring of potential energy dependencies (debate)

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18 Jun

2025

DE Speech

Electricity grids: the backbone of the EU energy system (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! First of all, I would like to thank the rapporteur: Dear Anna, this is a great report, which gives us a lot of material for further work on the energy transition, because we have to put an end to the inefficiencies, inefficiencies in the electricity grid in Europe. For this, we need Europe-wide networking – this is our task here to ensure this a…

7 May

2025

DE Speech

The role of gas storage for securing gas supplies ahead of the winter season (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! In a modern society, energy supply must be secure and low prices must be guaranteed. I hear that wholesale gas prices are back to pre-war levels. But as far as I can see, this has not yet arrived at the level of consumers and the economy. Therefore, for the S&D Group, the starting point was clear: If we extend the European gas storage regime, it mu…

6 May

2025

DE Speech

A revamped long-term budget for the Union in a changing world (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! How much money is in question here? If we look at the current budget of the European Union, it is payments, then money of EUR 199.4 billion has been committed. In fact, EUR 155 billion in payments will go over the table this year. And to put that into perspective: This is roughly the state budget of North Rhine-Westphalia times 1.5. So we are not t…

2 Apr

2025

DE Answer

Energy-intensive industries (debate)

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I can make the President happy because I can keep the answer very short: Yes, I support that.

2 Apr

2025

DE Speech

Energy-intensive industries (debate)

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Madam President, Mr Minister, Mr Executive Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen! The energy price is crucial for the competitiveness of key sectors of European industry, and the energy price is also crucial for the quality of life of many families. That is why energy prices need to fall. In the past, fossil fuel power plants were built where demand was. Today, we produce renewable electricity wher…

2 Apr

2025

DE Speech

European Steel and Metals Action Plan (debate)

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Madam President, Mr Minister, Mr Executive Vice-President Séjourné, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to thank the Commission for presenting the Steel Action Plan, which I have long called for together with many colleagues. But you already had a good proposal, Mr Séjourné; and for which I would like to thank IndustriALL and Eurofer, and I am pleased to have been able to assist in the preparation …

11 Mar

2025

DE Speech

Clean Industrial Deal (debate)

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Madam President, Vice-President Séjourné, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to thank the European Commission for presenting this Clean industrial dealsI am pleased that the Commission has announced serious steps to improve the competitive situation of European industry. On the positive side, the Commission is making a proposal from a single source instead of creating the usual hack between DGs. I…

27 Nov

2024

DE Speech

Rise of energy prices and fighting energy poverty (debate)

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Madam President, My first sentence also goes to you, Madam Simson, thank you very much for your work in the European Commission. You have always been a fair, open and talkative partner to the Energy Committee. I thank you for that. Ladies and gentlemen, to the right of the EPP there is a debate that the European Commission is somehow the cause of high energy prices. In fact, the first energy price…

23 Oct

2024

DE Speech

Tackling the steel crisis: boosting competitive and sustainable European steel and maintaining quality jobs (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The European steel industry faces a wide range of problems and challenges. Energy prices remain too high after the shocks of Covid and Russia's war of aggression. Global overcapacity in steel production is putting pressure on markets – both on third markets and on our European single market. And in order to make a major contribution to protectin…

11 Apr

2024

DE Speech

Internal markets for renewable gas, natural gas and hydrogen (recast) - Common rules for the internal markets for renewable gas, natural gas and hydrogen (recast) - Union’s electricity market design: Regulation - Union’s electricity market design: Directive (joint debate – Reform of the energy and electricity markets)

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Mr President! I am pleased that the Presidency has now also arrived. At the beginning of my final contribution, I would like to thank all shadow rapporteurs once again. It was two years of work, but it was a pleasing work, and you did not make it any harder than absolutely necessary for me, frankly. It goes without saying that we have different views in the political groups, but I think we have co…

11 Apr

2024

DE Speech

Internal markets for renewable gas, natural gas and hydrogen (recast) - Common rules for the internal markets for renewable gas, natural gas and hydrogen (recast) - Union’s electricity market design: Regulation - Union’s electricity market design: Directive (joint debate – Reform of the energy and electricity markets)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I think it is appropriate to start by thanking Jerzy Buzek for his great work in the context of what we are discussing this morning. He was the rapporteur for the Gas Market Regulation, he was my shadow rapporteur for the Gas Market Directive, and I believe we could not have worked together better than we did. I want to follow his theme and start w…

28 Feb

2024

DE Speech

Strengthening European Defence in a volatile geopolitical landscape - Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2023 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2023 (joint debate - European security and defence)

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Madam President, Mr Vice-President, dear representative of the Council, ladies and gentlemen! More equipment, capacity building, cooperation in the defence industry, maintaining Ukraine’s defence capacity in the fight against imperialist Russia – all this is right. What will not work: Investing in defense and recommending everyone else to defer their claims. Because that will tear our societies ap…

6 Feb

2024

DE Speech

The need for unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, Vice-President Šefčovič, ladies and gentlemen! For almost two years, Putin has been waging war in Europe against the Ukrainian people and their freedom – two years too much. But the EU's message to the imperialists in the Kremlin is clear: We support Ukraine as long as Putin needs it. I would like to thank Chancellor Scholz personally for making this possible, including for sending V…

12 Dec

2023

DE Speech

Framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner Breton, ladies and gentlemen! Wind turbines, electric cars, mobile phones, computers, space travel – for most of the products of the future, European production relies on raw materials that need to be imported. Because we probably won't constantly see the successes we had at the beginning of the year, when the largest European rare earth deposit to date was discovered in…

9 May

2023

DE Speech

This is Europe - Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz (debate)

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Madam President, honourable Members of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen! Now a little bit of another soundtrack comes in here. Welcome to the European Parliament on behalf of your SPD MPs, dear Olaf, dear Chancellor! Yes, Mr Weber, that sounds like Germany has a chancellor who has ideas about the European Union. I would like to remind you once again that, unfortunately, we have never had the o…

8 May

2023

DE Speech

Methane emissions reduction in the energy sector (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner Simson, ladies and gentlemen. I am happy that five groups support tomorrow's proposal. I believe that this proposal deserves this too; because this broad support has become possible because this proposal achieves two things: It is an ambitious approach to reduce the emission of a gas with significant potential to endanger the climate, and it has succeeded in not jeopardi…

15 Feb

2023

DE Speech

One year of Russia’s invasion and war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, honourable Commissioner, honourable Madam President, honourable Members! In a few days, as many colleagues have said, Russia’s criminal attack on Ukraine will mark its first anniversary, and I can only bow in respect to the bravery and the will to freedom of the Ukrainian people. Slava Ukrajini! It is up to the EU, as Josep Borrell has said, to strengthen this will for freedom by giv…

14 Dec

2022

DE Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 15 December 2022 (debate)

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Mr President, Madam Vice-President, Minister Bek, ladies and gentlemen! Minister Bek, you have presented us with the agenda of the next European Council. I would like to thank you very much for that. It is good that the Council wants to address all these pressing issues. That's right, of course. But how? And that's what I'd like to hear from you: How do you assess the prospects of reaching an agre…

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, dear Vice-President, dear Frans, dear colleagues! Mr Timmermans, you said quite rightly in your opening that there is no less expensive energy than renewables. Indeed, and this has been stated many times here, they are the answer to the price crisis that Russia caused by its war – if only we had it. We need renewables plus hydrogen as a storage medium, as soon as possible. Therefo…