What Birgit spoke about.

18

Oct

2022

DE Speech

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Continued internal border controls in the Schengen area in light of the recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (C-368/20) (debate)

Mr President! Borderless travel in the Schengen area – one of our greatest achievements is at risk. This is because, quite independently of the corona patchwork in spring 2020, there are problems. There are the years of internal border controls that some Member States have introduced and seem to be prolonging forever. We Socialists and Democrats have for years described these arbitrarily prolonged…

17

Oct

2022

DE 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! Frontex has been under criticism for years. mismanagement, lack of transparency, misunderstood knowledge of human rights violations at the external borders, possibly even participation in pushbacks. Leggeri was proud of his new equipment. However, the statutory staff was not recruited. Why? He was apparently of the opinion that border management was not possible in compliance with fu…

13

Sep

2022

DE 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, People flee political persecution and war, destruction, violence, torture and death. But they don't want to be refugees in the long run. They want to build a new life, care for their families, participate in society, regardless of whether they can return at some point or not. And in the case of Ukrainian refugees, this is exactly what we recognise. We welcome people, we offer them…

4

Jul

2022

DE Speech

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Loss of life, violence and inhumane treatment against people seeking international protection at the Spanish-Moroccan border (debate)

Madam President, The tragic loss of lives in front of Melilla on the Moroccan-Spanish border shows how urgently we need a migration policy based on solidarity. The EU is a union of values. Really? What I see is: There is currently a lack of solidarity with Member States at the external border, of solidarity with local authorities working for refugees. There is a lack of solidarity with people seek…

7

Jun

2022

DE Speech

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

Madam President, For years, the Polish PiS government has been harming democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in its own country. What about the Commission? Under Frans Timmermans, she seemed determined to stop the PiS. But since the launch of the Article 7 procedure in December 2017, nothing decisive has happened on the part of the Commission – despite clear ECJ rulings. The Commission…

5

Apr

2022

DE Speech

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

Mr President! Refugees – people fleeing war, hunger and violence, men, women and children. They all need security and stability, and they also need safe escape routes – especially children and their families. The war in Ukraine – a war right on our doorstep – requires us to make special efforts to welcome and integrate the refugees. We are witnessing an enormous solidarity and willingness to help …

8

Mar

2022

DE Speech

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

Madam President, Our response to Putin's war is unity and far-reaching sanctions. At the same time, we must help the people fleeing Russian aggression from Ukraine. Refugees need security and stability. Now the joint decision on temporary protection is the right basis. The great solidarity, the willingness to help, which we see everywhere from civil society, cities and municipalities, must be the …

16

Feb

2022

DE Speech

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Harmonised EU approach to travel measures (debate)

Mr President! The patchwork of border controls and border closures in the pandemic is now celebrating its second anniversary. Are Member States still looking for a coordinated approach? Uniform rules would be particularly easy right now, as the EU-Corona map currently shows only one colour: dark red. And it is precisely this map that has been the basis for coordinated action since October 2020. Ho…

15

Dec

2021

DE 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, “What to do in view of Lukashenka’s instrumentalisation of people? Our response to the unscrupulous actions of the Belarusian regime will be relentless." With this introduction, Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, presented emergency measures. And yes, I condemn the abuse of people by the Belarusian regime and support the extension of sanctio…

23

Nov

2021

DE Speech

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

Mr President! Strong sanctions remain necessary in dealing with Belarus. At the same time, however, the humanitarian catastrophe persists, particularly on the Polish-Belarusian border, where people are mercilessly abused for political purposes and forced out by force. There are no legal spaces at external borders. International obligations, EU law and humanitarian responsibility also apply there. …

10

Nov

2021

DE Speech

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The escalating humanitarian crisis on the EU-Belarusian border, in particular in Poland (debate)

Madam President, No one wants to build a wall. The wall came, Europe was divided. Today we are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe on the Polish-Belarusian border. On the one hand, people are repressed by force, on the other hand, they are abused for political purposes. I condemn this abuse by the Belarusian regime and call for an extension of sanctions. But at the same time, we must defend and …

21

Oct

2021

DE Speech

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2019 Discharge: European Border and Coast Guard Agency (debate)

Madam President, Let me begin with a short story that exemplifies the way Frontex works and the relationship with the public that it has under its current leadership. In 2019, the transparency organization FragDenStaat sued Frontex for the release of documents in connection with the Mediterranean operation Triton. This lawsuit was rejected by the court, and that is to be accepted. Frontex then cha…

20

Oct

2021

DE Speech

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Pushbacks at the EU's external border (debate)

Madam President, Countless media reports show a frightening picture of the state of human rights at our external borders. Images of violence against people are a disgrace to our European Union. Because these are not individual cases, as some would like us to believe. It is a systematic attack on the right to asylum, on the Geneva Convention on Refugees, in order to then rewrite the rules for inter…

19

Oct

2021

DE Speech

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The Rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law (debate)

Mr President! Whether a sports club or a European Union - those who want to play must abide by existing rules. But, Mr Morawiecki, with the judgment you have made possible in a constitutional tribunal filled with puppets of your party, the Polish government is trampling the rules of the EU treaties and thus the core of our community. Yes, justice systems are not fully harmonised within the EU. But…

15

Sep

2021

DE Speech

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The Pegasus spyware scandal (debate)

Madam President, On the Pegasus scandal one thing in advance: Surveillance with clear rules is part of our law enforcement, but we're not talking about that here. Not even in isolated cases of abuse. It is about systematic contempt for democracy and the rule of law. Under the guise of fighting crime, governments have stocked up on espionage software to use against critics and unwelcome individuals…

14

Sep

2021

DE Speech

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Situation in Afghanistan (debate)

Madam President, The situation in Afghanistan is dramatic. We have given people hope for a democratic Afghanistan. And now many fear for their lives. And this gives rise to a special responsibility. However, only one ‘best of’ foreclosure policy comes from the Council: Preventing illegal migration, not creating incentives, deportation to transit countries. Nor does it help if, after all, it is rec…

7

Jul

2021

DE Speech

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State of play of the implementation of the EU Digital COVID Certificate regulations (debate)

Mr President! Since last week, the digital COVID certificates have been in place to facilitate freedom of movement in the pandemic. This is a good sign at first. But despite certificates, despite new advice for more uniform travel rules, a new patchwork of restrictions is emerging in dealing with the virus variants. People from the same region have to be quarantined in Member State A and there are…

6

Jul

2021

DE Speech

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Annual Report on the functioning of the Schengen area (debate)

Madam President, Border-free travel in the Schengen area is one of our greatest achievements and yet highly endangered. I do not want to go into COVID and Schengen at this minute, because there are enough other problems, starting with years of illegal border controls, the lack of consistency on the part of the Commission, and the countless reports of serious human rights violations at our external…

6

Jul

2021

DE Speech

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The 70th anniversary of the Geneva Convention (debate)

Madam President, 70 years of the Geneva Convention on Refugees – it is almost a lifesaver, an international agreement that protects millions of people and makes the right to asylum a fundamental right in our Union. The circumstances that led to this milestone in human rights were different than they are today. However, with over 82 million people currently displaced worldwide, the Convention has l…

5

Jul

2021

DE Speech

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Use of technologies for the processing of data for the purpose of combating online child sexual abuse (temporary derogation from Directive 2002/58/EC) (debate)

Mr President! Sexual abuse is a terrible crime, a massive violation of our children's fundamental and human rights. This applies to the real world, but also when images of abuse are shared online again and again. And in both worlds, we need to be better at preventing, prosecuting perpetrators, but also helping survivors. Online measures are an addition, for example to covert investigations or the …