Speeches

Madam President, colleagues, instead of addressing one or two political priorities, I would like to focus on the functioning of the European Council itself. This month, the European Council celebrates its 15th anniversary. So still in puberty, you might say, and too young to, and I quote Article 15 of the Treaty, define and develop the general political directions and priorities. Micromanaging has been the hallmark of the European Council so far. Many small national breaks have prevented big forward-looking projects to be finished. We still do not have a digital single market, no capital market, no banking union. As Mario Draghi reminded us, Europe cannot afford further delay. The time has come for the European Council to come of age and play its own part. Overcome short-term national interests. Give European political direction, but let the European Commission and the legislators do their jobs.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in Amsterdam the flames were blown up after football hooligans with racist chants carried out demolitions and abuses in the historic city centre. Unfortunately, this happens more often. What was different, however, was the manhunt for Israeli Jews that followed. There are no excuses for violence of this nature, no matter how serious the hooligans' misconduct was. However, there are no excuses for political arson. Without knowing all the facts, politicians have lumped entire populations together. Hundreds of thousands of people were targeted for political gain. Let us rather listen to the voices that have sought connection – Jewish voices too – who, despite fear, chose community rather than division, who did not let themselves be separated, because they share a city and do not want to divide.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, Trump does not believe that by cooperation both sides can benefit. He considers the world a zero‑sum game. But we know that not all political leaders in the US think like Trump. There are many internationally‑oriented governors and mayors with whom we should strengthen our ties. However, in order to show Trump our strength, we need to communicate clearly to him our red lines. Trump is threatening to roll back all US climate policy, and that is, for me, a red line. We need to make very clear that every step Trump takes to undermine the world's climate goals is met with a strong EU reaction. We will not have our market flooded with US products that were made with complete disregard for the climate. I call on the European Commission to propose emergency measures to protect international climate policy.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, a fleet of over 600 old, uninsured oil tankers are sailing through our European waters carrying sanctioned Russian oil. This so-called shadow fleet transports more than EUR 80 billion‑worth of crude oil, putting money illegally into Russia's war coffers – reason enough to do everything to stop this. On top of that, the tankers pose an inconceivable environmental hazard. It's not a question of 'if' but 'when' disaster will strike. Here in France, many will recall the biggest oil spill ever, the Amoco Cadiz in Brittany in 1978. It was also the biggest loss of marine life ever. It took decades to recover from that. Again, we should do everything to avoid another disaster. To make it even worse, these ships are not insured, and it's European taxpayers who, in the end, will bear the costs when disaster eventually strikes. We do not allow a single passenger car to drive around uninsured, but we do allow these potential environmental disasters to pass through our waters. I call on the Commission and the Member States to enforce our European sanctions and protect our seas and shores.

Madam President, Commissioner, Prime Minister, colleagues, I have a confession to make: I sometimes watch bad movies. One of them is 'Austin Powers'. I've seen it several times, and I'm sure, Mr Orbán, that you've seen it even more times than I have – after all, you're in it! No, not as Doctor Evil, who could easily be based on Mr Putin or Donald Trump. No, more like the infamous 'Mini-Me' who looks, talks and acts exactly like Doctor Evil, but just sits on his lap. Real life, however, is not a bad movie. Your behaviour is already a bad reality for a vast majority of Hungarians, and now you want to do the same in the rest of Europe. Together with your so-called friends, your small army of 'Mini-Me's. What would your European Project 2025 mean for ordinary Europeans? That the Dutch should also bribe a doctor with cash in order to be treated? That the Austrian's hard earned tax money is also spent on fake projects for the benefit of the prime minister's family and friends? That a majority of young French people will want to leave the country, just as is the case now in Hungary? And that the entire EU suffers from the same super-inflation as Hungary did last year? Not one sensible European would wish for their own country what your incompetence has done to the brave and good people of Hungary. You know all this, and you're so insecure and embarrassed about it that you rig your elections and silence the free press. We will not allow your Project 2025 to succeed. We will defend liberty, prosperity and security against your blatantly paranoid attacks. And we will do it all over Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, in 2023, the five biggest car manufacturers in Europe paid out almost EUR 27 billion in shareholders' dividends and stock buybacks. EUR 27 billion that could have been invested in the further development of the electric vehicle. Because let's face reality: tomorrow's car is electric, not hybrid, not e-fuelled, and certainly not with a combustion engine. What we are currently witnessing is competition and a competition that we lose. We are outsmarted by the Chinese and Tesla. Their cars are better, cheaper, more appealing and, as a free bonus, zero-emission. We're not losing due to environmental policies, but because the industry neglected the electric vehicle revolution, like Nokia did not see the iPhone coming. The European car industry is too big to fail, and what we need is a European public-private agreement to close the gap. Yes, also with public assistance, but only if the car manufacturers stop undermining the current policies and targets, because that is what is really endangering the future of our European car industry.

Mr President, dear colleagues, next week, among many other eminently predictable things, the Council's conclusions on competitiveness will say, and I quote, 'we endorse the Draghi report and encourage the Commission to take up its recommendations'. The question for us is, what will that actually mean? Despite many promising words in the past, we do not have a capital markets union yet, Europe needed a global pandemic to finally agree on a budget and it took a full-scale invasion of Ukraine for us to begin shaping a defence industrial policy. We do not have the luxury to now also wait for economic breakdown. This Parliament, and that's us colleagues, must quickly forge a consensus on how to carry out Draghi's plans. And today, I call on the Member States to follow Mr Draghi's most practical advice to come to a common assessment of the current situation and also to task Mr Draghi with monitoring the implementation of this report among the Member States. We have a unique opportunity to turn the tide for our Union. Let's seize it and let's seize it now.

Madam President, although he unfortunately left the plenary, I would like to thank Mr Draghi for coming with such a thorough analysis on where we stand. And I would like to thank him for urging us to act quickly and radically. It is now time to come together around this agenda of investment reform and ambition for Europe to be the best at what we do. Mr Draghi emphasised, especially last week, the importance of coming to a common assessment among the Member States, and I fully agree. Therefore, I urge the Council – massively present today – not only to start doing this, but also to ask Mr Draghi to play a role in getting to this common assessment. In addition, let us do the same in this House. Let us avoid the mistake of blindly tripping over our ideological red lines, whether we are liberals, socialists, Greens or conservatives. Experience learns that we might need some help here. So let us invite Mr Draghi to return in six months to discuss the progress we're hopefully making.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, I think we are extremely privileged. In a time frame of five days, we received, in the beginning of this mandate, two crucial reports: one last week from Mr Draghi on the economy and, only five days before, the Strohschneider report on agriculture. And they had one thing in common: business as usual is no option anymore. It's time for change, and not for the sake of change itself but in order to safeguard a strong economy and to stay within the planetary boundaries. So let's break the political deadlock in this House and try to find the bridges that Mr Strohschneider wrote down in his report – because the big difference between Draghi and Strohschneider is that the most important stakeholders were involved in the Strohschneider report. So let's break the political deadlock. We owe that to our farmers as well as to our planet.

Madam President, dear colleagues, thank you. Democracy, at its core, is about trust. And today, Mrs von der Leyen seeks our trust to wield power in Europe’s name. On behalf of Renew Europe, let me be fair and honest. This is not an easy choice. Mrs von der Leyen, you have given us reason to trust you when you heeded the call of millions of Europeans and started acting on the climate crisis, but you have tested our trust when you turned your back on nature. European citizens, including farmers, need protection against extreme weather and the mass extinction of life on our planet. Will you uphold the Green Deal, including all its original ambition to protect the natural world? And to be honest, your guidelines are strong on climate, but again, weak on biodiversity. You are a pro-European democrat and your party, which you lead, has won the European elections. We are ready to give you a second chance, but not a carte blanche. Mrs von der Leyen, will you not only talk like a democrat, but act like one as well? And our president, Roberta Metsola, just showed that only a firm hand works with extremists. European citizens need your protection against national leaders tearing the fabric of our values apart. Will you finally stand up to them? And if so, you will have our votes and our trust.