What Lena spoke about.

14

Dec

2023

EN Speech

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Frontex, building on the fact-finding investigation of the LIBE Working Group for Frontex Scrutiny (B9-0499/2023) (vote)

Mr President, following the recent judgment just yesterday, I would like to move the following oral amendment on behalf of the EPP group, changing the last sentence of recital G as follows: ‘Whereas for legal actions in relation to alleged pushbacks have been brought against Frontex before the General Court of the EU, of which two were ruled inadmissible and two are pending.’…

13

Dec

2023

DE Speech

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Frontex, building on the fact-finding investigation of the LIBE Working Group for Frontex Scrutiny (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, dear Council representative! What eventful times we went through with the agency: Founded in 2005 with only 50 employees, first steps as a full-fledged agency up to the introduction of the . For the first time in the history of European integration, we have an operational agency operating under the EU flag. The need for this has become more than clear in recent months, …

4

Oct

2023

DE Speech

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Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

Mr President! For more than ten years, we have been promising people that Europe will have a common asylum and migration policy, that the dangling from emergency solution to emergency solution will finally come to an end. The Commission's proposals have been on the table for two years. For two years now, we have been trying to maintain the balance in between, continue to need emergency solutions a…

10

May

2023

EN Speech

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Adequacy of the protection afforded by the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (debate)

Mr President, since Groundhog Day was mentioned just in the previous speech, there is one important message about Groundhog Day, which is the possibility to learn, to improve, to get better, to break the cycle. Does that apply to the new draft adequacy we are discussing? It’s true the previous ones had been nullified by Court. Obviously there was something to learn and to improve. Both partners, t…

10

May

2023

DE Speech

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Externalising asylum applications and making funding to third countries conditional on the implementation of return agreements (topical debate)

Madam President, What a spectacle! First hardly participate in negotiations, then boycott votes and then claim to have always admitted to content. Dear colleagues, this Pact on Asylum and Migration is decided with parliamentary work, with struggles between the political groups in the middle of the House. So where are we? The mandate includes the external dimension. We make it clear that we want co…

15

Mar

2023

DE Speech

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Deaths at sea: a common EU response to save lives and action to ensure safe and legal pathways (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, honourable Presidency of the Council! It goes without saying: Saving people in distress at sea is a national, international, European, moral obligation. But this also includes: Dangerous crossings are the result, not the trigger. The causes are still on land and not at sea. It is therefore right that the Presidency should refocus on cooperation with countries of origin …

18

Jan

2023

DE Speech

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Criminalisation of humanitarian assistance, including search and rescue (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner! No one is above the law. The right in itself is neutral and does not differ according to good or bad motives. This is one of the basic principles of our rule of law, democratic order. This includes: If there is an initial suspicion of a criminal offence, then it must be investigated. Anyone suspected of having violated the law is subject to prosecution and, accordingly,…

18

Jan

2023

DE Speech

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Terrorist threats posed by far-right extremist networks defying the democratic constitutional order (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! In December, there was a major anti-terrorism operation against Reich citizens in Germany: 150 searches, 25 arrests, 54 trials. First of all, I would like to thank the emergency services and the security authorities. The accused were armed, they trained tactically, they radicalized. Trivialisation as a ‘rollator overthrow’ does not do justice to…

13

Dec

2022

DE Speech

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The recent JHA Council decision on Schengen accession (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. The fact that domestic political debates are blocking the further development of Schengen is not only regrettable. A look at European history also shows that this calculation rarely works. Last week's decision causes damage, damage to the political credibility of individuals, but also to the EU as a whole, damage to legal credibility, this crucial reliability of…

23

Nov

2022

DE Speech

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The need for a European solution on asylum and migration including search and rescue (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Today's debate has brought a lot back to the point. Firstly: We argue passionately, with emotions, with good and less good arguments. Secondly: We do not have a problem of knowledge – we have a problem of implementation. We all know the positions of the national delegations, we know the positions of the political groups, we know the positions of the institutions…

18

Oct

2022

DE Speech

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

Mr President, Commissioner! The Temporary Protection Directive had three objectives: ensure immediate protection, send a geopolitical signal, do not overburden national asylum systems. All three objectives are fulfilled. We provide protection to more than 4 million Ukrainians in the European Union. We stand united on the side of Ukraine. There is little use of asylum systems. But, dear colleagues,…

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! The Schengen area is one of the most important parts of our European Union. He's not perfect yet. He's under enormous pressure. Preserving it, protecting this achievement, is perhaps the task of our generation. However, this also includes an honest inventory. Three Member States want to become part of the Schengen area and should finally be included. The attraction – Commissioner, yo…

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, Madam Commissioner, colleagues, what happened since the FSWG had concluded the report on the allegations? The agency had taken various actions to improve, to get better, to live up to the revised mandate and the task. Three new DEDs had taken up their responsibility, a new FRO has taken up his duty. accompanied by now 46 fundamental rights monitors, more than first foreseen. The fund…

5

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area (debate)

Mr President, I was three when the Berlin Wall fell; I was 13 when Schengen became an integral part of the Amsterdam Treaties; I was about to finish school when 10 new Member States joined the European family, so Schengen and Europe have always been a part of my life. I have experienced it as an open, as a free, as a promising continent, and it has become even more so in recent times. I would have…

3

May

2022

DE 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! If we look at the history of European domestic policy, the area of freedom, security and justice, we have both a short and a long way to go. It is one of the most recent policy areas, deeply rooted in the sovereignty of the Member States, at the same time a field with not only enormous potential in cooperation, but also one in which the trust of the Member States among themselves is …

6

Apr

2022

DE Speech

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The Schengen evaluation mechanism (debate)

Madam President, When I was allowed to start here in this house three years ago, legislation was routine. Evaluation was routine. With the onset of the pandemic, this changed fundamentally. Borders were closed, uncoordinated measures on the one hand, and uncoordinated measures on the other. In between, citizens who have simply lost track at some point. The impact of this has been particularly noti…

6

Apr

2022

EN Speech

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Violations of right to seek asylum and non-refoulement in the EU Member States (debate)

Madam President, the European Union has adopted a unique set of legislation on asylum policy. The protection rights deriving from our acquis are unprecedented in the world. And they go far beyond what the Refugee Convention and the Human Rights Convention provide. None of the conventions contains the individual right to asylum – we have committed to that. So this acquis is worth protecting. It’s a…

5

Apr

2022

DE Speech

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

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! The unspeakable suffering of the last few weeks does not let us all rest. More than four million refugees outside Ukraine, more than ten million internally displaced persons within Ukraine. Anytime on the go, anytime ready to move on. Women and children at the forefront. I spent the last few days in Romania at the border. In the places where I was,…

16

Feb

2022

DE Speech

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

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen. In conclusion, I think you can say this very well: The intense debates here in the House are an expression of our long struggle for the rule of law, an expression of a Union that fights for its values, with the establishment of instruments, with the reform of instruments. It's about our core values: the separation of powers, the neutrality of institutions and…

23

Nov

2021

DE Speech

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Legal migration policy and law (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner! Digitalisation, sustainable economy, solid growth: The coming years will be challenging for the European Union – for our economy. On the other hand, one in five people in the EU is already over 65 and the proportion of workers in the population will continue to decline in the future. Europe needs an answer to that. With the report today, we are setting another mosaic…

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)

Madam President, The use of migration as a means of pressure is unfortunately not new – not worldwide and not even in Europe. We all have the Turkish interpretation of last year in mind. What has a new quality: the dictator's ruthlessness, the cynicism of instrumentalization, the perfidious combination of artificial migration routes with tangible economic benefits for the authoritarian regime. So …

20

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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Pushbacks at the EU's external border (debate)

Madam President, to begin with the obvious, the European Union, each Member State, everyone acting on their behalf need to comply with fundamental rights obligation. At the same time, they are also by national, European and international law obliged to protect borders and to fight criminal networks, smuggling and exploiting the most vulnerable ones. Even more so when these networks are state spons…

7

Oct

2021

DE Speech

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European Union Agency for Asylum (continuation of debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. As a rule, you will reach the age of 18, get new rights, but also new duties and responsibilities. Now an agency cannot reach the age of majority, and yet it is time for the Support Office to grow up ten years after its foundation. That is exactly what we can welcome today. With almost three years of discussion, a success in the field of asylum and migration and…

5

Oct

2021

DE Speech

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The situation in Belarus after one year of protests and their violent repression (continuation of debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. It is not the first time that we are dealing with a neighbour who does not shy away from state human smuggling, who cynically exploits human suffering, instrumentalizes it for his own power interests. It is the approach that Erdoğan has already tried on the Greek border. It is the copy-paste moment of autocratic and dictatorial brains, united in the desire to de…

14

Sep

2021

EN Speech

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Situation in Afghanistan (debate)

Madam President, the situation in Afghanistan is serious and the repercussions go far beyond a single regime change. The progress made, especially on women’s and girls’ rights, their participation in society and political life, and their access to education and health care vanished in a shockingly short time. Already now we see women and girls disappearing from public life, forced to fully cover t…