Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, let me speak on behalf of my EPP faction with our opinion. I have listened carefully to your speeches and I want to assure you that your activity, your efforts to strengthen the protection of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean have great support in our faction. We are aware that today this is an extremely endangered part of our planet. You have clearly described this, there are irreversible climate changes, significant warming and, as a result, damage to biodiversity. Rare species of wild flora and fauna are extinct and need to be addressed. And who else, if not the European Union? We are the leader of environmental policy in the world. We draw attention to the problems associated with climate change. I am therefore very glad that you have basically taken this task as your own and want to move forward the process of negotiating at least two protected areas that could reduce and limit these negative trends. We support the expansion of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean by at least the two areas you described here, East Antarctica and the Weddell Sea. We know that, besides that, there are other proposals on the table that you have also talked about. Proposals presented by Chile and Argentina. Of course, if there could be a successful negotiation, we would be happy to do so. I think there must always be a major driver for such a challenging project, and it is good if it is the European Union represented by the European Commission. The situation will not be easy, you have very well described the problems that some countries represented by China and Russia have with this project. But we must do our best to be successful in the end, because it is about the future of life on this Earth and the future of this important region. Thank you and we support your activities.

Mr President, let me also make a few remarks. I personally consider the EU Digital COVID Certificates to be a successful project. When we look at the differences of opinion between the Member States at the beginning of the negotiations on this instrument and at the final result, I think we have reached the maximum possible. I would also like the integration to be even more intense with this instrument. But as a political realist, I am aware that this may not have been possible. So the first thing, I say, is success, but at the same time everything must be done so that this instrument does not profane in the eyes of our citizens, so that it really fulfills what we put into it. And it is up to the Commission to really check the application of the certificate, how each Member State treats it and how it will work in practice. I perceive from some Member States as well as from my own country, from the Czech Republic, a debate on whether or not to add other things, other applications. And I warn against this, all this can slow down and possibly jeopardize this project as such. I am the one who is very keen on increased vaccination, and I am concerned that there has been a decrease in interest in getting vaccinated in Europe recently. Therefore, when debating whether to test or vaccinate personally, I prefer more vaccinations, and the Commission should draw its attention in this direction. Rather than debating whether tests will be free, we are debating how to vaccinate even more in the future, what campaign to run to convince other Europeans that it is better to be vaccinated than to be tested only for a short period of time.

Mr President, Commissioner, I would like to support the position of those colleagues who have clearly described the problems of the Hungarian law, which significantly harms the rights of sexual minorities. The law only symbolically attacks the principles of the rule of law, but in fact, and it has been said here, it will significantly interfere with the lives of young people who are looking for their sexual identity, who may find that they are different from the majority, and instead of being supported by society to get information, they will be afraid of criminalization and punishment. In practice, this law can cause great damage and must be rejected. I was disappointed with the withdrawal from both the Commission and the Council because, within the framework of such a European speak We have heard here what has been done. But I think it will be terribly sensitive and important, and everyone in Europe will see how far this Hungarian law will eventually be repealed, or how far this law will remain, and we will see how weak the European Commission is and the European Union in general. And I beg the European Commission and the Council, do not underestimate this problem, it is not just Hungary's problem. If we do nothing, or if we only take administrative steps and the law remains valid and effective, it will be a signal to all populists in Europe to attack sexual minorities. Let me give you an example from the Czech Republic. You know this, Commissioner, Czech President Miloš Zeman said that transgender people disgust him, and this is another example of how populists are attacking sexual minorities in Europe today. Please, do it.