Speeches

Mr President, over 100 billion at their peak. Among account holders reported and identified, dozens of corrupt government officials, alleged human rights abusers and criminals. This is not the only Swiss scandal, but the biggest one, involving the second-largest bank in the country, fully ignoring Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations and all anti-money laundering (AML) rules because Swiss law allows them to. Commissioner, if Swiss banking secrecy laws are at least immoral and Swiss legislators are behaving like enablers of financial crimes, why isn’t Switzerland on the list of high—risk third countries? On any list, as a matter of fact. This is wrong, and as long as it will continue, we cannot apply our rules related to high-risk third countries to these jurisdictions. If this happens here at our door, how exactly are we to be taken seriously with our new strategy and our new rules? This will never happen. It is a pity because the new package has very good provisions on the relationship of our obliged entities with these third countries which can lead to closing down operations if the law of that third country does not permit compliance with EU requirements. And this would hurt. But first we need to make sure that our own backyard is clean and that we name and shame those who deserve to be named and shamed.

Mr President, according to a Parliament study, between 2011 and 2019 more than 132 000 persons, including family members of applicants from third countries, obtained residence or citizenship in Member States via citizenship or residence schemes, with a total investment estimated at EUR 21.4 billion. Last week, this House called for an end to golden visas for Russian oligarchs. An urgent review of all of the beneficiaries of such citizenship or resident status needs to be made, and those attributed to Russian oligarchs and their families – in particular of those linked to sanctioned individuals and companies – need to be immediately revoked. We are still not properly implementing rules in place that we have for countering money laundering. We need to enforce these rules immediately, especially in relation to the assets deposited and spent in the EU. We have these rules. We just need to properly use them and take the risks of money laundering arising from these schemes very seriously. We also need to significantly improve these rules with the new package. Putin’s invasion has once again highlighted the massive consequences of issuing golden visas and golden passports. We need to acknowledge not only the huge revenues brought by these schemes, but also the consequences, which are far worse, namely that these schemes bear major risks in the areas of security, corruption, money laundering and tax avoidance. Examples such as Russian oligarchs purchasing islands in Eastern Finland by using a Cyprus passport, or Russian billionaires receiving a separate passport in exchange for investing in the Bank of Cyprus, need to be immediately stopped. I am therefore calling on the Commission to come up with proposals that will definitely ban this kind of scheme and to propose new laws to harmonise and govern the rules on residence-by-investment schemes. And I am calling on the Member States to carefully look at those real-estate registries and check whether those investments are in luxury villas or in properties, or in the economy, industry and better lives for people, because this is what investment stands for.

Madam President, today is the day when it was ruled that compliance with EU values cannot be only reduced to an obligation for candidate states before accession, and then disregarded after joining the Union. It is an ongoing obligation. It should be clear to everyone that we have a strong legal instrument that has to be used. The Commission has absolutely no excuse to refrain from using the conditionality mechanism; neither in the case of Poland, nor in that of Hungary, or of any other government – not people – which disrespects the rule of law and EU values. Speaking of governments, Romania has received EUR 43 billion net from the EU so far in European funds. This has transformed our society – from business to health, from education to work, from culture to our freedom. So now, denying the primacy of EU law, harassing judges, ignoring the justice reform, the Venice Commission, disregarding media freedom, reducing competences of the national anti-corruption directorate, they all put Romania at risk of losing trust and money. I hope we will have the wisdom not to the next ones in line. President von der Leyen, I am so sorry that you are not in the room today, but starting tomorrow, we all expect the Commission to do its job.

Madam President, the European Ombudsman is and should remain our natural ally in the fight for transparency, for high ethical standards and good administration in the EU. I would like to congratulate you, Ms O’Reilly and your office, for the work undertaken in 2020. Under particularly difficult circumstances, you managed to continue working to safeguard our citizens’ fundamental rights. We appreciate in particular, the strategic work undertaken for evaluating the performance of the EU administration in the context of the COVID—19 crisis. As you have rightfully emphasised, in times of crisis, the obligations of transparency are not diminished. Abiding by them is even more crucial now in order to preserve citizens’ trust. We appreciate also the efforts to better inform the citizens about your mandate and to streamline the treatment of complaints, including in the framework of the strategy towards 2024. When it comes to defending the citizens’ rights, we have a huge task ahead of us. If we take the example of Next Generation EU, we need to ensure together better oversight on how these funds are used. 85% of citizens demand transparency and effective control on these funds, according to a special Eurobarometer for September 2021. I, myself, included such provisions in the text and I am counting on you and all our colleagues from all the political groups to fully support this approach.

Madam President, a study by this House shows that the overall costs of cyber—harassment and cyberstalking are estimated at between EUR 49 and 89.3 billion, with the largest cost category being the loss in terms of quality of life. This is what we’re talking about: quality of life. There’s probably not a single woman in this room who doesn’t have in her email or on WhatsApp or Messenger a very ‘kind’ letter starting with ‘Dear bitch, I hope you die’, or something similar. I come from a country where a woman is beaten every 30 seconds, but you come from different countries and it happens to all of us. Some of us are strong, but some of the younger ones I talk to consider suicide because of online violence. This is what online violence means, Mr Fest – because you were wondering, so I give an example. This is what it means. Commissioner, we need to address this with European legislation. The time which passes will increase numbers, and silence will increase the numbers. I would like to end my message with a beautiful, beautiful message from my country and from my colleagues, to all of the men and partners out there: be an ally, not an aggressor.

Mr President, I am a bit confused by Mr Logar’s message. We’re talking, Mr Logar, about six months of delay in nominating the Slovenian delegated prosecutors to the EPPO. We are talking about the Prime Minister’s direct intervention in the process. We are talking about the Minister of Justice resigning in protest. This was an act of obstruction of justice in Slovenia and in the Union, casting a dark shadow over the current presidency of the Council. The consequence: investigations into serious crimes were completely blocked for all this time. Back in May, Mr Janša sabotaged a perfectly legally conducted procedure and prevented the nominations of two highly qualified prosecutors because of their involvement in past investigations into his own assets. His pressure, through the controlled media, is in pure violation of the independence of the State Prosecutor’s Office. I hope the Commission and the Council have eyes to see and ears to listen. The scandal of nominating prosecutors is just the tip of the iceberg. Mr Janša is copying Mr Orban’s moves in making a mockery of key European values, media freedom as well. But we have now the tools to stop this kind of abuse. We prefer letters sent around confidentially, but the truth is that it is time to make that conditionality real – make it real and it will work.

Mr President, politicians, corporations, bankers, lawyers and even bishops have been using SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation) to harass journalists, NGOs and activists engaging in public participation with the sole aim of draining them financially and psychologically in retaliation for exposing wrongdoing and criticism. The worst part is that our European legal systems still allow for this. Examples speak for the size and impact of SLAPPs on our democracy. In Poland, politicians from the governing coalition, including the PiS (Law and Justice party) leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, have initiated over 55 SLAPPs against one of the country’s leading free media outlets – Gazeta Wyborcza. Last spring, Romanian journalists, Ovidiu Vanghele, Vlad Stoicescu and Diana Oncioiu were sued by a former bishop after revealing cases of sexual abuse in the Church. In Malta, following Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, her family inherited over 40 SLAPP lawsuits, showing that abuse goes beyond death. Thousands of such examples can be given, usually accompanied by huge financial claims, forum shopping and years of pain. A mere recommendation or an act tackling only cross-border SLAPPs are simply not enough anymore. There may be limitations, but the EU has the competence to address this issue. Our report identifies the legal basis to be used and sets out clear solutions. EU legislation must put an end to SLAPPs, and the time to act is now, us here together and every single Member State.

Madam President, Frontex is by far the largest decentralised agency of the Union and has an extremely sensitive mandate: keeping our borders safe. It is therefore vital that the agency implements its mandate with the utmost responsibility. Since April, when we decided to postpone the discharge decision for the agency, Frontex has started to implement the recommendations issued by the discharge authority and the dedicated LIBE (Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs) Frontex Scrutiny Working Group. I believe we should grant the discharge now, and this should be seen as an encouragement for the executive management to continue the steps set out in the different action plans and roadmaps. Nevertheless, the agency’s leadership needs to fully implement this roadmap and fully comply with the Frontex regulation. By the next discharge cycle, we want to see, among others, all 40 Fundamental Rights Monitors, an updated Serious Incident Report (SIR) mechanism, and a fully-functional Fundamental Rights monitoring mechanism. Part of the agency’s budget will be placed in a reserve and released only once these conditions are fully met. We are committed to keeping a very close eye on the progress achieved by the agency, and we shall do that through dedicated missions and visits on the ground. We would also like to see the results of the OLAF investigation. Finally, I would like to draw attention to the fact that cooperation with national authorities is extremely important for the functioning of the agency and its operations. Frontex cannot do this by itself only. The role of the Member States is crucial there. Member States’ authorities must also abide by the highest standards of respect for fundamental rights and sound financial management, especially when conducting joint operations. Mr Leggeri, responsibility, respect for fundamental rights and transparency are at the core of a strong and trusted agency. This is what we expect of your management.

Mr President, first I would like to welcome the new AML/CTF package proposed by the Commission, the single rulebook, the new AML Authority, the new rules on beneficial ownership transparency. I’m looking forward to working on these proposals. At the same time, please let me remind you that we have 16 AMLD IV infringement procedures launched by the Commission, including Romania, and four AMLD V procedures open. This approach to AML coming from the Member States cannot continue like that. If we do not properly transpose and implement; if we do not properly equip our law enforcement with the right tools to fight money laundering; if we do not have strong and independent justice systems, we will not succeed. This is a call to responsibility and respect for the rule of law in all of the Member States. Let us do this properly. Secondly, we have all witnessed the Pandora Papers: more than 230 politicians from 90 countries, 35 current or former heads of state, 133 Forbes billionaires, whose combined fortunes exceed 500 billion, and 46 Russian oligarchs. This is crushing. Each and every single name on this list needs to be properly audited. Each and every Member State needs to do this. Then we can say that we are countering money laundering, secret jurisdictions, tax havens and evasion properly: EU institutions and EU members, shoulder to shoulder, as it should be.

Mr President, I’m kindly asking you not to cut my microphone because the gentleman over there had nearly 40 minutes of offending this room with lies and other topics. Mr Morawiecki, do you know what the truth is? The truth is that it is not the judiciary doing this to the Polish people. The Polish judiciary are heroes, fighting for their independence and for their freedom now. It is not the European Union doing this to the Polish people – the European Union has been there every single step along the way – it is you who is doing this to the Polish people, and Mr Kaczyński, and the Polish Law and Justice party (PiS). It is you who captured the Constitutional Court, the institutions, the rule of law. You are dismantling this every single day. It is you doing this. My call to the Polish people is to stay out there in the street where they are now. I’ve seen the same as what you are doing now in Romania some years ago. We took to the streets. We stood out there as long as it took, and we got rid of them. This is exactly what will happen to you if you do not stop. This is my message, and my call to the Council and the Commission is to stay by the side of the Polish people until they get what... (The President cut off the speaker)

Madam President, I have come from a meeting with journalists from Gazeta Wyborcza and other publications which are literally suffocated by illiberalists, and with judges and civil society who are in mourning for their freedom, their profession and basically all the things they believe in. And I must confess, I had no relevant answers for them. For those people there, rule of law now means hope, and it means survival. They were telling me how in Poland, high-level officials from PiS are comparing the union with Hitler, and they are doing public polls to exit the Union, which invaded Poland. I don’t know where those fellows are who are actually getting paid with public European money while they’re stating what they’re stating here. Maybe they call that patriotic. So my question is: what’s next? Because what we are doing now is not enough. This is not enough. Direct, solid support on the ground would be one answer. Solid anti-SLAPP legislation would be another answer and, by all means, let’s make that conditionality a reality. Because if values are ignored and thrown into the bin, maybe money hurts.

Mr President, I welcome this agreement reached after a number of years with the collective effort of the European Parliament’s negotiating team. Thank you so much, Javier, and all the colleagues, with the efforts of the Portuguese Presidency and obviously with the support of the Commission. Thank you, Commissioner, for all of your effort, I know it wasn’t easy. Yes, the revised Blue Card will bring more harmonised, more attractive and less bureaucratic rules, and it will therefore encourage the access of highly skilled third country workers to the EU labour market. But this will also help lower the skills mismatch within the EU and I believe it is essential for us to understand the benefits of the legal labour migration. The new instrument will allow access to highly qualified workers, as well as highly skilled workers with proven work experience of at least three years in the IT area and beneficiaries of international protection with an employment contract of only six months. EU Blue Card holders will no longer be subject to a labour market test if they want to change jobs after one year. Even when their family members want to reunite within the Union, they will no longer be restricted from accessing a job. And Member States will also make sure that Blue Card holders and their family members do not enjoy a lower level of procedural safeguards and rights than those holders of national residence permits. This is not, however, a perfect piece of legislation. I see it as an important step forward, but my wish is that we are more ambitious for the future, a lot more ambitious for the future. This was also clearly expressed in the position of the European Parliament that we defended, and I wish it had been the ambition of the Member States as well. Let us be clear upon one thing. Illegal migration can be, and should be, countered with safe and legal pathways, and the exchange of valuable human resources is a win for both the Union and the third countries. I’m confident that we will be able to understand and proceed further with this common understanding of a political, but also labour market-related, social and economic reality. It is for the benefit of us all.

Mr President, my thoughts are today with Peter de Vries and his family. And I have had enough of Orbán, Kaczyński, and others like them. I’ve had enough of their lies, of their propaganda, of the way they dismantle media freedom every single day, of the way they disrespect EU law, of the way they target minorities, of the way they attack fundamental freedoms every single day. I’ve had enough of it! We’ve all had enough of it. The question is: is the Council aware of this? Has the Council had enough of it? Are you aware, Council, that through your silence you are a ram for this vicious agenda? I’m calling for a vote under Article 72 and I’m calling on you to end this circus. This is if we still want to have a European project, if we still want to have a Union and if we still want to have a Council after all. (Applause)