Speeches

– Honourable Members, thank you for this productive and very consensual exchange. I have taken good note of all your remarks and observations, and I’m very pleased to see a large majority supporting Ms Weiss’ report. Let me briefly reflect on some of the key issues raised. First of all, as regards the proposed ban on the export of plastic waste from the EU, which, as I already said in my introductory remarks, we will need to assess very carefully. The EU rules on the export of plastic waste have become stricter since 2021, and this has already led to a decrease in the export of plastic waste to non-OECD countries over the last two years. Furthermore, with our proposal, we are proposing a new regime applying to the export of all waste that will, in practice, further strengthen the conditions under which plastic waste could be exported outside the European Union. We have not pursued the option of a complete export ban for plastic waste in our proposal as, according to international rules, a restriction on trade has to be grounded on purely environmental grounds and can only be imposed when no other less trade-restrictive measures are available to achieve the objectives. In this case, we believe that the measures in the Commission proposal are both effective in curbing plastic pollution caused by our exports of plastic waste and proportionate to the problems. We also believe that our proposal could contribute to raising the standards for the management of plastic waste in third countries. So, as I said, we will look at it very carefully, but we need to make sure that it is in full compliance with our international commitments. As regards comments on exports of steel and iron scrap. The Commission proposal includes strong measures to ensure that waste, including metal waste, is treated in broadly equivalent conditions to the European Union, and these measures are expected to lead to a decrease of waste exports. And our impact assessment showed that the EU industry has the capacity to process this waste. As regards labour conditions in third countries and sustainable management of waste, we have taken note of a proposal of the European Parliament to consider eight International Labour Organization conventions and we are open to considering including such agreements in country assessments. We want to point out that recently two additional conventions were concluded under the umbrella of ILO, and we invite colleagues to also take them into account in the light of the proposed amendment. Finally, as regards illegal shipment activities, the Commission is working closely with enforcement agencies from the EU Member States, the EU Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law, Europol and international organisations like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Basel Convention to tackle illegal waste management activities and illegal waste shipments. And the EU notably supports cross-border investigations and cooperation between enforcement agencies in its Member States, and this is reinforced in the Waste Shipment Regulation. So, honourable Members, as I said at the outset, the Commission is fully committed to advancing as rapidly as possible on this file. You can count on our support to help the co-legislators ensure that ambitious futureproof rules start applying to waste shipments without any delay. We hope for swift progress under the Swedish Presidency to match the pace of work in the European Parliament.

– Mr President, honourable Members, let me thank the European Parliament for the very comprehensive work that has gone into this file. My thanks go in particular to Pernille Weiss and her team, together with all the shadow rapporteurs for their very full scrutiny of this proposal for new EU rules on waste shipments. The progress you have made so far is very welcome, and we particularly appreciate Parliament’s strong support in keeping the essential elements that form the heart of the Commission proposal. Reducing the EU environmental footprint linked to the export of waste to third countries, building up a robust EU market for waste, going for recycling and addressing waste trafficking, which is one of the most prevalent forms of environmental crime. Stricter controls on our waste exports will make sure that we take responsibility of the waste produced in the EU. The regulation as a whole has great potential to accelerate the transition to a more circular and climate-neutral economy. Facilitating the shipment of waste for recycling within the EU will help with the decarbonisation of EU industry, as waste reuse and recycling are both far less CO2-intensive than the use of primary raw materials. Finally, legal shipments: potentially compromising up to 30% of waste shipments worth 9.5 billion annually. And we need to step up action on waste trafficking. The Commission will support investigations by Member States on transnational crime linked to waste trafficking with the support of the EU Anti-Fraud Office. I also thank the Parliament for highlighting the important links between waste shipments and waste policy in general and climate change mitigation, global sustainable development and labour rights. And let me briefly mention two elements of your report which we will need to monitor very carefully in the course of further interinstitutional discussions and negotiations. So we take note of your call for a stricter approach on the export of plastic waste. The Commission will look into this very carefully and will have to consider the legal implications of this amendment, especially its compatibility with the EU’s international commitments. We need to fully assess if a blanket ban on the general export of plastic waste would be necessary and provide a better solution than the measures the Commission proposed to achieve our policy objectives. Respecting the EU’s international obligations will be, of course, key in this context. I would also like to add a word of caution on the tasks you expect the Commission to perform once the regulation is adopted. Some of the changes proposed in your report would create a substantial additional workload for the Commission, needing a considerable increase in staff with expenditure for heading seven already close to the ceiling set for the MFF. The resource implications of the proposed amendments needs to be very carefully considered. Honourable Members, our waste is our responsibility. Letting waste pollute the environment and end up in illegal dumpsters or in our oceans is a real loss of resources which are precious for the EU’s transition to a circular economy. And this proposal is a decisive move to create the most advanced waste shipment system in the world and bring this system to the digital era, too. Our goal is to make sure that waste generated in the EU is managed in a sustainable way so that it does not harm nature and health, but opens up new opportunities for green growth and innovation. And I am confident that we can achieve swift progress towards finalising the negotiations on this regulation. The sooner the new harmonised rules start applying, the better. My team and I are ready to continue providing every support necessary. We look forward to start to the trilogue negotiations as soon as possible and we hope that the Council would also be ready to do so without delay. Thank you. And I, of course, now look forward to hearing your views.

– Mr President, Minister, honourable Members, thank you very much for this rich debate and for your comments and interventions, of which I took good note, and thank you very much for your great support. Let me come back just to a couple of points that some of you raised. First of all, of course, resource mobilisation. Yes, this will be a key point in the negotiations. The package must cover the means of implementation in the broad sense. We need to scale up financing from all sources, and in particular domestic finances. We also need to remove, redirect or repurpose environmentally harmful subsidies and incentives, and we need to increase positive incentives and align all financial flows with biodiversity objectives. We want clear and operational provisions on mobilising resources from all sources. Without this, the framework would be a dead letter. Because I have also heard some of you drawing parallels to what have happened in Sharm el—Sheikh, let me also mention that without any significant increase in official development assistance, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to strike an ambitious deal. Combined efforts by EU Member States, as well as from a wider range of donors, will be necessary to achieve full impact. At COP11, the parties agreed on doubling biodiversity—related international financial resource flows to developing countries. The EU has delivered on this commitment, and the Commission will double again its financing over the period 2021—2027. France and Germany also made significant pledges. We are pushing other donors to come up with similar increases. We will need a very practical and pragmatic conversation if we want to identify solutions that can work for all. The EU and Member States certainly want to avoid to agree on a pledge that at the end of the day cannot be delivered. We should avoid a situation, as for climate, where perceived lack of financing becomes a political stumbling block for full implementation. Last, Ms Paulus, let me say that based on assessment by the IUCN, we have a clear list of species that are at risk of extinction. We need urgent action by 2030 to save these species. However, the vast majority of species is unknown to us, and yet the IPPS global assessment in 2019 estimated that one million species is at risk of extinction. The 2050 goal should be to save all the species, bringing the rate of extinction back to the natural background level. Dear colleagues, Members of the Parliament, let me use very clear words. Our biodiversity life on Earth is in danger. We are part of that biodiversity. We too are in danger. So we must stop biodiversity loss and restore nature. Therefore, our key priority is a successful COP. The negotiations in Montreal are our chance to adopt a framework that credibly addresses biodiversity crisis.

– Mr President, Minister, honourable members, the UN biodiversity COP – COP 15 – is almost upon us. A successful COP, one that adopts an ambitious post—2020 global biodiversity framework, is a key priority for the Commission and for me personally. Protecting the health of people and the planet are central elements of the European Green Deal, and we must reverse the trend of biodiversity loss and we must do this urgently. One million species are at risk of extinction. We need nature for food security, disaster risk reduction, sustainable jobs, poverty, education and health. We need a framework that credibly addresses the biodiversity crisis. And let me remind you, we will never solve the climate crisis if we do not help nature, our best ally, offering us so many nature—based solutions. The finishing line is approaching and a huge number of issues are still to be resolved. There are large divides on key issues. Last week in Sharm El Sheikh I had several meetings with ministers, including a high—level event organised by China and Canada. Many of the discussions at COP 27 were important stepping stones towards COP 15. They reaffirmed the importance of tackling the nature crisis. COP 27 confirmed loud and clear that there is no way to limit global warming to 1.5ºC without taking action to protect and restore nature, including a first—ever mention in the cover text of tipping points and nature—based solutions. As I’m sure you recall, we have several key priorities for the post—2020 global biodiversity framework. Let me start with targets to ensure sustainable use of biodiversity. We need strong targets to eradicate illegal, unsustainable and unsafe exploitation of species, targets to ensure that all areas under agriculture, forestry and fisheries are managed sustainably. Integrating biodiversity across policies and sector is a key priority for Europe. We also need ambitious targets to address the direct drivers of loss, not only for the sake of nature, but also for sustainable livelihoods and poverty eradication. This is because pollution is also a health issue. Invasive alien species threaten food security, and so on. We need nature for so many different reasons. We need to restore 3 billion hectares of terrestrial and 3 billion hectares of marine ecosystems. This corresponds to roughly 30% of degraded terrestrial ecosystems and 10% of degraded marine ecosystems. This target is best expressed in hectares because parties have diverging views on how many areas are degraded. The 3 + 3 billion hectares may seem ambitious, but let us keep in mind that this target focuses on bringing areas under restoration and not about completed restoration. We need to protect 30% of land and oceans – the 30 by 30 target. In our engagement with other parties, we should underline that protection goes well together with economic activities that don’t jeopardise the conservation objectives. Moreover, the target can be achieved by establishing protected areas and other effective conservation measures if they offer the same level of protection. And these other measures can, for example, be land—managed by indigenous people. This creates flexibility for implementation. Similarly, not all marine protected areas have to be no—take zones, or not all the time. Some fisheries activities are compatible with conservation objectives. When we implement this target, it will be crucial to respect and safeguard the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. They are essential stewards of biodiversity. We are aware that some of them fear being expelled from their lands and indeed there have been terrible examples of this in the past. But the 30—by—30 target can and must be achieved while safeguarding the rights. In fact, we expect the 30—by—30 target to bring them significant benefits. Lastly, 30—by—30 target should focus not only on protecting a percentage of lands and oceans, but also on qualitative aspects. We must protect the areas most important for biodiversity and ecosystem services. We also need to ensure effective management and connectivity. We do not want paper parks. But we also have other priorities which are equally important. We must ensure solid biodiversity outcomes by the middle of the century. That includes halting human—induced extinction, increasing ecological integrity and connectivity, and increasing the area of natural ecosystems by 20%. We need a significant reduction of our ecological footprint by 2030 to bring it within planetary boundaries by 2050. We want clear and operational provisions on financing of implementation. This is absolutely essential and without it, there will be simply no agreement. We must align all financial flows with biodiversity objectives and eliminate or repurpose harmful subsidies. The ECB estimates that those subsidies are around USD 800 billion. For each dollar that we spend on biodiversity funding, we currently spend 8 dollars harming biodiversity. It will not be possible to achieve our goals when taking one step forward, we then take eight steps back. We need to mobilise resources from all sources. That starts with domestic sources and we need to involve the private sector. However, we also know that a significant increase of international public biodiversity financing will be needed. President von der Leyen has pledged a doubling of our international biodiversity funding to EUR 7 billion over the period of 2021—2027. This money is targeted primarily at the most vulnerable countries. Germany and France have pledged similar increases. And let me underline we need all EU Member States, as well as other public and private donors, to contribute. In addition, we are fully committed to the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity on access and benefit—sharing. We constructively engage in the discussions on this matter and are ready to contribute to a positive solution. And we should not repeat the mistakes we found with the Aichi framework. The global biodiversity framework will only make a difference if it includes both a strong monitoring framework and much stronger mechanisms for review of implementation. And this should include a regular reviewing cycle. All parties should report national targets within one year from COP 15 as a basis for a global analysis of collective ambition. And this is kind of global gap report to see where the collective ambition stands. All parties should use the same headline indicators so we can measure collective progress. National reports and scientific evidence would feed into a stocktake, and this would assess progress towards the global goals and targets based on an assessment of national reports and the relevant scientific evidence. And this stocktake should be followed by a transparent process during which parties indicate where they step up ambitions or implementations. This monitoring framework should be adopted at COP 15, together with the first set of indicators. We cannot postpone this if we want the parties to start reporting and it is not necessary to postpone this. There has been good progress on identifying the indicators. Of course, the work will continue towards COP 16, where additional indicators should be adopted. Our policies will not succeed without sound science. The EU provides funding for a significant research programme on nature and nature—based solutions. We are also putting in place a global knowledge centre for biodiversity, a science service for all to be launched at COP 15. This knowledge centre aims to help developing countries to build capacity for monitoring and reporting and to make data collection easier. The EU and Member States’ preparations are in full swing. In October, the Council adopted conclusions setting out the key elements of our positions. The details are being finalised and I am really grateful to the Czech Presidency for the effective steering of our preparations. Dear Members of the Parliament, I am also very happy that a sizeable delegation from the Parliament will join the EU delegation in Montreal because your support will be very welcome, and I look forward to meeting you there and to staying in close touch with you during the negotiations. Thank you for your attention.

– Mr President, Minister, honourable Members, let me first of all sincerely thank you once again for your support for Ukraine, for Parliament’s solidarity and for the urgency and priority that Parliament has given to this file. I would also like to thank you for your interventions and comments, to which I have listened very carefully. I would like to reply just to a couple of questions which require a very clear answer. One Member has asked whether we really want to send all this money to Ukraine. Our clear answer is ‘yes’. Because, as many of you have said today, it’s about solidarity, it’s about humanity and about standing on the right side of history. I also heard questions as to whether we know where all this money goes. Again, I can reply with a clear ‘yes’. This money goes to the budget for immediate needs – pensions, salary, rebuilding critical infrastructure, which we have seen destroyed by Russian bombs, and actually it’s being destroyed right now while we are discussing it. Ukrainians, they are left without water, electricity, heating, hospitals. Finally, some of you have seen a risk and point to corruption and the need to scrutinise well the money spent. So let me stress again that we are ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum of understanding to include areas for conditions to strengthen the rule of law and fight against corruption. We aim to sign this memorandum of understanding as soon as we get approval for our proposal by the European Parliament and Council. Dear Members of the Parliament, once again thank you. Thank you for the overwhelming majority of Members who supported our proposal in today’s debate. It’s vital for our Ukrainian friends that the entire package goes through quickly, and we will of course keep this House duly informed about future developments. Slava Ukraini!

– Madam President, Minister, honourable Members, I would like to start this debate by reaffirming the EU’s solidarity with Ukraine. While Russia continues its brutal war, killing Ukraine’s citizens and destroying infrastructure, the EU stands with Ukraine as long as it takes. The EU remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and its inherent right of self-defence against Russia’s aggression, as enshrined in the UN Charter. Russia must stop its illegal war of aggression, which has taken a heavy human toll and deeply damaged Ukraine’s society and economic potential. The destruction of physical capital and infrastructure is immense. By the end of May, it is estimated to have cost reconstruction and recovery costs of USD 349 billion; almost 14 million people have been forced to leave their homes. It is an extremely challenging context. Ukraine’s funding needs will continue to be acute in 2023. The EU, its Member States and the European financial institutions under the Team Europe approach are fulfilling their promise to provide sizeable support to Ukraine. In total, almost EUR 20 billion have been mobilised in 2022, in addition to military assistance. And I would like to thank the European Parliament for its unwavering support for Ukraine and its continuous cooperation. This includes the Parliament’s support under the urgency procedure for the legislative proposal made by the Commission. Yesterday we disbursed another EUR 2.5 billion of exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine. This brings the Union’s macro-financial assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the war to EUR 6.7 billion: emergency MFA of EUR 1.2 billion disbursed in March, exceptional MFA of EUR 1 billion disbursed in August and an exceptional MFA of EUR 4.5 billion disbursed in October and November. We expect to disburse another EUR 500 million of exceptional MFA to Ukraine in December, once the authorities have shown that they have met the conditionality agreed in the related memorandum of understanding. So far there has been satisfactory progress with implementation and we are confident that the Ukrainian authorities will meet their commitments. Based on the enhanced reporting requirements linked to the exceptional MFA designed to ensure the transparency and efficiency of the use of funds, Ukraine has reported that the funds have been used to repay maturing domestic liabilities. In that sense, the Union’s support has effectively contributed to limit Ukraine’s recourse monetary financing of its government. That way, the Union’s MFA has achieved its goal of maintaining macro-financial stability and preserving the stock of official international reserves of Ukraine, which stabilised at above USD 25 billion since September. Estimates of Ukraine’s funding gap in 2023 are exceptionally uncertain, ranging from EUR 3 to 4 billion per month, notably depending on the length of the war and the inflicted damage. To help Ukraine cover its sizable funding gap in 2023, on 9 November the Commission presented a proposal for a new instrument: Macro-Financial Assistance Plus. It aims to channel up to EUR 18 billion in highly concessional loans to Ukraine in 2023 in a predictable, continuous, orderly and timely manner. Such an unprecedented amount will allow Ukraine to ensure macroeconomic stability and restore critical infrastructure destroyed by Russia. To ensure maximum concessionality, the loans provided under the MFA+ instrument should have long maturities and there will be no repayment of principal before 2033. To secure the funds for the loans, the Commission proposes to borrow on capital markets using the diversified funding strategy via a targeted amendment of the Financial Regulation and this would enable the Commission to use the full portfolio of funding instruments to secure market funding on the most advantageous terms. To guarantee this borrowing for Ukraine, the Commission proposes to use the headroom of the 2021-2027 EU budget in a targeted manner for Ukraine, limited in time, and this will be done via a targeted amendment of the MFF Regulation. The headroom is the difference between the own reserve ceilings – so the maximum amount of resources that the Commission can ask Member States to contribute in a given year – and the funds that it actually needs to cover the expenses envisioned in the budget. The EU will also cover the interest—rate costs of Ukraine to be financed by voluntary contributions from Member States in the form of external assigned revenue, and the scale of the required interest payments under the proposed MFA+ funding will depend on the rate at which the Commission raises the funds on the capital markets within its diversified funding strategy. Current market extrapolations point to estimated interest—rate costs of less than EUR 600 million per year. These costs will only come into effect from 2024 onwards because there will be no interest payments related to these funds in 2023. Allocation of the costs across Member States will be done on the basis of the GNI key. Financial support for Ukraine in 2023 will entail conditionality to be negotiated with Ukraine in a memorandum of understanding. Obviously, implementing a structural reform agenda in a country at war is not an easy task and it puts a premium on relevance and feasibility. This conditionality will feature reforms to further enhance the rule of law, good governance, anti-fraud and anti-corruption measures. And this is essential for the country’s future reconstruction and for supporting Ukraine on its path to EU accession, as well as ensuring the financial interests of the Union. The Commission intends to negotiate the memorandum of understanding without delay once the MFA+ instrument is legally in place, and we are confident that this will allow us a swift disbursement to be made in January 2023. It is important that the emergency financial assistance for Ukraine from all other international partners, both bilateral and multilateral, should continue in 2023 as it was in 2022. The Commission is in regular contact with the international financial institutions and also in the G7 framework to ensure cooperation and coordination. But honourable Members, macro—financial assistance is only one element of the Union’s support for Ukraine. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the overall Team Europe assistance pledged to Ukraine amounts close to EUR 20 billion. This combines the support enabled by the European Union budget. In addition to the financial assistance, the Union has also made military equipment available through the European Peace Facility, plus over EUR 100 million of CSDP support for training missions, as well as in-kind assistance under the Union’s civil protection mechanism. On humanitarian assistance, the EU, together with its Member States, have mobilised more than EUR 1.5 billion, of which about EUR 500 million comes from the EU budget. The EU’s comprehensive humanitarian and civil—protection assistance is far from being a short term deal. The EU is with Ukraine for the long haul. Honourable Members, once again, I would like to thank the European Parliament for the urgency and priority that it has given to this file. It is vital for our Ukrainian friends that this entire package goes through quickly. It is also vital for Europe’s credibility as a whole.

– Mr President, honourable Members, Minister, I would like, first of all, to thank all of you for your interventions and the good debate today. The terrible events we have experienced this summer in Europe and worldwide are yet another wake-up call. Natural question: how many of those wake-up calls do we still need? Many of you call today for clear political will, and I couldn’t agree more that it’s high time to prove our political will – our political will to properly implement European legislation that is in place to make our nature more resilient and slow down climate change, but also political will to further step up efforts and show more ambition. Because what the extreme weather events over the last year showed is that climate change and loss of biodiversity are progressing faster and faster. The reply cannot be a lowering of our ambition, but more commitment to increase it. Some of you were asking whether we are late. Yes, we are. But hopefully not too late if we now urgently speed up and step up, better prepare for and address the climate crisis – and let us be clear, every single region in Europe will be affected by the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, even those which so far thought they were more or less safe. To those who mentioned agriculture today and the need to support our farmers, let me be very clear. Our greener CAP, our biodiversity strategy, our ‘farm to fork’ strategy, they are our straightjacket for our farmers. They are our plan to make them more resilient – more resilient against biodiversity loss, against climate change, including of course natural disasters and their consequences that they are already facing. Our policy is an insurance policy for the future, for all the sectors, so much dependent on healthy nature. Without a healthy, resilient nature, there will be no food security. This is also what we will discuss with the Czech Presidency at the next Environment Council, when we will prepare our two key international meetings this year: COP27 for climate and COP15 on biodiversity. Sharm el-Sheikh and Montreal will be key opportunities to get the world on-board and to show commitment also at international level and to promote what is a truly smart solution. I am talking here, of course, about nature-based solutions, protecting and restoring wetlands, peatlands, coastal and marine ecosystems, developing urban green spaces and installing green roofs and walls, or promoting sustainably—managed forests and farmland. These smart solutions help mitigate climate change at the same time as reversing biodiversity loss. They all contribute, for example, to better regulate temperatures, to absorb flood overflows and to attenuate the effects of extreme droughts. It is the EU’s commitment, if a disaster strikes, to respond and to deliver assistance in the spirit of solidarity, both domestically and abroad. Let me join all of those who have paid tribute today to firefighters and all of those who helped and did everything they could to lower the suffering. But it’s also the EU’s commitment to avoid disaster, to hit hard in the first place and to protect society against suffering and damage. We have the strategic framework and the tools at our disposal. Climate adaptation policy is already mainstreamed in a number of areas. Prevention requires more political attention that it has been given so far. Our legal deadline is to get ahead of climate change, and for this we need to act on science more than ever. We need a more coordinated effort, targeted funding for good adaptation solutions, rigorous and fast implementation at all levels, not only after a summer like this one, but on a continuous basis every day.

– Mr President, honourable Members, Minister, the climate crisis is here. With scorching heat, devastating droughts, historic levels of forest fires or deadly floods across the globe. It left one third of Pakistan underwater while uncovering riverbeds of the Loire, Rhine or Elbe. Remote possibility turned into a harsh reality, yet again, in Europe. Water scarcity has crippled the energy generation from hydropower. Temperatures hit hard the cooling for nuclear plants and pushed up energy demand for cooling and energy prices, constituting a burden for consumers and industry and dampening economic recovery. Droughts are affecting crop yields and adding to the overall public concern of unfolding food-price increase. Heat is exhausting the population, impacting our well-being, certain jobs and outdoor activities already affected by the pandemic. For the younger generation, this may be the coldest summer they experience. The most recent assessment of climate science by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2021 and 2022, confirms that most of the changes now observed in the climate system are related to the increase of greenhouse-gas emissions over the past decades related to human activities. The scientists are warning that the intensity and frequency of extreme-climate events is set to increase as the climate warms. Many people rightfully ask: are we equipped to deal with situations of such a gravity? This strategic framework is there. The climate law commits the EU and its Member States to a duty to adapt with regular reporting, assessment of collective progress and consistency of efforts, with the objective of climate resilience. In 2021, in the EU Adopt Adaptation Strategy, we have identified areas where progress at EU level on climate resilience is necessary if we are to get ahead of impacts before they do damage. No doubt the gravity of the climate crisis demands transformational change across all sectors, systems and parts of the society. We have taken a whole-of-government approach looking at macroeconomics, competition or health angles to properly address this broad challenge. In principle, when we prepare European legislation, we are under the obligation to assess whether this impacts negatively on our adaptive capacity or increases our vulnerability to climate change. All EU funded infrastructure should be climate proof. Project promoters and responsible authorities should make sure that the future climate scenarios are used, vulnerabilities identified, and potential material impacts avoided or minimised. Understanding fully what the future risks are, is essential. That is why our in-house science and knowledge service, the Joint Research Centre, has made it a priority to provide new science evidence and tools for anticipating and managing the crises of the future. We launched the work with the European Environment Agency towards an EU-wide forward-looking risk assessment that should allow us, based on the best science, to identify key risks, key hotspots in Europe and table inconvenient yet pressing issues about the fate of certain sectors, relevance of certain policy objectives and necessary interventions. Furthermore, we will launch a dialogue with the insurance, financial sector, real estate or cities, to identify and examine the main reasons behind the widening climate-protection gap and ways to address them. There are significant European funds already available for financing adaptation to climate change from the common agricultural policy through cohesion policy, recovery funds to LIFE or Horizon Europe. It is teamwork. We all must work together – European, national, regional and local authorities, researchers, businesses, representatives of civil society and citizens. The EU Mission for Adaptation to Climate Change, launched in September 2021, is putting the EU adaptation strategy in practice on the ground by helping Europe’s regions become more resilient to the impacts of climate change. A call for testing and demonstrating transformative solutions of climate resilience worth EUR 88 million is out and will be closed by the end of September. Adaptation to climate change requires local action to better understand the existing and future climate risks; to develop climate-adaptation pathways to be better prepared and cope with the changing climate; to test and deploy on the ground the needed solutions to build resilience. This is what the mission should offer to 150 regions in the coming years, up to 2030. The other Horizon missions on climate-neutral cities, soils and oceans will also include activities in support of building climate resilience across Europe. Lack of capacity is an essential element of vulnerability. We need to work with Member States, regions and local authorities to build up their capacity, understanding, anticipation and the governance for climate adaptation that is commensurate with amplifying faster climate impacts. Sustainable and climate-resilient management of our water resources will make the EU more resilient to droughts and increasing water stress. Droughts can be managed on an ad hoc basis or by preparing and following strategies or plans. The European Commission recommends establishing specific drought-management plans where relevant, complementing river- basin-management plans required by the Water Framework Directive. With integrated water management, water reuse can play a significant role in addressing droughts and water scarcity. The regulation on water reuse for agricultural irrigation offers a legal framework for this alternative water-supply option, and the Commission will further explore possible water-reuse uptake beyond agricultural irrigation. And let me stress in particular also the crucial role of healthy soils in the water cycle, which makes them an indispensable ally for climate adaptation. The restoration of the sponge-like function of soils can boost the supply of clean fresh water and reduce the risk of flooding and drought. This is why we proposed a nature restoration law in June this year, and we are developing, following up on a strong request from the European Parliament, a new soil health law to be proposed in spring next year. A wide number of soil-protection measures are available that help retain water and reduce water needs, and avoid and increase resilience of droughts. Therefore, applying specific sustainable-management practices that retain moisture, planting bushes and trees that generate shade and cultivating plants and crops, species and variants adapted to dry climatic conditions can reverse the trend towards desertification and restore soils that are already affected. In 2023, we will also present a proposal for a forest-monitoring law to provide Member States with satellite imaging and other state-of-the-art information services, helping them to minimise and optimise forest-management practices. Copernicus, the EU Satellite Earth Observation Programme, represents a key asset in this regard, and this will keep forests resilient, enabling them to perform multiple ecosystem services while meeting market demands. In addition, prevention is crucial to reduce the risks and the impacts of forest fires. This summer, we have witnessed an alarming acceleration and spread of wildfires across Europe. And although the season is not over yet, it already broke all the records. The number of large fires and the hectares of land that were burned amount to approximately 800 000. This is about three times the size of Luxembourg or one quarter of Belgium. European solidarity remains unbroken, thanks also to the strategic decision-making of previous years to pool capacities at European level and share them across the board. However, we must do more at European level; we need to find ways to ease the national burden more quickly. Solidarity across Europe, when everyone is affected at the same time, cannot be taken for granted. Since June, 23 deployments of firefighting planes and eight of helicopters have taken place in response to ten requests for assistance under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. To be better prepared for next year, the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, and the Czech Presidency called for an informal ministerial meeting on Monday 5 September. The Commission tabled a proposal to urgently expand the existing rescue transitional aerial fleet, which is every summer fully operational to support Member States when faced with simultaneous large forest fires, and accelerate the procurement of the permanent rescue fleet of aerial firefighting capacities. The Commission and Member States have invested much time and energy in negotiations for the production launch of new Canadair planes, which, however, will become available only between 2026 and 2030. To bridge the gap until the EU rescue fleet is available, faster procurement of firefighting helicopters for the next fire seasons and doubling the rescue transmission fleet with light amphibious aircraft and helicopters was discussed with Member States. Now it’s important that we mobilise the necessary budgetary resources so that the EU can help to better protect the lives of our citizens, their properties and livelihood.

– Mr President, honourable Members, dear rapporteurs, the Commission welcomes this interim report. It is based on the Commission’s proposal of December 2021 and it provides important and timely input for a targeted amendment of the Multiannual Financial Framework Regulation. Let me briefly recall two very specific objectives of the Commission proposal. First, to allow the financing of the Social Climate Fund, as proposed in July 2021, by increasing the relevant MFF ceilings by the exact amounts of expenditure proposed for the Social Climate Fund. Secondly, in conjunction with the proposal of December 2021 for introducing new own resources to the EU budget in line with the Interinstitutional Agreement of December 2020, to enable the use of new own resources, once introduced, for the repayment of Next Generation EU borrowing, without harming the integrity of the multiannual financial framework and its programme. I want to thank the European Parliament and, in particular, the rapporteurs for their support for the Commission proposal, which fully reflects the principles of unity and universality of the budget. We take good note of the focused modifications suggested by Parliament. We acknowledge that the amendment to the Multiannual Financial Framework Regulation is intrinsically linked to not only the new own resources proposal of December 2021, but also to sectoral legislative proposals, namely the Social Climate Fund, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the Emissions Trading System Directive. On the latter, the trilogue negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council are still ongoing. The outcome of this legislative process will, of course, be decisive for the further consideration of this targeted amendment of the multiannual financial framework proposal. To close, let me once again thank Parliament for this constructive interim report.

– Mr President, honourable Members, let me start by stressing that the Commission very much welcomes this very timely and important report. Schools across the EU are now trying to address negative trends in students’ competence and mental health due to loss of in-person teaching and social distancing during the COVID-19 crisis. This report will be instrumental in helping us direct efforts to support learning institutions across Europe. I would like to assure you that the Commission has been closely monitoring the situation and working with the Member States in this regard. We have already taken several steps towards alleviating the negative impact that COVID-19 closures of educational, cultural, youth and sports activities had on children and young people in the EU. As a result, three recently—published reference documents help Member States to address those challenges. First, in November last year, the Commission proposal for a Council recommendation on blended learning for high quality and inclusive primary and secondary education was adopted by the Council. The recommendation recognises that the physical, mental and emotional well—being of students was compromised during school closures. Secondly, a detailed framework for the social and personal key competences – LifeComp – outlines the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by young people to take care of their physical, social and mental well—being. Third, on 30 June this year, the Commission adopted a proposal for a Council recommendation on pathways to school success. The goal of all these initiatives is to address our major concerns – the post—COVID recovery, sustainability and under—achievement. This effort is part of our work on achieving the European Education Area by 2025. In fact, the new working group on schools under the European Education Area Strategic Framework for Cooperation started its work already last year. In particular, pathways will be complemented by an expert group on school well—being to be set up in the coming months. When it comes to the budget, about 13% of the total RRF envelope, amounting to more than EUR 63 billion, will be devoted to measures supporting education and skills. Investment in digital education and skills will be around EUR 28 billion. I would also like to stress that our Erasmus+ programme has provided invaluable during the crisis. For instance, in 2020, the Erasmus+ programme published two calls for proposals in the area of partnerships for digital education readiness and partnerships for creativity. Each provided EUR 100 million to respond to the educational challenges resulting from the COVID—19 pandemic. With an overall indicative financial envelope of about EUR 28 billion for 2021—2027, the programme is with nearly doubled funding compared to its predecessor, which opens additional opportunities. The programme also supports European online platforms for virtual cooperation and digital education, e-twinning and the school education gateway, which played a key role during the pandemic. In the field of sport and youth we also launched a number of initiatives like ‘Be active at home’, the European Week of Sport, HealthyLifestyle4All and the European Year of Youth 2022. As for culture, a sector that also suffered so much, the Commission published the Communication ‘Coronavirus: a common path to Europe’s safe re—opening’. Particularly useful in this context was the setting—up of Creatives Unite, a platform for and by the cultural and creative sectors. We made additional financial resources available through the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative, Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which can also be used for the cultural and creative sectors, REACT—EU and the future cohesion policy. The Creative Europe programme has an unprecedented budget of EUR 2.4 billion up to 2027, and this is an increase of 60% compared with the previous programme. Finally, we have worked a lot to encourage Member States to consider culture as a strategic investment. As a result, at EU level, more than 2% of the total budget of the recovery and resilience plan will be dedicated to the cultural and creative sectors. Mr President, honourable Members, again I would like to applaud the efforts of the CULT Committee of the European Parliament and particularly the work of the rapporteur, Mr Heide. Our joint work is fundamental to help our young overcome the negative consequences of those two years. With your excellent collaboration I am sure we can continue doing more.

– Mr President, honourable Members, I appreciate the discussion that we had today on the two proposals and I would like to thank again the rapporteur and all of those involved in the negotiations on both files. A couple of you – Mr Mato, Mr González and other honourable Members –also made some more general observations on the role of our fishing fleet and on the need to develop management measures in close dialogue with them. I absolutely agree with you, and this is what we, Member States, the European Commission, with your support, are doing and the transposition of files we are discussing today are key for our fleet. That’s why for these reasons we need to join forces in the future to transpose all measures much faster into EU law, simplifying the process. So I hope that I can truly count on your support. Honourable Members, the adoption of both proposals will update the relevant regulations with the most recent conservation and management measures. Of course, I hope that we can also make swift progress on the other outstanding RFMO implementation proposals and that we will keep working together towards improving the implementation process.

– Mr President, honourable Members, dear Ms Carvalhais, I would like to start by thanking you for bringing the negotiations on this important transpositions to a successful end. Let me briefly say a few words on both of them. The main purpose of the Commission proposal regarding the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization is to implement into EU law the most recent conservation and enforcement measures adopted by this organisation at its annual meeting in September 2021. As you know, such transposition of updated measures by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization is a regular legislative exercise. However, in addition, this Commission proposal includes delegated powers to the Commission concerning landing and inspection for Greenland halibut, as well as the control measures for cod in Division 3M. Such delegated powers are important in order to ensure a fast transposition into EU law of these technical rules that change every year. The adoption of this amending regulation will allow Union vessels to fish on the same footing as vessels from other contracting parties of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation for future fishing seasons. This has been a recurrent request from many stakeholders across the EU, and I would like to thank the rapporteur and the shadow rapporteurs for their full support for the Commission proposal. As regards the Commission proposal for a regulation for the Union Fleet operating in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Convention area, I believe that overall the amendments by the co-legislators improved the text. At the same time, those amendments are indeed in line with the organisation’s conservation and management measures. However, I regret that the co-legislators missed the opportunity to simplify the overall process of transposition, since some of the avenues proposed by the Commission to streamline the process were not supported by the co—legislators, despite Parliament’s and Council’s earlier calls on the Commission to further improve the process. I obviously fully respect your positions, but I think we missed a good opportunity here to simplify the procedures, which are currently too complex and long. The transposition process lasts on average 18 months – from the drafting of the proposal by the Commission to its adoption by the co-legislators. Considering the nature of this exercise, this is far too long and complicated. I would therefore like to ask for the inclusion of a statement on behalf of the Commission in the minutes of this debate reflecting our disappointment. The Commission will, in any case, continue to work together with the European Parliament and the Council on further improvements to the implementation of the process. In this particular context, I would like to point to the two Commission proposals for the transposition of international fisheries conservation measures which are currently stalled in the interinstitutional negotiations. One proposal concerns the conservation of the Atlantic bluefin tuna management plan, and the other the Atlantic bluefin tuna catch documentation scheme. I am concerned that such delays affect the credibility of the European Union in the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. It is indeed difficult to explain to our international partners why it takes so long for the EU to implement its international obligations. I am also concerned that the lack of transposition has negative consequences for the EU fishing fleet. We should really avoid this. We trust that work will pick up in light of the most recent additional amendment proposed by the Commission in April this year and, of course, I look forward to seeing these two files advanced quickly. Statement by the Commission (in writing) “The European Parliament and the Council underlined on several occasions the need to further improve the process of implementation of conservation measures adopted by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), notably in a timely manner. The Commission regrets that its attempt to streamline the implementation process has not been fully retained by the European Parliament and the Council. The Commission will continue to work together with the European Parliament and the Council on further improvements to the implementation process.”

– Mr President, honourable Members, let me first of all thank you for packaging the debates on the forest strategy and on global deforestation, because at the end of the day, these are two sides of the same coin. And I have listened carefully to the different interventions tonight, and I take good note of your ambition, and your comments and of the impressions you took back from your recent travels to Amazonia. Let me briefly address just a couple of points raised by several of you. First of all, several of you have mentioned the rights of indigenous people. And I can only share your concerns that deforestation and forest degradation have a dramatic impact on the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people, including indigenous peoples who rely heavily on forest ecosystems and are the best defenders of forests. The regulation will ensure that no commodity or products issued from deforestation or forest degradation of the lands inhabited by indigenous people is allowed to enter the EU market. The cooperation structures foreseen in the regulation should allow the full participation of all stakeholders, including civil society, indigenous people and local communities; partnerships will strengthen the rights of forest—dependent communities. We will, of course, closely look into your and the Member States’ position on these issues and assess the co—legislators’ position. However, let me stress that whenever considering additional references, we must also take into account that other legislative initiatives – in particular the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive – also comprehensively address this issue, so as to avoid any duplication. I heard also your strong calls to extend the scope of the regulation to other commodities. Let me briefly reiterate the Commission position on this matter and our concerns. The six commodities included in our draft regulation have been proposed taking into account the impact assessment of the initiative. They already cover over 80% of products that contribute to deforestation, and if we propose new products, we need proof that they are really the ones where the Union is contributing the most to the global deforestation. And as I mentioned in my introduction, without that proof, our regulation could be challenged, especially at the international level. And we of course should avoid that by all means. Our proposal therefore sets out a progressive scope that will be updated regularly, according to new deforestation trends and data. And again, the aim of progressive scope is to focus first on the commodities where the EU’s impact on global deforestation and forest degradation is the largest, and the regulatory intervention promises to have the most impact. Some final comments also on financial institutions, which are proposed to be included in the scope of the regulation. The European Union has several laws already in place or under development that address the environmental responsibility of financial institutions. However, the regulatory system functions via entirely different authorities. Therefore I need to make you aware that including them in our proposal would require setting up two completely different tracks for monitoring and enforcement. In the area of sustainable finance in the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, financial market participants and financial advisers are required to disclose adverse impacts on sustainability matters at entity and financial products levels. The revised Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, as well as the broader sustainable finance framework that is being put in place, will significantly improve transparency, and complement and support the legislative initiative on deforestation. So our proposal is forward looking and it is designed to prevent further deforestation. It is an opportunity to level the playing field for the many businesses who are already cleaning up their supply chains. It is a chance to underline the EU’s leadership in addressing urgent global problems – not just deforestation, but forest degradation as well. But we also need to move fast. That matters because we are confident that when others see our system working, they too will follow. In the coming weeks and months, the Commission will work with all of you to deliver an outcome that is ambitious, realistic and easy to put in place. That means protecting the essential elements of this pioneering proposal: coverage of deforestation in all of its forms, both legal and illegal, strict traceability, strong due diligence, good definitions based on international work. And lastly, it means avoiding loopholes wherever possible, and appropriate coverage for the largest traders. The Commission has been supporting the technical discussion from the outset. We stand ready to continue working with you and the Council as an honest broker to find compromises that are agreeable to all. With matching levels of commitment on all sides, I very much hope to see a solid agreement before the end of this year.

– Mr President, honourable Members, I would like to thank the European Parliament, and in particular the ENVI Committee and its rapporteur, Mr Hansen, as well as the shadow rapporteurs, but also many other committees that were involved in this work, and all that they have put into the report we are debating today. It’s extremely important to remember that this sensitive initiative is one of the key deliverables of the European Green Deal. It helps us address the two major environmental challenges of our time: biodiversity loss and climate change. Deforestation and forest degradation are enormous drivers of both of those challenges. In the last 30 years, the world has lost over 10% of its forests. To put that in perspective, 10% of the world’s forests is an area larger than the whole of the European Union. And that loss continues at an alarming pace; over 1 700 football fields of forests are destroyed every single hour. What we have here is a solution with several key elements at its heart. We need to address both illegal and illegal deforestation. We need strict traceability, strong due diligence, solid definitions and a robust system for benchmarking. And I am happy to see all of those essential elements of our proposal in your report. But your report also proposes a considerable enlargement of the scope of this regulation, claiming that there is still room to increase the level of ambition of what the Commission proposed. And of course, the level of ambition will always be important. But rather than overburdening the system at the outset and risking its failure, I am convinced that here we need to advance step by step. If we want to enlarge the scope, we must do that on the basis of solid data. We need proof that the products covered are the ones where the Union is contributing the most to global deforestation. Without that, we are concerned that our regulation could be challenged, especially at international level, and this would push us a long way back. That is why we proposed the progressive approach: we start with the most relevant commodities and ecosystems, and we base that on the findings of the impact assessment. And when implementation begins, and we have additional solid data, we could start to expand. When we drafted the FLEGT proposal – which, as you know, was also very much inspired by Ms Burkhardt’s legislative initiative report, we drew on lessons learned, especially from the fitness check on the EU Timber and FLEGT regulations. The resulting proposal, which we presented in autumn last year, strikes a careful balance between the overall level of ambition, the burden on economic operators and the feasibility of requirements and provisions that we propose. All these elements need to be kept in mind in the coming weeks and months as the political negotiations begin and we work towards a final text. I am happy that we will be able to start trilogues less than a year after we adopted our proposal, and I would like to once again thank the Parliament but also the Council for making this possible. And I am confident that if we enter trilogues with the same constructive spirit that has prevailed so far, we will be able to conclude this priority file by the end of this year. This would be an extremely important signal. The sooner this new regulation enters into force, the more damage from global deforestation we can finally prevent. For the trilogues, I can reassure you of the Commission’s full support. We will do all we can to facilitate an agreement between the co—legislators, and to ensure a successful and satisfactory outcome to those negotiations.

– Mr President, honourable Members, thank you very much for this debate and for your interventions today, which clearly reflected the balanced character of Parliament’s report. I have heard many interesting ideas on issues that lay at the heart of both of our institutions. And, I have to say, I can agree with most of the statements made today. For example, by Ms Müller, the rapporteur, who stressed the very clearly the role of forest owners, especially the smallholders, and the need to support them and get them on board to support our strategy. Or by Ms Beňová who acknowledged that we need to address the health of our forests at European level. Or by Ms Avram who stressed the need to support Member States in their efforts to better protect forests and Mr Ștefănuță who recalled that protecting our forests is the best investment for the future. But let me briefly also raise a couple of issues. First of all, on the need to support foresters and forest owners. Forest owners and managers need drivers and financial incentives to acknowledge the ecosystem services linked to the adoption of most climate- and biodiversity-friendly forest management practices. So the new CAP for 2023–2027 offers increased flexibility to design forest-related interventions according to national needs and specificities, as well as reducing red tape while linking and ensuring a synergetic approach between the European Green Deal, national forest policies and the EU environment and climate legislation. The recommendations to Member States on the CAP strategic plans for the 2023–2027 period have encouraged due consideration of forests. The forest strategy further calls on Member States to set up under the CAP and other EU financial instrument payment schemes for ecosystem services for forest owners and management, and accelerate the roll-out of carbon farming practices through this and other public instruments. On the need to ensure biomass availability and biodiversity protection – we are looking for the multiple wins: biodiversity, climate and bioeconomy. We can and we must minimise trade-offs between preservation of forests and timber supply. Nature is our best ally in the fight against climate change. The EU forest strategy will not negatively affect the overall availability of timber for the bioeconomy and will increase the resilience of forest ecosystems and help meet other social demands. The new forest strategy aims at preserving carbon in the long run. The proposal for the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive as part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package sets out additional concrete safeguards. It includes strengthened sustainability criteria for bioenergy, extending the scope of application and enlarging no-go areas for sourcing; his means prohibiting the sourcing of forest biomass from primary forests and limiting it in highly biodiverse forests to ensure no interference with nature protection purposes. Of course, I have to mention forest fires, which many of you mentioned as well, which again we have experienced this summer all over Europe, starting actually very early. So the forest strategy acknowledges that the extent and intensity of forest fires in the EU will increase in the next years. And this is one of the main challenges that the EU strategy intends to overcome to the extent possible through the promotion of more healthy and resilient forests. This is clearly linked to prevention – in particular, complex stands composed of uneven-age and multiple species are less vulnerable to forest fires than even-age monocultures. The future legislative proposal on monitoring will also allow to have better data on the areas at risk and anticipate the need to intervene and to minimise them. So, once again, dear members of Parliament, as you know, the implementation of the strategy, which was adopted by the Commission more or less a year ago, is already on its way. And the Commission is paving the way towards a legislative proposal on forest monitoring and strategic plans and preparatory work on the new governance is also ongoing. But implementing this strategy is a long-term process and will require continued support and engagement from all stakeholders. Your report will be most a valuable contribution in the implementation of the strategy that aims to ensure a healthy, prosperous future for our forests.

– Mr President, honourable Members, I would like to thank this House for putting the new EU forest strategy for 2030 on the agenda of this plenary session. And, of course, I would particularly like to thank the rapporteur, Ms Müller, as well as the shadow rapporteurs, for this comprehensive and balanced report and for the clear support for the new EU forest strategy reflected therein. The new EU forest strategy adopted in July 2021 is the flagship initiative of the European Green Deal that provides the framework for the forests to deliver on their share to our environmental and climate ambition and to secure livelihoods in rural areas and support a sustainable forest-based bioeconomy. At the core of the strategy is the recognition of the multifunctionality of the forests and the balance between their economic, social and environmental functions. Other equally important elements of the strategy are ensuring that forest ecosystems are restored, resilient and adequately protected, the contribution of forests and the entire forest-based value chain for achieving a sustainable and climate-neutral economy and adequate forest monitoring and planning. I would like to highlight a few points that you have also raised in your report on the multifunctional role of forests. I think we all agree that forests fulfil many functions and offer many services to our society. They provide numerous goods and services. They are essential for biodiversity, climate change mitigation, water replenishment and regulation, recreation and health services. And, at the same time, they provide food, green jobs – just to name a few. So if we want our forests to continue providing their multiple goods and services, we should also make sure they are in good health, that they are diverse and resilient. Therefore we need to protect the EU’s last remaining primary and old-growth forests. We need to improve the quality and resilience of existing forests through restoration and adaptation to climate change. We need to increase the quantity and quality of the EU’s forest cover and we need to provide sufficient financial incentives to forest owners and managers to make this happen. The Commission strongly encourages Member States to exploit adequate financial support to forests and the forest-based sector. The common agricultural policy is a key source of public financial support to EU forests. We want to enhance uptake of CAP support for forests. Member States have the flexibility to design their forest-related interventions according to their needs and specific conditions. But good policy needs good data. And there is a general need for more, better and comparable data on European forests and their management. To this end, the Commission will propose a new EU framework for forest monitoring and strategic plans to develop an EU-wide forest observation framework that provides open access to detailed, accurate, regular and timely information on the condition and management of EU forests and to the many products and ecosystem services that forests provide. The framework will use remote sensing technologies and geospatial data, including earth-observation Copernicus capacities integrated with ground-based monitoring. As part of that framework, Member States’ competent national or regional authorities could develop strategic plans for forests on the basis of a common general structure and elements. We are currently working on the impact assessment of the new framework and, in this context, public and targeted consultation on its main elements are currently ongoing. We plan to publish the Commission’s proposal in the second half of 2023. Finally, I would like to say a few words on forest governance. Because of their multifunctionality, forests contribute to many different EU policy objectives. We need to ensure the necessary coherence of these objectives. In the new EU forest strategy, the Commission announced its intention to enhance the governance for forest-related matters to make it more inclusive and interdisciplinary, and to reflect all objectives of the new EU forest strategy and their interlinkages with other EU policies such as climate change, biodiversity and many more. In order to implement this commitment, the Commission will soon present a proposal to revise the governance and mandate of the Standing Forestry Committee to establish a more inclusive and interdisciplinary group. President, honourable Members, let me once again thank you for this important discussion on forests and the support of the new EU forest strategy. Thank you.

– Madam President, honourable Members, last May, violent clashes occurred in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. Protests started on 14 May, when several dozen residents of Khorog demanded, inter alia, the resignation of the governor of the region and justice for the November 2021 violent events. Tension continued to escalate in the following days and, on 18 May, the Interior Ministry announced the start of an anti-terrorist operation. Clashes continued until 31 May and have claimed up to 40 lives. The EU Delegation in Dushanbe issued a joint statement with the embassies of Germany, France, the UK and the US on 18 May to express strong concern about the situation in the region. The statement regretted the loss of lives, called for de-escalation and urged the Tajik authorities to refrain from the excessive use of force. The EU is constantly monitoring the situation in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region and we are deeply concerned at the crackdown targeting activists and independent journalists in the region and more widely in the country. We urge the government of Tajikistan to ensure that law enforcement agencies act in strict compliance with the rule of law and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, even in security-related crisis situations. The legitimate security concerns do not automatically mean that excessive use of force by security services should be employed. The shooting of protesters and continued arrests of local activists and civil society representatives are counterproductive, and disproportionate use of force contributes to the spiralling of violence. We remain concerned about the harsh sentences handed down to members of Commission 44, a group of lawyers and human rights activists established in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. The EU urges the Tajik Government to allow the access of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the region to open an independent and effective investigation into the circumstances that led to deaths and injuries among civilian protesters. The EU will use the next round of the EU-Tajikistan Human Rights Dialogue and the GSP Plus fact-finding mission, both due to take place in September this year, to highlight these concerns and reminded the government that track record on human rights and fundamental freedoms – in particular freedom of association, peaceful assembly, expression and media freedom – are key elements for EU support to join the GSP Plus Scheme of Preferences.

– Madam President, honourable Members of the European Parliament, the worsening situation of indigenous, environmental and human rights defenders in Brazil is a key concern for the EU, which is regularly addressed in the EU—Brazil mechanism for political dialogue and cooperation at different levels. Brazil is one of the EU’s strategic partners, traditionally a strong advocate for human rights and a partner in multilateral fora. During the recent dedicated EU—Brazil dialogue on human rights held on 16 June, the EU’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, stressed the deteriorating situation for human rights defenders in many parts of Brazil. He specifically addressed the brutal murder of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira and emphasised the need for a full investigation. These specific, tragic cases highlight the need for a more comprehensive effort in Brazil to address the challenge of violence against indigenous and environmental defenders, including full and transparent investigations to bring those responsible to justice. Over the past few months, these concerns have been voiced in a series of high—level visits to Brazil, including by EU High Representative Borrell in November, by the EU’s Special Representative for Human Rights Gilmore in December, and by myself in April, when I visited Brazil to discuss in particular our legislative proposal on deforestation, which aims to protect the rich biodiversity of our forests, which as many of you tonight mentioned, are the lungs of our planet. And protection of our forests was also what Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were fighting for. Our outreach encompassed meetings with the federal and state authorities, including the legislative and judiciary bodies, as well as with indigenous peoples’ organisations and human rights and environmental defenders. Diplomatic outreach is also carried out by the EU delegation in Brazil in a Team—Europe approach at all levels – federal and sub—federal, with state and non-state actors. Continuous engagement with civil society, including human rights, indigenous and environmental defenders and organisations, is another important component of our ongoing work to show our support and to raise awareness. We also provide financial and technical support through our cooperation activities. Current EU cooperation to support indigenous peoples under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights and civil society organisations and local authorities totals more than EUR 3 million. Our actions focus on the urgent protection of the rights of indigenous peoples and forest defenders, with a special focus on women, as well as on supporting indigenous groups, advocating for their rights at national and international levels, and promoting sustainable development. In addition to the dialogue with human rights defenders across Brazil, the EU delegation also supports the National Human Rights Council to protect human rights defenders and freedom of expression. I want to reassure this House and their families, to whom I reiterate my personal and sincere condolences, that the EU will continue to monitor closely the case around the brutal murder of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira. We recognise the European Parliament’s strong commitment on this important matter and reiterate the EU’s determination to work with Brazil in supporting the rights of indigenous people and human rights defenders, notably in the Amazon.

– Madam President, 1 July marked the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover and China’s promise to guarantee for 50 years Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and freedoms. With the imposition by Beijing of the draconian national security law in 2020, China broke its promise 27 years before the deadline it had agreed. We have witnessed the rapid dismantling of one country, two systems. This is a breach of China’s international commitments, notably the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration registered at the UN as an international treaty. We have seen the rapid shrinking of space for civil society, the step-by-step shut—down of independent media, the silencing of voices of dissent. The law has been used to stifle political pluralism and the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms that are protected under Hong Kong law and international law. The arrests of 90-year-old Cardinal Zen, pro-democracy former lawmaker Margaret Ng, pop star Denise Ho Wan-see and scholar Hui Po-Keung for alleged conspiracy to collude with foreign powers marked another step in this grim trajectory. Another trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, former Legislative Council member Cyd Ho, was arrested on the same charges while already serving a prison sentence. Hong Kong has moved from being a spatial administration region of China characterised by democracy, pluralism and a vibrant civil society, to hosting one of the fastest growing populations of political prisoners in the world: 1 014 political prisoners have been held in Hong Kong since June 2019. More than three quarters of them are under 30 years old. The EU has spoken out repeatedly about the deterioration of the situation in Hong Kong. Last week, on 1 July, the EU again reiterated publicly its concerns at the removal of fundamental freedoms previously enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong. On the ground, the EU is committed to supporting the civil society that still remains, notably by attending hearings and trials such as the first hearing of the subjects of today’s debate. China claims that what is happening in Hong Kong is an internal matter. We reject this. The EU has a strong stake and interest in Hong Kong and will not cease its support for universal values within and beyond its borders. We will continue to stand by the people of Hong Kong.

– Madam President, I would like to thank the honourable Members for today’s debate on this very important subject, and in particular the rapporteur for her extremely important work. I think it’s clear to all of us that effective protection of the financial interests of the EU requires our collective and coordinated efforts. As we heard during the debate, allowing EU funds to land in the wrong pockets is not only about the intended recipients losing out. Misguided public funds can actually create additional harm. The Commission will, therefore, continue to do everything in its power to improve and increase the level of protection that is already in place. We will do so by developing all tools at our disposal, bridging sectors and work streams. We will work closely with our partners across the EU, both at European and at national level, to make sure that EU funds are protected from those that would do it harm. I look forward to working with you to make sure that we are as good as we can be in this respect.

– Madam President, honourable members of the European Parliament, first of all, let me thank the rapporteur Ms Cseh and all colleagues involved for this thorough and well—balanced report that covers a range of important issues. The Commission and Parliament agree that the protection of the EU budget, both in terms of expenditure and revenue, is of the utmost importance. And the efforts of the Parliament, Commission and Member States in the fight against fraud have been remarkable in recent years, and particularly given the challenges caused by the COVID—19 pandemic. To help Europe recover from the pandemic, the EU has set up an unprecedented financial package through the new multiannual budget and the Next Generation EU, amounting to more than EUR 2 trillion. Protecting this money from fraud, corruption and other illegal activities is key. We at EU level and with our partners in the Member States need to use all available tools to ensure we are more effective than ever before in ensuring that money is properly spent. We have no other choice. It is for this reason that the Commission, like the Parliament, welcomes the results achieved by the European Anti-Fraud Office in 2021 and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in its first year of activity. Another of the latest additions to our toolkit is the Conditionality Regulation, which allows for measures when breaches to the principles of the rule of law threaten the EU financial interest. As you know, the Commission sent a written notification to one Member State and we are currently assessing the reply we got. We also continue assessing the situation across Member States. This regulation is the latest brick added to a revamped EU anti-fraud architecture, which has been built up in recent years, and comprises strengthened investigative functions for the European Anti-Fraud Office, the just mentioned European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the coordinating role of Eurojust, the support of Europol and close cooperation with and between the national authorities. We must ensure that this architecture remains fit for current and future challenges. And I will highlight three main themes in this respect: coordination and harmonisation; digitalisation of the fight against fraud; and stepping up the fight against corruption and organised crime. So first, our complex architecture needs coordination and harmonisation. All Member States against which the Commission has launched infringement procedures should swiftly take action and modify national legislation to correctly transpose the so-called PIF Directive. Furthermore, the Commission has made great efforts to promote the adoption of the national anti-fraud strategies. Their number is increasing and the Commission welcomes this development and has supported Member States with guidance and knowledge—sharing. Secondly, digitalisation and the availability of quality data on the recipients of EU funds and their beneficial owners is also important. The targeted adjustments of the Financial Regulation will be an opportunity to enhance protection of the EU budget by reinforcing the use of the digitalisation of controls and audits, and improving interoperability and the quality of the data for controls and audits, including both through the use of a single integrated IT system for data mining and risk—scoring. It will also be an opportunity to enhance transparency and public scrutiny with regard to the use of the EU budget, notably by requiring Member States implementing the Union budget under the shared management to send information to the Commission on the recipients of Union funding at least once a year. The Commission would then centralise this information on a single website. We have also proposed to extend the early detection and exclusion system to funds and the shared management for serious misconduct. The Commission’s anti-fraud strategy, adopted in 2019, has largely been implemented. The results will be included in the next report on the protection of financial interests. We are now considering a revision of the action plan accompanying the strategy in line with our high anti-fraud ambitions. Digitalisation will be an important topic. Thirdly, fighting corruption is a key element of the European Semester, as reflected in country specific recommendations and in the measures included by Member States in their recovery and resilience plans. Concerning organised crime, we have developed a comprehensive and integrated approach under the EU Security Union strategy and the most recent EU strategy to tackle organised crime adopted in 2021. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is also competent to investigate crimes affecting the Union budget committed by criminal organisations such as VAT carousel fraud. These initiatives are prime examples of our continuous engagement in the fight against fraud. So I thank you for your attention and I look forward to a constructive debate.

– Mr President, thank you for this debate and I welcome your efforts to keep the Post-Cotonou Agreement high on the agenda. Today’s debate just confirmed that the Commission and Parliament are on the same page in this regard and I really appreciate the very strong support from this House in stressing the urgency on this matter. To be credible towards our citizens, our partners, in our commitments to deepening relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions we need to swiftly move forward with the signature and provisional application of the Post-Cotonou Agreement. If there is one thing the current geopolitical context clearly shows us it is that we need to act swiftly and firmly, that we need to forge stronger relations with our allies, and that we have to do that together, unified as a Team Europe. So with this, I very much hope that we can count on the Council to sign the Post-Cotonou Agreement in the very near future.

– Mr President, honourable Members, I am glad that thanks to this House we are having today the opportunity to exchange on the Cotonou Agreement, the foundation of our strategic engagement with the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions. These three regions, covering 79 states and inhabited by 1.5 billion people, constitute an international force and are of strategic interest to the European Union. We have all agreed that we wish to strengthen and deepen our relationship with those regions in order to better address emerging needs and global challenges – be it climate change and biodiversity, the pandemic or peace and security. On that basis, we negotiated a modern and ambitious agreement, reached a political deal in December 2020, and Minister Dussey from Togo and Commissioner Urpilainen initiated the draft new agreement in April 2021. It lays down the common principles of our partnership for the next 20 years and marks a step towards a new era for the relationship between the EU and Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions. Our relations with these three regions are vivid and dynamic. Since the initiating ceremony, the EU deepened its partnership with Africa at the successful sixth EU—African Union Summit and renewed relations with the Indo-Pacific region at the Indo-Pacific Forum in February 2022. We are also working to reinforce our partnership with the broader Latin America and Caribbean region. Honourable Members, we are, however, missing an important piece of the puzzle. We have still not signed and applied the draft post—Cotonou Agreement. This delay has not gone has not gone unnoticed. On 9 June, our partners expressed, in the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States, their serious concerns about the delay in signing the new agreement. They urged the concerned EU Member States blocking the approval to positively consider facilitating the normal functioning of relations. Given this circumstance, we had to extend the current Cotonou Agreement once again until June 2023 so as to avoid any legal vacuum in the relations with our partners. It is high time that we follow through so that people in the EU, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific will fully benefit from this agreement. This is also essential for unlocking the full potential of our global gateway and regional strategies. I believe that the Commission and the European Parliament share the same sense of urgency to sign and apply the agreement as soon as possible. The ball is at the moment not in the Commission’s court. In order to apply and for the agreement to come into effect, it is for the Council to adopt the relevant decision on signature and provisional application. This should be a top priority for the Council of the EU, and we hope that it will adopt such a decision very soon so as to be able to move towards the signature of the new agreement swiftly. The current geopolitical context, characterised by instability and insecurity makes this even more urgent. We just lived through a pandemic which left its mark on our society and economy. Now, Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine is further aggravating the situation. I firmly believe that in times of geopolitical instability and global challenges, strong partnerships are key in finding solutions. In this spirit, let me reiterate my call to the Council to take action and come up with a clear timeline detailing the steps towards the signature of the post—Cotonou Agreement.

– First of all, we all sitting at the same table, we all share the same urgency. Yes, there are different ideas of how to implement, what steps should be taken. But I think we are all sitting at the same table because we are talking about the biodiversity and ecosystem loss, which is a loss of our lifeline basically, of our health support system. So I think, you know, what's extremely important is, as I mentioned multiple times during my answers, is the framework of implementation of how to put the right mechanism into place to ensure that we can do checks and balances later on, that we can return and we can monitor what has been done and what has been achieved and what impact it had. That's not easy. One of the ways could be through the funding mechanism, as I've mentioned, through the agreed possible fund per project, where that could be possibly achieved. Secondly, of course, monitoring can be done always returning back at the meetings, at the COP meetings, where we could evaluate the progress and then, of course, the reporting also has to be very clear. So it's not an easy way through that. But I think what's very important, first of all, is to reach the commitment of all, all sitting at that table and agreeing on the urgency. Then secondly, we have to meet that urgency with funding mechanisms which would allow us to then ensure the implementation of the proposed targets.

– Of course, when we see the current situation, it’s very difficult, and I really appreciate the Dutch Government’s efforts to deploy a plan with the funding to solve this issue. But this issue aggravated, not yesterday and not even a year before, the implementation of the Nitrates Directive has been hanging there since around the 1960s. So the answer here is of course very simple, even so, that it is hardly applicable for today. But in order to be compliant with the EU rules, you had to take measures since the very beginning, and of course over time that wouldn’t be so drastically painful. But unfortunately, when the measures were taken in the opposite direction, we find ourselves in a very difficult situation which will require now a significant investment from taxpayers’ money to ensure that of course there is a full compliance with EU legislation. Just this morning I was discussing with Spanish colleagues the situation in Mar Menor, in which a very dynamic, very touristy area became basically uninhabitable. This is what happens at the end of the day when you have a nutrient runoff. So I think we have agreed a very clear plan with the Dutch Government of how to implement the legislation. Many Member States went through that and did the implementation, and I think we will find a way forward with the Dutch Government as well. It’s very important that the funds that are allocated would be of course precisely used for those who will be affected most in that transition.