Debate contributions by Jonas SJÖSTEDT

Madam President, thank you very much. We welcome this report on the conditionality mechanism. The report's proposal means that its application would be more effective, more legally certain and more powerful. We know that where the independence of the rule of law is compromised, where the media and free debate are curtailed, the next step is the misuse of EU funds and the protection of corruption. Hungary is a very clear example of all this, and as the report points out, it affects the whole of Europe and the credibility of the European Union. Hungary is one of the countries that has received the most EU support per person. My country, Sweden, is one of the countries that pays the most per person. But trust one thing: Swedish taxpayers do not want to pay for a country that systematically dismantles democracy. You don't want their tax money to end up in the pockets of Viktor Orban's friends and acquaintances. It is not enough to withhold the money to Hungary. We should do that and we should do that. But there is a country in the Council of Ministers which is not a fully-fledged democracy, which legislates for all of us. It is also time to take the next step, to suspend Hungary's right to vote in the Council of Ministers until democracy is fully restored in the country.

Madam President, thank you very much. We welcome this report on the conditionality mechanism. The report's proposal means that its application would be more effective, more legally certain and more powerful. We know that where the independence of the rule of law is compromised, where the media and free debate are curtailed, the next step is the misuse of EU funds and the protection of corruption. Hungary is a very clear example of all this, and as the report points out, it affects the whole of Europe and the credibility of the European Union. Hungary is one of the countries that has received the most EU support per person. My country, Sweden, is one of the countries that pays the most per person. But trust one thing: Swedish taxpayers do not want to pay for a country that systematically dismantles democracy. You don't want their tax money to end up in the pockets of Viktor Orban's friends and acquaintances. It is not enough to withhold the money to Hungary. We should do that and we should do that. But there is a country in the Council of Ministers which is not a fully-fledged democracy, which legislates for all of us. It is also time to take the next step, to suspend Hungary's right to vote in the Council of Ministers until democracy is fully restored in the country.

Madam President, thank you very much. The European Commission and the right-wing in this House seem to want our automotive industry to step back into the future. It's not gonna work. The European automotive industry has already made several major mistakes. Many manufacturers have focused on expensive, large models that ordinary income earners can't afford. Investment in electric power, which is the future of cars, has been too insufficient. This cannot be remedied by backing down. Instead, the transition must be accelerated and the phase-out of combustion engines by 2035 fixed. But instead, the European Commission casts doubt on the future. Doubts about climate change. It is bad for the climate and it is bad for the European automotive industry.

Mr President, thank you very much. We should be grateful that there was no summit for Trump and Putin in Budapest, because no negotiation on Ukraine's future will take place without Ukraine itself sitting at the negotiating table. Putin has no right to any part of Ukraine's territory, and Trump has no right whatsoever to sell Ukraine out. In Viktor Orban, Putin has an admirer who had welcomed Putin as a statesman and world leader. He doesn't deserve that. Putin doesn't have to visit Budapest. He needs to be sent to The Hague as the war criminal he actually is. The best help we can give to bring peace, to bring about the ceasefire that Russia is denying Ukraine, is to continue the support: politically, economically and militarily to the struggling Ukraine.

Mr President, thank you very much. And thank you to the Court of Auditors for a thorough work as usual. There are two things that really stand out in this year's report and that worry. One is the rapidly increasing indebtedness of the European Union. The second is the continued lack of control and traceability of the large spending under the Recovery Fund. The cost of debt is increasing rapidly. In practice, we are mortgaging future budgetary space for the European Union. It is essentially an irresponsible policy, which makes the EU more sensitive both to interest rate fluctuations and to its rating. The next generation of Europe has become that the next generation pays. As for the recovery fund, it is reminiscent of the morning after a hefty tavern run when you have visited a little too many bars, when you look at the credit card and do not really know what you used the money for the night before. But you realize: ‘Oh, there is not much left to live on in the future’. We cannot handle taxpayers' money that way. We need to know where they've gone. We need to know what good they're doing. And as President Murphy rightly pointed out: We must learn from our mistakes and not repeat them in the next multiannual budget.

Madam President, thank you very much. On October 17, it will be ten years since the Swedish citizen and publisher Gui Minhai was kidnapped and taken to China. Since then, he has been a political prisoner. He is not allowed to meet with Swedish diplomats. He is denied contact with his own child and his own family. We don't even know where Gui Minhai is imprisoned in China. Tomorrow, we in this Parliament will have a great deal of unity in calling for his immediate release. China now wants to have better contacts with the European Union and closer cooperation with the European Parliament. Then release Gui Minhai. Show them you're serious. Show that you want better relations with the European Union and with Sweden. Ten years in captivity. It's time for Gui Minhai to go home – home to Sweden, home to his daughter Angela.

Mr President, thank you very much. Decarbonisation is an absolute necessity to meet our climate targets. We will not meet the climate targets in the transport sector if we do not phase out fuels on the car side. Part of the House does not seem to believe that climate change really exists. But climate change continues no matter what you think because it's a scientific fact, and we have to do our part of the job. Now that doubts are being raised as to whether or not we should really make this transition, it will hit our automotive industry. For the automotive industry is good at changing, they are changing all the time, but if you do not know if you will have to change, we will fall even further behind China and the others who are today world leaders in producing electric cars. That is the real threat to jobs and to the European automotive industry: We don't change when we have to change.

Madam President, thank you very much. We don't know for sure where all the drones over our airports are coming from, but we have good reason to look at Russia. For a few things we know: We know that Russia is systematically disrupting the GPS system over the Baltic Sea, endangering shipping and aviation. We know that ships from Russian ports have destroyed cables with crucial infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. We know that cyberattacks against our authorities come from Russia. We know that they violate Finnish and Estonian airspace. We know their drones are being shot down over Poland. These are acts of aggression and they must be rejected with determination. Maybe they think they can scare us. They may think that we should reduce support for Ukraine. They're wrong. I'd like to end by quoting Tom Petty and Heartbreakers: "We won't back down..

Mr President, thank you very much. This deal is a betrayal. It is a betrayal of the workers of Europe. This is a betrayal of European companies. The United States has all the advantages. Europe has all the disadvantages. It's a surrender. But it is also a betrayal of global climate action. The EU will buy $750 billion worth of fuel from the US. It will be about oil and gas. Much of it comes with fracking. It is one of the most environmentally hazardous methods available for extracting fossil fuels with large local pollutants but also extra emissions of greenhouse gases such as methane. This is a huge increase in imports of dirty fossil energy, a kind of reward to Donald Trump who has left the Paris Agreement. We're not gonna do that. We are going to strengthen global environmental cooperation, and we are going to say no to this kind of dirty agreement.

When we were kids, we sometimes met the schoolyard bullies, those who threaten us with violence. Those who asked to have our money. They might even steal your phone. You can take two approaches to the bullies. You can give them what they want and humiliate yourself. And they will most likely be back the day after asking for your money again. Or you can take a stand together with others and say, 'No, this is not fair.' What makes you think that the bully Donald Trump won't come back asking for more?

Mr President, thank you very much. In just over two weeks Moldova will go to the polls. It's not just a choice, it's a choice about the future of the country. Moldova deserves to be a truly independent country and a living democracy. But it requires rejecting Russia's attempts to remotely control both the economy and politics of the country. Russia wants to rule, with disinformation, with economic pressure, with oligarchs financing lies and disinformation on social media. Ahead of the last election, we saw a number of examples of pure vote buying. It is our task to support Moldova's democracy and independence, to safeguard their ability to withstand Russian influence operations, to help them build their economy. Because at the bottom there are also major economic and social challenges. Moldova needs hope for the future. They need jobs for their young people. They need a higher standard of living and that goes hand in hand with choosing the democratic path, and choosing freedom instead of authoritarian remote control from Russia.

Madam President, thank you very much. When the European Commission speaks of simplification, one should be careful. Then you should read the proposal carefully. Too often, simplification means weakening good legislation. But that's not the case this time. Simplification is simplification this time. That is why we support this proposal to simplify climate tariffs, the CBAM. They will be easier to implement. They will be easier to handle, but over 99 percent of the effect will remain. That's a good suggestion. But climate tariffs will meet resistance in the outside world. I think they will face resistance from the United States. Conflict must be taken to put the climate before commercial interests, and the Commission must stand by that. But at the same time as we talk climate tariffs, Ursula von der Leyen goes to golfing President Trump in Scotland and concludes a deal to buy US fossil gas and fossil oil for $750 billion. Fossil fuels produced with fracking, the worst method imaginable from both a climate and environmental point of view. We need a little more coherence in the Commission's climate policy. I propose that Commissioner Hoekstra take a serious conversation with Ursula von der Leyen about this fossil fuel issue.

Thank you, Mr President. There is a very good part of this report, and that is the protection of those who work with old cars of cultural value: those who renovate them, those who care for them and those who drive them. Unfortunately, however, the good news is over there, because in almost every area of importance, the rapporteurs' proposals are a deterioration in the environmental ambitions of this report. It is a lower level of ambition and there will be a worse result. This applies to the type of vehicles covered, to recycling targets for plastics and metals, and also to the timeframe for introducing these provisions. They have listened to the industry, and they have listened to those parts of the industry that have really low environmental ambitions. I'm sorry about that. This follows a pattern where the new majority in Parliament, instead of improving proposals coming from the European Commission, from an environmental point of view actually lowers the environmental ambitions and worsens the proposals. I must say that it is particularly disappointing that the Social Democrats have agreed to a deal that places environmental ambitions too low.

Mr President, thank you very much. On the right, there are usually members who talk about how the environmental movement is using EU money incorrectly. They do so without any objective justification. Here on the right, the same MEPs usually talk about corruption in the EU and how people who have immigrated here use tax money incorrectly. But today they are not here. Today it is empty in the Chamber of the far right, because today it has once again been revealed how they have systematically usurped and cheated with EU funds. EU funds that have fallen into their own pockets. EU funds that have ended up with their friends and acquaintances. Now it is important to get to the bottom of this with prosecutors, with the police and with a thorough investigation. After that, I would like to propose a name change for "Patriots for Europe" so that instead they call themselves "Hypocrites and cheaters for Europe".

Mr President, thank you very much. The Swedish citizen Ahmadreza Djalali, his life is in great danger. He is imprisoned in Iran. He's sentenced to death. Israel's violent, illegal bombing of Iran increases the risk that repression will now intensify and that more death sentences will be carried out. Djalali has been subjected to very harsh treatment, to torture. He has not received a fair trial and he is denied access to urgently needed medical treatment. There is no rule of law in Iran. There are no fair trials. Djalali is one of many political prisoners. He must be released, be allowed to go home to Sweden and be reunited with his family.

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr Mikser's report very well reflects the great support that exists for Moldova in this Parliament. For us in the Left Group, it is particularly important that it also highlights issues of social development, renewable energy and gender equality. Moldova is a vulnerable country. The war in Ukraine has put great pressure on Moldovan society, the country has received many refugees. There is a great need for economic and social development. Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. whereas Russia is constantly seeking to interfere with and influence developments in Moldova and is actively supporting the so-called breakaway republic in Transnistria; Nevertheless, Moldova has made very good progress in recent years, and it is our task to continue to support them in their democratisation and transformation. The elections to be held in September must be truly free, democratic elections in which all Moldovan citizens can freely choose the future of the country. The biggest threat to it is Russian interference. Moldova needs economic development. It cannot be unilateral adaptation to the EU. The EU must also remove remaining trade barriers to the export of Moldovan products to the EU market. Efforts to resolve the Transnistria issue peacefully, so that the breakaway republic becomes a genuine part of Moldova, should be supported. That is why I would like to thank Mr Mikser for this report, which I believe reflects the belief in Moldova and Moldova's prospects for the future.

Madam President, thank you very much. Achieving the green transition requires very large investments, otherwise it will not be possible to replace fossil fuels. Here, the RRF could play a crucial role, but it is clear that the fund has not fully met expectations for green investments. The Court has carried out a specific audit which shows that several of the investments that claim to be climate or green are, in fact, not fully so. It is clear that many of the projects financed by the Fund had come about anyway. They were already planned. The Fund acts more as a budget support than a catalyst for new investments. The RRF also suffers from a lack of traceability. It is difficult, sometimes impossible, to control how the money is spent. More than 300 cases of misused funds are being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). In addition, a large number of cases are being investigated by OLAF. It is money that is unlikely to have been spent properly and benefited the green transition. It is crucial that the EU is able to draw lessons from this.

Madam President, thank you very much. In recent weeks there have been attempts to start peace negotiations, but Russia does not want peace. Russia is responding with brutal attacks on civilians in Ukraine like never before. Russia rejects Ukraine's offer of a ceasefire. Instead, according to President Zelenskyy, Russia now has the audacity to propose that Russian prisoners of war be exchanged for kidnapped Ukrainian children. This is how an imperialist regime that is morally bankrupt argues. Faced with these provocations and faced with the US refusal to support Ukraine, it is our task to increase support – increase financial support, increase political support and increase military support that will allow Ukraine to liberate its occupied territories and survive as a democratic, independent nation.

Mr President, thank you very much. This debate gives a clear picture of what happens when the Commission opens up already adopted environmental legislation in order to weaken it, delay it or simplify it. Immediately, like a letter in the mail, various groups on the right take the chance to try to weaken, roll back or tear up already adopted environmental legislation. This creates significant ambiguity and uncertainty about the green transition. This time I think it will go well. I think we will vote against the amendments from the extreme right tomorrow. We will be able to simplify the legislation on CBAM, but still cover 99% of the emissions concerned. It is a good result, it is a perfectly acceptable result. It is right for the CBAM to focus on the really large emitters, but the Commission is on a dangerous path when, in other proposals, it calls pure weakening for simplification. It risks weakening our actions to save the climate and we don't need to. Instead, we need reinforcements.

Madam President, thank you very much. Anyone who can prevent genocide has a duty to do so. Anyone who can prevent genocide and does not do so has a co-responsibility. There is Sweden today, there is the European Union today. What is happening is genocide. The children who starve to death do so because of conscious decisions, paramedics trying to save lives are murdered in cold blood by the Israeli military, snipers shoot unarmed civilians and Israeli ministers speak plainly. They're talking about ethnic cleansing, about expulsion. We have a duty to act, to terminate the Association Agreement, to stop the arms trade and to bring the war criminals to justice.