Speeches

Madam President, Mrs Rosval, Mr Reynders, we need to do more to attract more investment to Europe. This is because in recent years we have been losing ground both to the United States and to China and to global competition. But to achieve this goal we need to do more at European level. We need new tools and funding for these tools. What will happen, Mr. Reynders, to the implementation of Mrs. von der Leyen's announcement of the famous Sovereignty Fund? With what resources will it be financed when, Mrs Rosval, the Council insists on a European Union budget of 1% of European GDP? What will happen, Mrs. Rosval and Mr. Reynders, in three years' time when the Recovery Fund ends? Are Invest EU funds enough? Should the 27 together invest more to deliver on the Green Deal, the digital transition, and should these policies not be seen by colleagues on Parliament’s far-right benches as an obstacle to investment? Should we become stronger and more united as Europe, as Germany, the largest economy in the European Union, is too small for the planetary level? We therefore need more Europe, a stronger budget, and I say this to you, Mrs Rosval, because your country, whenever we discuss the budget, wants to cut and not add, and increased own resources, to support both the Green Deal and the digital transition and the European social model.

The next item is the report by Mr Brando Benifei and Mr Dragoş Tudorache on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act) and amending certain Union legislative acts (COM(2021)0206 - C9-0146/2021 - 2021/0106(COD)) (A9-0188/2023).

The next item is the joint debate on: - the Commission statement on protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries (2023/2662(RSP)), and - the Commission Declaration on the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) Agreement on Marine Biodiversity in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (High Seas Treaty) (2023/2663(RSP)).

The debate is closed. What you did is not provided for by our rules. Representatives of all political parties are appointed, they ask questions, they present their views. The Commission replies, and everything is judged by us and by the European citizens who are watching us. You were wrong to ask for the floor. The Bureau with a sense of tolerance gave you the floor, but if we introduce this practice, we will have a perpetual debate that will never end.

The first item on the agenda is the Commission Statement on: IPCC Climate Change Report: a call for urgent additional action (2023/2645(RSP)).

Before we move on to the agenda, I have an announcement: Ms Francesca Peppucci has been a member of the European People’s Party political group since 20 April 2023.

Mr President, Mr Hahn, the message from the European Parliament, as we formulated it with a very broad consensus in the Committee on Budgets and I hope that it will also be voted on with a very broad consensus in plenary, is that we need a more ambitious budget. 2024 must be the first year that we implement a budget with a revised multiannual financial framework, allowing us to have more funds for cohesion, more funds to mitigate the social inequalities that have increased dangerously, without sacrificing our objectives for the green transition, for the digital transformation, for research, for innovation, to boost investment at European level while respecting the rule of law and sharing proportionately the responsibility to address the challenges of the refugee and migration crisis in all Member States, Mr Hahn. It is not possible for my country, Greece, to become a reception area and for other Member States that have no external borders with the European Union and other countries to say 'cut your throat', 'take some money and cut your throat'. The Commission must respect proportionality and all Member States must bear the burden of responsibility. We have ambitions, we are calling for a stronger budget and we expect the Commission to come to our side and not to advocate the cuts that the Council is constantly asking for.

Mr President, in my country, Greece, the country that gave birth to democracy, we have been experiencing the last four years, with the full responsibility of the Mitsotakis government, a great erosion of the rule of law, a blatant shrinking of press freedom and pluralism, a spectacular decline in the independence of the judiciary. The European Parliament, with a clear majority, records this erosion, condemns it and expects the Commission, Mrs Jourová, to do more as a guardian of respect for the rule of law. You wrote them well in your report and presented them here for the appointment of the leadership of justice by the government, which instrumentalizes justice and does nothing about the wiretapping scandal, the Greek Watergate. But tell us: Why has Mrs von der Leyen been drinking the unspoken water for months? He has not made a single statement or acted on the wiretapping and this major scandal and violations of the rule of law in Greece. This petty policy undermines the prestige of the Commission and exposes Mrs von der Leyen.

Madam President, Mr Michel, Mrs von der Leyen, the Summit had a very rich agenda. But now that we have the opportunity to discuss it after the Summit, we have to evaluate the results, and the results are extremely poor, and the responsibility lies with you, Mr Michel, the Council, more than with the Commission. Let's be honest! Changes to the Stability Pact were on the agenda. The Commission has put forward a proposal with a delay of years which, although inadequate, is a small positive step, because we all know that the Stability Pact for years does not correspond to reality. And what do you decide, Mr. Michel? That you subscribe to the conclusions of the Ecofin of March, what do the conclusions of the Ecofin of March say? That you did not end up, because you disagree with each other, because some governments in the Council, seeing this as selfish and procrastinating, want to kill and refer to the calends even this inadequate proposal by the Commission, which is a precondition for investment. Second theme: We have a banking crisis. The Commission has tabled a proposal for EDIS, the European Deposit Guarantee Scheme, which is also supported by the European Central Bank, which has been braking for years. But again in the Council? And here come the new turbulences in the banking system, which even touched Deutsche Bank, the “too big to fail”, and you are still spinning. Allow the years to pass. And finally, you are talking about competitiveness; and right. But can we achieve our goals for innovation, research, European investment, the sovereign fund, which you proposed with a budget of 1% of European GDP? Where is the Council's assistance in bringing the own resources agreement forward? And what about the social agenda, which has remained an empty label for years after the Gothenburg summit, because you in the Council have refused to speed up political unification? That is why I think, Madam President, it is more important to talk not before summits but after summits, because it seems that the ship of the European Union with the primary responsibility of the Council is going too little, too slowly, and often in the wrong direction.

Madam President, Mr Michel, in order to meet the challenges of the times, like you, gentlemen of the Commission, we need a stronger Community budget. The targets you set and the promises you make cannot be met with a budget of 1% of European GDP. And, Mr Michel, we also need a Council that is not constantly paralyzed, seeking unanimity, when the European Parliament calls for an increase in matters decided by a qualified majority. We need more money for both technology and stronger industry in the European Union, but also for reducing common social inequalities, which have increased dangerously, and for implementing the Green Deal, which must be implemented and not undermined. And, because the European Union is a project of democracy and peace, we also need more initiatives to respect the rule of law and to finally end the war in Ukraine.

The debate is closed. I have received two motions for resolutions to wind up this debate. The vote will take place tomorrow. The sitting is suspended for a few minutes and will resume at 3 p.m. with Question Time to the Commission. Written declarations (Rule 171)

The next item on the agenda concernsquestions for oral answer to the Council onAdequate minimum income ensuring the active inclusion of Dragoş Pîslaru, Krzysztof Hetman, Estrella Durá Ferrandis, Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová, Sara Matthieu, Giuseppe Milazzo, Özlem Demirel on behalf of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (O-000050/2022 - B9-0008/2023) and to the Commission on Adequate minimum income ensuring the active inclusion of Dragoş Pîslaru, Krzysztof Hetman, Estrella Durá Ferrandis, Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová, Sara Matthieu, Giuseppe Milazzo, Özlem Demirel on behalf of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (O-000051/2022 - B9-0009/2023).

Madam President, President Nausėda, President of Lithuania, I welcome you to the European Parliament. All political groups, from the very beginning, have expressed our clear, absolute condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and your presence here is an opportunity to discuss the future of the European Union: What we need to do to stop the European Union from ageing, weaken its geopolitical and economic role on the planet and move more effectively to address the demands and anxieties of citizens. To achieve this, we need a European Union that is not just a common market and 'a little bit of political union'. We need a stronger Community budget, greater than 1% of European GDP, with more own resources, with more money to reduce social inequalities, which have increased, to support the poorest countries and the poorest social categories, to implement the Green Deal; a European Union that must remain a project of peace and democracy. Why democracy also suffers within the European Union: and in Poland and Hungary, unfortunately also in my own country of Greece, and I do not think, Mr President, that you too should be satisfied that democracy is at its best in Lithuania. We must therefore respect the rule of law and avoid the risk of paralysis in the Council, where unanimity often becomes a weapon in the hands of blackmailers, governments that block the functioning of the European Union, in order to blackmail, to achieve something for their interests. Let us be honest about enlargement. We must not promise the peoples of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine things that require years and changes and conditions. Watch out, watch out! Enlargement to the Western Balkans was decided at the Thessaloniki Summit, in my homeland, in 2003 and 20 years later, the countries of the Western Balkans expect the European Union to implement its commitments and of course they too must make the reforms required. Don't repeat the same mistake by promising populist things that we can't do tomorrow.

The next item is the debate on the oral question to the Commission on Availability of fertilisers in the EU by Norbert Lins on behalf of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (O-0001/2023 – B9-0010/23).

The next item is the oral question to the Commission on the availability of fertilisers in the EU by Norbert Lins (O-000001/2023 - B9-0010/23), on behalf of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

I want to make an announcement to you. The European Conservatives and Reformists political group informed the President of decisions on changes to committee appointments. These decisions will be mentioned in the Minutes of today's meeting and take effect from the date of this announcement.

The next item is the Commission statement on further repression against the people of Belarus, in particular the cases of Andrzej Poczobut and Ales Bialiatski.

I have received 1 motion for a resolution to wind up this debate. The debate is closed. The vote will take place today. Written declarations (Rule 171)