Speeches

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on EU-Africa relations (2022/2533(RSP)). I remind Members that all debates at this part-session do not accept spontaneous interventions or blue cards. In addition, as in the previous part-sessions, access from Parliament's liaison offices in the Member States is foreseen. I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that interventions in the Chamber continue to take place from the central lectern, which is why I would ask you to keep an eye on the list of speakers and to go to the lectern shortly before the start of your speaking time.

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the report by Jérémy Decerle, on behalf of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, on the implementation report on the welfare of farm animals (2020/2085(INI)) (A9-0296/2021).

The debate is closed. The vote will take place on Tuesday 15 February 2022. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the Members who have spoken and contributed, but above all, of course, to President Lagarde and Commissioner Gentiloni. Written declarations (Article 171)

Before we proceed with the debates, I will now open today's voting session. We shall vote on the files indicated on the agenda. The voting session will be open from 6 p.m. to 7.15 p.m. The voting procedure is the same as in the previous part-sessions. The matters of immunity shall be voted on by secret ballot. Members can cast their votes in a traditional way. However, the ballot you receive and need to sign does not show how you voted, only that you voted. All other votes shall be taken by roll call. The explanations of vote may be submitted in writing. Declarations of vote with a maximum of 400 words are accepted. I declare the voting session open. You can vote until 7.15 p.m. The results of the votes will be announced tomorrow at 8.30 a.m.

Madam President, the right to safe and legal abortion should indeed be enshrined in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. As President Macron said yesterday, it’s about women’s lives. Simone Veil, as the first proud President of this House, was fighting for women’s rights, for abortion rights, and still we have to do this decades later. When we talk about human rights, we often talk about the right to live and sometimes also about access to health care. Let me remind you that these rights are also the rights of women. They are fundamental rights and they are not negotiable. These rights are essential. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) are many things. It’s access to health, the best, free of charge, access to contraception, for example. It’s giving women a choice and, as we have seen in recent months, in some cases it means the pure right to live for a pregnant woman. As the European Parliament, we have numerous times supported women’s health and rights, but as the European Union, we need to step up the effort. The European Union has to finally see SRHR as what they are: a question of the fundamental rights of women.

The meeting was closed and resumed tomorrow, Thursday 20 January at 9 a.m. with the announcement of the results of today's voting session. The agenda has been published and is available on the European Parliament's website.

And now, at my very first plenary session, chaired by me, I am pleased to invite my fellow Austrian MP Hannes Heide to the lectern for the S&D.

Mr President, gender equality is a core value of the European Union, yet the many debates in this plenary week and around it have made it clear we are still far from achieving it. We are indeed in a crisis, not only a sanitary one, a crisis of women and their rights. Women’s rights have to be a priority on everyone’s political agenda, also within the European Parliament and the other European institutions. We are not only an important political institution, we are also a workplace for thousands of people. And as a workplace, one thing is essential: respect. Respect between all of us, no matter the function or hierarchy. And this is why the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality has tabled this oral question and drafted the resolution on MeToo and harassment in general. It is not the first resolution on the topic. We already had two previous ones in 2017 and 2019. Harassment is still widespread in the European Union. We know that 90% of victims of sexual harassment are women and that sexual harassment is affecting 55% of all women in the European Union. This is more than a quarter of the population, and this number is higher when you ask women in the services sector, namely 61%, and rises to 75% of women working in top management or high-qualification jobs. In addition, we also know that harassment is significantly under-reported, meaning numbers could be even worse than this. So this is why in the resolution we call on the Council to finally unblock the Istanbul Convention. The Court of Justice recently confirmed that there is no legal obligation to wait on such an important topic like gender-based violence. The Council finally has to move; a workplace has to be safe, and harassment is a matter of health and safety, of workplace culture and of human rights. We need to ensure that in the European Parliament we have zero tolerance towards any form of harassment, that victims are supported and know where to go and that perpetrators face consequences. In two previous resolutions, we had already called for mandatory anti-harassment trainings, but so far they were only voluntary and, shamefully, only a quarter of all Members have participated in one of these basic trainings. We can and we will have to do better than this. The first step? More languages so our Members can participate in their native language and targeted outreach and in addition, a public list on the European Parliament’s website of those Members who are a positive example since they already did the training and, crucially, finally making these trainings mandatory for Members, because apparently voluntary measures are not enough. This does not interfere with our free mandate. On the contrary, we ask to be decent human beings towards our employees, so who would oppose that? The details of possible legally sound consequences will have to be discussed in detail and one might be to limit the recruitment of staff because it’s not assured that the staff would be safe. Furthermore, we need to run an awareness-raising campaign and prevent any kind of retaliations against complaints, victims, witnesses and whistle-blowers. And in this regard, the resolution also calls for training for all levels of staff and an independent evaluation on the existing mechanisms and bodies. This includes an external audit, as already foreseen in the budget 2021, and, key here is also often transparency. We know that the European Commission is reviewing its anti-harassment policy and in view of this, the three following questions are included in today’s oral question to the Commission. What are the main elements of the anti-harassment strategies of the Commission and other European Union institutions and agencies? Are there any best practices on preventing conflict and harassment in the workplace and on good office management that could be applied throughout all institutions? And, is training on the prevention of sexual harassment mandatory at the Commission and other European Union institutions and agencies? Let me conclude with the following statement. Anyone can be affected by harassment –Members, the political staff, the administrative staff. It happened to me, it happened to some assistants and it happened to staff members I know. So we all should be protected in case of harassment, but even more so, we should be allowed to work without such a violation of our human rights. We all have the right to a safe and healthy workplace. We, as the European Parliament, could become a good example for other institutions and support them with creating and implementing anti-harassment measures, as well as gender action plans. It’s high time we treat each other respectfully. It’s high time we eradicate any form of harassment.

Madam President, Commissioner, the situation is serious. Equality between men and women has simply deteriorated in many EU countries and areas in recent months and years. It's hard, often hard, to be a woman. For example, unemployment in the European Union increased from 6.9% in April to 7.9% in August 2020, more than for men. Women’s lives have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the fact that women keep society running and work in the systemic professions. At the same time, we women have become partially invisible – barely visible on screens, i.e. much less present in public spaces. It is therefore high time for financial independence and more women at all levels. This crisis is a crisis of women, a crisis with the face of women. And that is how we have to perceive it, at European level, for example, by defining the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) as a priority agency and focusing on gender issues. It is simply unacceptable that we are once again very far from the goal of equality.

Madam President, we are debating yet another form of violence today – one that is relatively new, but nevertheless unacceptable. Cyberviolence has affected up to 7% of women in the European Union in the past 12 months – at least as far as the estimates go, because, here too, we have a lack of data. But what we know is – and I underline this once more – that seven out of 10 women have experienced cyberstalking, and estimates suggest that one in 10 women have already experienced a form of cyberviolence since the age of 15. What we know for sure is that offline and online violence are two sides of the same coin: gender-based violence. And they are intrinsically linked since online violence often turns into offline violence, making it crucial to always combat both. Therefore, we are looking very much forward to the Commission’s proposal and we are really hoping impatiently for a strong proposal from the Commission.

Mr President, 28 – 28 women were killed this year in Austria. 28, nearly all of them by men close to them, murdered simply because they are women. But violence against women and children doesn’t start with these femicides, it starts in the heads, the words, the first black eye hidden from others. Why hidden? Because still today, instead of holding the men responsible who use violence against women, we blame often the women. We often hear ‘not all men’. But most men haven’t yet understood: this issue of violence is theirs to solve. They can’t be bystanders looking away, laughing, uncomfortable at a misogynistic joke. And therefore, today I call on all those men who already know violence is not OK: you need to call out your friends and brothers, and you need to believe women when they tell you about the violence that they experience. Every third woman you meet is a survivor of violence. Every third.

Madam President and shadow rapporteur! Time is an important factor, can not be implemented early enough. We're all fed up with all these scandals from LuxLeaks, Panama, Paradise, Pandora, Cum-Ex. This policy will allow us, as a public, for the first time to see where tax injustice is happening. And for the first time, we will not only be dependent on these great investigative journalists or whistleblowers, but this, dear colleagues, is of course already a huge step forward. In just four years, the effectiveness of public CbCR And then, of course, my fellow Members, the journey continues. Public country-by-country reporting Of course, we have to keep going. The global breakdown of Group data is our goal. And that's a good thing. Because right now, in times of the pandemic, we need transparency more than ever. I recall that large corporations receive massive coronavirus state aid, which we, the taxpayers, pay. And that's why we all have a right to know where these taxpayers' money went and whether the big corporations paid their fair taxes in return. A society only works if everyone actually follows the rules of the game. Only then can we speak of justice. Ultimately, of course, it is a matter of just reconstruction. It is about a just society in which everyone makes their fair contribution. And public country-by-country reporting It is a stage win on the way to this fairness that we all want.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, That was teamwork – I would like to say that in advance. A big thank you to all those who have worked so hard on this - to the shadow rapporteurs very explicitly, to the Finnish Presidency, which was very committed here from 2019, but above all to the Portuguese Presidency, which then brought this to a close with great enthusiasm. And, of course, a big thank you to JURI co-rapporteur Ibán García del Blanco. Persistence pays off. I am proud to say today that the European Parliament has not only heard people’s calls for tax transparency for large corporations – yes, we have answered those calls, and our answer is: public country-by-country reporting, public CbCR. This is the directive on country-specific tax transparency for corporations. For the first time, this EU directive will require multinational companies to publicly disclose their tax information. For far too long, large corporations have played by their own rules, far too long we have had to watch as legislators. It's over. And if we want to talk about tax justice, one thing is clear: If you want tax fairness, you need tax transparency. Because only if we know where taxes are paid and, above all, where they are not, can we take the next step and take consistent action against the dubious tax tricks of large corporations. In 2016, five years ago, the Panama Papers shook the world. The Panama Papers uncovered countless cases of tax evasion and illegal activity around the world. In doing so, they sparked the necessary debate about tax morality. Our aim in this House, in the EP, is and has been to shed light on the world of tax shadows with public country-by-country reporting. What exactly could we achieve? We get the disclosure of tax and financial information: Large multinational companies in the EU must disclose where they make profits, where they pay taxes – and this also applies to countries in EU tax havens. It affects all companies operating in the EU with an annual turnover of more than EUR 750 million. The Public Country Reporting Directive will allow us in the European Union to put our own house in order – that is, we will finally have access to new information on all Member States and their tax havens. And this is so important because about 80 percent of the profits deferred from the European Union are shifted to the EU tax havens, especially to Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and others, as the studies of renowned economist Gabriel Zucman and others have shown. This is where our directive comes in. We have closed a very important transparency loophole. We have succeeded in bringing forward the proposals put forward by the Council. Comply-or-explain- Determined in a Comply-and-explainDestiny to transform. We go to the letterbox companies on the collar: Companies must indicate how many full-time employees are employed not only in the parent company, but also in each subsidiary. In this way, we also strengthen trade unions in their collective bargaining. And what is particularly important: We get free and free access to group tax and financial data. It means that the company information for all of us can be found, among other things, on the websites of the corporations free of charge in an open format and a common template. All this and more will be implemented in the Member States as early as 2023. Thanks to these new rules, we will now know which companies are free-riders and which are making their fair contribution. Here, the European Union is a pioneer, and I am quite sure that many states will follow suit.

Madam President, the de facto abortion ban of the Polish PiS government is a fundamental breach of fundamental human rights, and I can repeat again: we will not accept it here in this House in the European Parliament. Democracy and women’s rights are intrinsically linked. If you attack the one, you also violate the other. The European Union will take action. I call for freezing the funds of the PiS government. Let me also remind you it is part of the responsibility as government to support human rights activists and NGOs and not to have them arrested, brutalised and chased in court cases, as is happening right now. It is utter disrespect of the European Parliament to sue an expert we invited to hear on the many issues women are facing in Poland and why. Therefore, full solidarity with all those fantastic women’s rights defenders in Poland on the streets. Full support for all of you.

Madam President, first I would like to thank everyone who worked on this resolution and all those brave women and men, in the US and beyond, for being loud and for calling the Texan misogynists out. They are de facto banning safe abortions, a crucial aspect of women’s health and safety, and this violates human rights, especially since there are no exceptions for rape, incest or fatal foetal health conditions. We know that laws like these not only reduce safe abortions, but cause a rise in women’s death rates. We know that women on lower incomes and black women will be especially affected by this. On top of that, we know now how unimportant a woman’s bodily autonomy is in Texas. Rapists are punished less for their crime than women for having an abortion, and this is outrageous. I call on the Texan Government to withdraw this law and ask for all of your support. We are standing in solidarity with all women.

Mr President, I would like to congratulate Aurore Lalucq on this excellent report. Jedes halbe Jahr ein neuer Steuerskandal, und das in immer größeren Ausmaßen – Panama Papers, Paradise Papers und nun die Pandora Papers, die noch keine zwei Tage alt sind. Wir können einfach nicht mehr zur normalen Tagesordnung übergehen. Sagen wir, wie es ist: Steuervermeidung ist schlicht und ergreifend moralisch verwerflich. Steuerhinterziehung ist schlicht und ergreifend Diebstahl – Diebstahl an unserer Gesellschaft, Diebstahl an all den Menschen und kleinen Unternehmen, die da draußen brav ihre Steuern zahlen. Obwohl die Steuerskandalenthüllungen die Namen wunderschöner Karibikstaaten tragen, dürfen wir eins nicht vergessen: Steuersümpfe und schädliche Steuerpraktiken existieren yesterday bei uns in Europa genauso. Genau deswegen ist dieser Bericht, der zur Reform der EU-Politik bei der Bekämpfung schädlicher Steuerpraktiken aufruft, so essenziell. Denn die Häufigkeit und Größenordnung der Steuerskandale zeigen uns eines auf: Wir brauchen mehr Transparenz, wir brauchen effektive, viel effizientere Kontrollen. Genau darauf zielt der Lalucq-Bericht ab: darauf, dass der europäische Verhaltenskodex für die Unternehmensbesteuerung einfach nicht mehr zeitgemäß ist und daher auch nicht mehr effizient. Darüber hinaus erkennt der Bericht an, was wir zwar ohnehin schon alle wissen, aber leider noch nicht umgesetzt wurde: Es braucht verbindliche Maßnahmen gegen Steuersünder. Es braucht ganz einfach Sanktionen. Aggressive Steuerplanung, Steuervermeidung und Steuerhinterziehung müssen der Vergangenheit angehören. Denn jeder und jede muss einen fairen Beitrag dazu in unserer Gesellschaft leisten. Wir können das schaffen. Wir brauchen dazu den politischen Mut und den Willen, das Ganze auch wirklich durchzuziehen.

Madam President, Commissioner! And the marmot salutes forever. Here it is again, the next tax scandal. Panama, Paradise, now the Pandora Papers. But these Pandora Papers revelations surpass their predecessors with a force you can hardly imagine. This inevitably leads to many questions: Why is it still possible that there are letterbox companies whose sole purpose is to avoid taxes? Why is it still possible to create offshore accounts whose sole goal is to hide wealth? Why is it still possible that banks and law firms are the beggar for these morally reprehensible actions? There can only be one answer to these questions: It's enough for us, until then! Governments of all countries must finally take effective action in the fight against tax evasion and tax avoidance. Tax avoidance, tax avoidance, that destroys our society. It is about billions of euros that we as a society need and that simply belong to society. All good taxpayers deserve that. Therefore, only one thing remains to be said: Tax the rich!

Madam President, Yes, there is a lot of talk about the pandemic, but not enough about the much longer-lasting shadow pandemic of violence, violence against women, violence against LGBTI people. And that is why it is good to hear that you, Commissioner, will be presenting a law on combating violence against women later this year. It's time. Because in our democracy, we cannot simply accept the fact that, for example, in Austria, almost every week a woman is murdered by her partner, ex-partner. Only yesterday again. So we urgently need legally binding instruments, better cooperation across national borders, clear definitions, minimum standards and money. And we achieve this by supplementing violence against women as Eurocrime in a broad definition. Hatred on the net is one of them, and of course femicides. And yes, violence against women is a crime. Let's put an end to this shadow pandemic once and for all!

Dear Commissioner, First of all, thanks to the rapporteur, it was a lot of work. The concept of administrative cooperation in the field of direct taxation, the automatic exchange of information, that's a paper, okay. But it's practically awful. Far too often, people or companies bypass their tax liability or even engage in money laundering. And that hurts our economy and our society enormously. Especially now that the European Union is taking billions into its hands for states to invest massively, we also need revenue again, i.e.: Taxation. And we need to get these from the wealthy individuals and companies who do not pay taxes – . And how? Currently, tax avoidance is relatively simple because we do not have a uniform EU-wide direct taxation in our Union, and this is where administrative cooperation comes into play. The Directive on administrative cooperation in the field of direct taxation is the central basis for combating tax evasion. In our report, we confirmed the importance of this directive, but also noted: 18 Member States have implemented them insufficiently – 18! Exactly two-thirds. This is an exposé of the Member States. What's missing? The guideline is a puzzle of several pieces, but it lacks puzzle pieces, namely data. And without data, tax fraud cannot be prosecuted. Therefore, the Commission must ensure that the exchange and quality of data is guaranteed. And that would be relatively easy. This is because we in the European Parliament have found that the shortcomings in data quality are due to outdated technologies or insufficient staff in national authorities. And we can't accept that. The European Union must set a good example worldwide. I firmly believe that we can do that. All that is needed is political will. And by the way, tax competition between states is always harmful. We must work together to finally put an end to the massive tax evasion.

Madam President, women and girls in Afghanistan need our full attention. They need to be heard and they really need help. The situation is worrying. The little progress made over the past 20 years – especially when it comes to the education of girls – is in danger. But even more worryingly, so many women are in danger. Their lives and future is looking very dark, because ‘Taliban’ means systematic, brutal oppression; it means hating women. It is against this backdrop that we, the European Union, have to re-evaluate the past in order to avoid mistakes in the future. This means we need strategic autonomy. (Our most important partners are the UN and the NGOs on the ground.) And we need to make all money and help contingent on clear conditions like the respect of human rights, especially the respect for girls’ and women’s rights.