misclassified/meps_speeches huggingface dataset:
Digital future of Europe: digital single market and use of AI for European consumers (debate)
Speaker: Sabine VERHEYEN (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Date: 2021-05-19

  Sabine Verheyen,  Verfasserin der Stellungnahme des mitberatenden Ausschusses für Kultur und Bildung. – Frau Präsidentin, Herr Kommissar, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Im Namen des Kulturausschusses möchte ich der Berichterstatterin für die gute Zusammenarbeit und das Aufnehmen vieler Aspekte des Kulturausschusses in den Bericht danken. 
Dennoch bedaure ich sehr, dass es wohl gelungen ist, einen Verweis auf die Abschaffung des Geoblockings in den Bericht aufzunehmen, der nicht nur unangebracht ist, da der Bericht sich zum großen Teil eigentlich auf künstliche Intelligenz beziehen sollte, sondern auch offensichtlich auf falschen Annahmen basiert. Die Überprüfung der Geoblocking-Verordnung genauso wie auch Erhebungen in der Eurobarometer-Studie sehen keinen erhöhten Bedarf und keine erhöhte Nachfrage in diesem Bereich für den audiovisuellen Sektor, das Geoblocking aufzuheben. Auch die Evaluierung der Kommission zur Geoblocking-Verordnung kam zu dem Schluss, dass die vorliegenden Erkenntnisse eine Änderung des Anwendungsbereichs nicht rechtfertigen. Die Lizenzierung und legitime Geoblocking-Praktiken, die den digitalen Binnenmarkt im audiovisuellen Bereich in Europa untermauern, seien weiterhin voll und ganz gerechtfertigt.
Ich möchte die Kollegen auch nochmal daran erinnern, dass die Portabilitätsverordnung bereits hier einen guten Weg aufgezeigt hat, wie Zugänglichkeit zu audiovisuellen Inhalten geschaffen werden kann. Ich bitte also darum, auch in Zukunft die Kompetenz des Kulturausschusses im Bereich des …
(Der Präsident entzieht der Rednerin das Wort.)
Creative Europe programme (debate)
Speaker: Sabine VERHEYEN (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Date: 2021-05-18

  Sabine Verheyen (PPE).   – Herr Präsident, liebe Mariya Gabriel, liebe Frau Kommissarin, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Es waren wirklich langwierige Verhandlungen über das Creative-Europe-Programm. Aber wir können stolz auf das Ergebnis sein! Wir haben 2,2 Milliarden EUR für den Kultur- und Kreativsektor gesichert, und noch nie wurde in der EU so viel Geld für Kultur ausgegeben. Das ist weit mehr als eine symbolische Anerkennung der Kultur. 
Wir werden mehr Projekte finanzieren können und dem Sektor helfen, sich von den Folgen der COVID-19-Pandemie zu erholen. Denn der Kultur- und Kreativsektor ist einer der am meisten von der Pandemie betroffenen Sektoren. Wir haben als Europäisches Parlament viele unserer Forderungen durchsetzen können. So ist es uns beispielsweise gelungen, die Mitgliedstaaten davon zu überzeugen, den Musiksektor anzuerkennen, dessen spezifische Herausforderungen bisher nicht richtig angegangen wurden. Dieses deutlich besser ausgestattete Programm ist ein erster Schritt für unseren Kultur- und Kreativsektor, sich fit zu machen für die Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung. 
Mit dem Media-Teil des Programms unterstützen wir außerdem die Medien dabei, sich dem Strukturwandel anzupassen. Erstmals fließt auch Geld in Nachrichtenmedien, um Medienkompetenz, Pluralismus, Pressefreiheit und Qualitätsjournalismus zu fördern. Nicht zu vergessen ist natürlich auch unser Lux-Publikumsfilmpreis, der auch seinen festen Platz gefunden hat und den wir von jetzt an mit allen Europäerinnen und Europäern teilen. An dieser Stelle möchte ich nochmals alle Kollegen auch auffordern, sich die Filme online anzusehen und zu bewerten und ihren Teil dazu beizutragen.
Ich möchte dem Berichterstatter sowie den Schattenberichterstattern danken. Ich denke, mit dem Programm zeigen wir dem Kultur- und Kreativsektor, dass wir fest an seiner Seite stehen, dass wir die Kulturpolitik in die Mitte der europäischen Politik holen. Und ich möchte enden mit einem Zitat von Jean Monnet, der gesagt hat, wenn er nochmal mit Europa anfangen würde und Europa nochmal neu aufbauen würde, würde er mit der Kultur anfangen. Ich denke wir sollten dies auch tun!
Erasmus+: the Union Programme for education and training, youth and sport (debate)
Speaker: Sabine VERHEYEN (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Date: 2021-05-18

  Sabine Verheyen (PPE).   – Herr Präsident, sehr geehrte Frau Kommissarin, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! In den Verhandlungen um das neue Erasmus+-Programm hat das Parlament eindrucksvoll gezeigt, wie viel Verhandlungsstärke es tatsächlich hat, wenn wir alle im Parlament fest zusammenhalten. Denn so haben wir über alle Fraktionsgrenzen hinweg gemeinsam mit Kulturausschuss und Budgetausschuss erreichen können, dass das Budget für die neue Programmlaufzeit enorm aufgestockt werden konnte und wir nochmal zu dem erhöhten Ansatz über sieben Jahre 2,2 Milliarden Euro dazugewinnen konnten – was bedeutet, dass wir nun über 26 Milliarden Euro für Bildung und Ausbildung mehr ausgeben können als vorher. Das ist fast eine Verdopplung.
Außerdem haben wir uns stark gemacht für das Thema Inklusion, um mehr Menschen in den Genuss des Programms kommen lassen zu können. Die drei neuen Initiativen – die Zentren für berufliche Exzellenz, DiscoverEU, was bereits seit 2018 ein erfolgreiches Pilotprojekt ist, und die europäischen Universitäten – können nun angemessen als Programmbestandteil finanziert werden.
Wir konnten uns gemeinsam auch gegenüber dem Rat durchsetzen, den Stellenwert der beruflichen Bildung im Programm deutlich zu stärken und die Erwachsenenbildung auch in den Fokus zu rücken. Der Fokus des Programms liegt jetzt nämlich tatsächlich auf dem lebenslangen Lernen. Das Plus in Erasmus+ ist nicht nur Beiwerk, sondern enorm wichtig, denn Erasmus+ ist weit mehr als nur ein Studierendenaustausch. 
Und wir werden so mit dem Programm weit mehr Menschen in allen Bildungsbereichen erreichen, als das bisher der Fall gewesen ist. Die Implementierung der Programme steht nun im Fokus und ist der nächste Schritt, und wir werden genau hinschauen, dass die Inhalte des Programms und der Wille der Ko—Gesetzgeber auch von der Kommission so umgesetzt werden. Vielen Dank und auf gute Zusammenarbeit.
European Solidarity Corps Programme (debate)
Speaker: Sabine VERHEYEN (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Date: 2021-05-18

  Sabine Verheyen,  im Namen der PPE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident, sehr geehrte Frau Kommissarin, sehr geehrte Frau Berichterstatterin Šojdrová, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Die Verhandlungen über das Europäisches Solidaritätskorps haben wir für das Parlament, finde ich, zu einem sehr guten Abschluss gebracht. Die Freiwilligenarbeit wird die Hauptaktivität des Programms sein, was von Anfang an die Priorität des Parlaments gewesen ist. 
Und wir sind nun in der Lage, eine höhere Qualität der Freiwilligenaktivitäten zu garantieren, und dabei steht die Bildung, der Erwerb von Kompetenzen, aber vor allem auch solidarisches Handeln im Mittelpunkt. Ebenso werden wir in den Programmen von nun an inklusiver sein können und in der Lage sein, mehr benachteiligte junge Menschen miteinzubeziehen. 
Die Kommission und die Mitgliedstaaten werden jetzt darlegen müssen, wie sie die benachteiligten jungen Menschen konkret in die Freiwilligenarbeit miteinbeziehen. Diese jungen Menschen werden die Möglichkeit haben, sich als Freiwillige auch in ihrem eigenen Land zu engagieren, um so in einigen Fällen freiwillige Tätigkeit, ehrenamtliche Tätigkeit überhaupt erst zu ermöglichen. 
Da die humanitäre Freiwilligenarbeit besondere Herausforderungen mit sich bringt und einiges an besonderen Fähigkeiten sowie Erfahrungen erfordert, haben wir in den Verhandlungen darauf bestanden, dass die Altersgrenze für Freiwillige in der humanitären Hilfe auf 35 Jahre angehoben wird und darüber hinaus auch Experten als Fachleute und Unterstützer ohne Altersgrenze beteiligt werden können. Ich denke, dies ist besonders wichtig beim Einsatz, vor allem auch im Rahmen der Entwicklungshilfe, der humanitarian aid. Wir können so mit diesem Programm europäische Solidarität zeigen. Wir können junge Menschen darin unterstützen, solidarisch zu handeln.
InvestEU programme (debate)
Speaker: Sabine VERHEYEN (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Date: 2021-03-09

  Sabine Verheyen,  Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education. – Madam President, the cultural and creative sectors are of strategic importance to the Union as they generate important societal market value and they have a high potential for innovation. 
As the EU flagship investment programme, InvestEU has a strong potential to kick-start the European economy and in particular to boost social investment and investment in human capital. This covers education and training, and the cultural and creative sectors. These sectors have been hard hit by the current COVID-19 crisis.
In its opinion, the CULT Committee’s aim is looking to reinforce the position of the cultural and creative sectors as regards their access to financing through the InvestEU programme.
The InvestEU programme should therefore support critical infrastructure, also in the audiovisual, media, cultural and creative sectors, through investment under the new fifth investment window, especially to support international distribution, competitiveness and innovation.
Achieving an effective policy legacy for the European Year of Cultural Heritage (debate)
Speaker: Sabine VERHEYEN (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Date: 2021-01-18

  Sabine Verheyen (PPE).   – Herr Präsident, sehr geehrte Frau Kommissarin! Wir in Europa können stolz sein auf unser gemeinsames kulturelles Erbe, das ein Spiegelbild unserer gemeinsamen Identität ist, ein Zeugnis unserer reichen Geschichte und der Einheit der europäischen Zivilisation durch die Vielfalt unserer kulturellen Tradition. Eins ist klar: Der Schutz unseres kulturellen Erbes ist unsere Pflicht. Wir müssen es pflegen, um es für die zukünftigen Generationen zu bewahren. Unser Kulturerbe ist auch ein Wirtschaftsfaktor. Circa 300 000 Menschen in Europa sind in diesem Sektor beschäftigt, fast acht Millionen Arbeitsplätze in Europa sind indirekt damit verbunden. Vier von zehn Menschen wählen ihr Urlaubsziel nach dem kulturellen Angebot.
Dieser Bericht weist zu Recht darauf hin, dass der Kulturtourismus ein Gleichgewicht zwischen wirtschaftlichen, sozialen, kulturellen und ökologischen Anforderungen herstellen muss. Der Bericht fordert die Kommission auf, ein weiteres Europäisches Jahr des Kulturerbes zu organisieren, und das muss eine Priorität sein, denn einmalig einen solchen Erfolg zu haben, reicht nicht aus, es muss langfristig ausgestaltet werden, genauso wie das europäische Kulturerbe-Siegel, das unser kulturelles Erbe auszeichnet und seinen Wert für Europa anerkennt. Dieses Kulturerbe müssen wir mithilfe der Europäischen Union nachhaltig fördern und unterstützen. Wir brauchen eine starke Förderung der Digitalisierung unseres kulturellen Erbes, und hier ist das Projekt Europeana, wie die Kommissarin auch schon sagte, hervorzuheben, das als Europas digitale Bibliothek, als Archiv, als Museum und auch als Bildungsplattform dient. Unser kulturelles Erbe eint uns in seiner Vielfalt wie nichts anderes. Es ist unsere Geschichte und wird Teil unserer Zukunft, ganz nach dem europäischen Motto „In Vielfalt geeint“.
The future of European education in the context of Covid-19 (debate)
Speaker: Sabine VERHEYEN (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Date: 2020-10-19

  Sabine Verheyen (PPE),  schriftlich. – Der im Plenum debattierte gemeinsame Entschließungsantrag zur Zukunft der Bildung ist ein wichtiger Schritt auf dem Weg zum gemeinsamen Europäischen Bildungsraum, der auch die digitale Bildung stärker ins Auge fassen muss. Heute hat die Corona—Krise zu einer Art Ad—hoc—Digitalisierung geführt. In diesen Krisenzeiten zeigt sich, welche Länder bereits in digitale Bildungssysteme investiert haben. Die Krise erinnert uns daran, wo in Europa wir dringend nachrüsten müssen. Ich stehe hinter der Initiative, eine europäische Bildungsplattform mit digitalen Bildungsmöglichkeiten, für die gemeinsame Nutzung von Bildungsmaterialien und für den Austausch bewährter Praktiken einzurichten. Auch Chancengleichheit in der Bildung ist wichtig. Es ist nicht hinnehmbar, dass ein Kind nicht im gleichen Maße wie andere an der digitalen Bildung teilnehmen kann, nur weil seine Eltern möglicherweise nicht in der Lage sind, sich die notwendigen Hilfsmittel leisten zu können. Qualitativ hochwertige Bildungssysteme sind die Grundlage der globalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der EU. Gut funktionierende Systeme der allgemeinen und beruflichen Bildung erfordern allerdings entsprechende öffentliche Investitionen. Ehrgeizige politische Maßnahmen ohne entsprechende Finanzierung sind nicht glaubwürdig. Daher bedauern wir zutiefst, dass gerade bei den Programmen, die die Politik im Bereich der allgemeinen und beruflichen Bildung unterstützen – Erasmus+, Horizont Europa und der Europäische Sozialfonds – beim nächsten MFR Haushaltskürzungen vorgenommen wurden.
Cultural recovery of Europe (debate)
Speaker: Sabine VERHEYEN (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Date: 2020-07-10

  Sabine Verheyen (PPE),  in writing. – The revised MFF proposal lacks ambition and strategic vision in relation to the cultural and creative sectors. The Commission proposal not only is far from doubling the budget of Creative Europe as requested by the EP but it even decreases the budget compared to its initial proposal from 2018. This is unacceptable for a programme that proved to be effective and with clear European added value and is seriously underfinanced. The Commission highlights that in the first quarter of 2020 the loss in turnover for the CCSs is expected to be 80% – one of the highest of all sectors. The CCS would need at least EUR 6 billion out of the EUR 750 billion of Next Generation EU to start the recovery. Therefore, why is this money needed for CCS not clearly earmarked in the proposed recovery plans? The cultural and creative sectors employ 8.4 million workers in the EU, nearly half of which are young people. We must ensure that the additional funds available under the cohesion instrument REACT—EU (EUR 55 billion) devoted to support workers in regions and sectors most affected by the pandemic reach cultural operators. There will be no real recovery for Europe if culture is left behind.
EU response to extreme meteorological events and their impacts: how to protect European urban areas and their cultural heritage (debate)
Speaker: Sabine VERHEYEN (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Date: 2019-11-26

  Sabine Verheyen (PPE).   – Frau Präsidentin, sehr geehrter Herr Kommissar! Fluten, Stürme, schwere Brände, aber auch Erdbeben und Erdrutsche und andere Naturkatastrophen gefährden immer wieder unser kulturelles Erbe. Venedig, die Stadt, die zum Unesco-Weltkulturerbe gehört, wurde in den ersten Novemberwochen von einer außergewöhnlichen Überschwemmung heimgesucht, als das Wasser 1,80 Meter Höhe erreichte. Auch in anderen Teilen Italiens herrscht starkes Unwetter. Matera, die europäische Kulturhauptstadt dieses Jahres, wurde ebenfalls geflutet. Es war das schlimmste Hochwasser seit über 50 Jahren und insofern, in diesem Ausmaß, nicht ein immer wiederkehrendes Ereignis.
Venedig erklärte den Ausnahmezustand, die italienische Regierung sagte 20 Millionen EUR Soforthilfe zu, um die unmittelbaren Schäden zu beheben. Doch wie hoch die Schäden tatsächlich sind, lässt sich bisher noch kaum beziffern. Der Markusplatz, Heimat des Markusdoms, viele Museen und Kulturdenkmäler sowie die Biennale in Venedig standen unter Wasser, und schon alleine durch das Salzwasser gibt es enorme Schäden an den Kulturstätten.
Das Hochwasser sei ein Stich ins Herz Italiens, sagte Italiens Ministerpräsident, aber es ist auch ein Stich ins Herz für uns Europäer, denn eine ureuropäische Aufgabe ist es, unsere Kulturgüter zu schützen, und das tun wir an vielen Stellen. Die EVP-Fraktion hat der Kommission die Einrichtung eines Fonds zum Schutz des Kulturerbes der EU vorgeschlagen, um die Erhaltung unserer wertvollsten historischen Schätze zu gewährleisten und sicherzustellen, dass Europa hinter seinen Mitgliedstaaten steht, wenn Naturkatastrophen diese schwer treffen. Dieser Fonds soll dazu dienen, unser Kulturerbe, das durch Naturkatastrophen bedroht und beschädigt wird, zu restaurieren und es für künftige Generationen zu erhalten. Aber auch die Schutzprojekte wie das MOSE-Projekt müssen vorangetrieben werden, aber auch vieles andere. Hier müssen wir Hand in Hand greifen. Aber dieser Fonds hilft zumindest, da, wo Schäden bereits eingetreten sind, unser Kulturerbe wiederaufzubauen.
Preparation of the European Council meeting of 14-15 December 2023 (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-12-13

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE),  blue-card question. – Madam President, dear Mr Glucksmann, thanks a lot for this strong intervention in favour of support for Ukraine. I just wanted to ask, what would you do if you were Commission President now and you had the choice to act and rein Orban in? What would you do?
Review of the Spanish Presidency of the Council (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-12-13

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, Prime Minister, this has been quite a national debate, so I want to bring it back to the European level. We have the EUCO coming, and I do want to ask you the question that we asked the President of the Commission this morning, what are you going to do to make sure that Orbán is reined in, that we don’t give in to his blackmailing when it comes to our support for Ukraine, for the formal accession talks? Are you going to take away the Council Presidency? Are you going to push forward the Article 7 procedures? Please let us know your plan about that.
One year after Morocco and QatarGate – stocktaking of measures to strengthen transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-12-13

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, Commissioner, Council, it has been a year since QatarGate and it was quite a shock, to be honest, also for me personally, that colleagues in our House would actually be that corrupt. And since then we have tried a lot to improve our rules, and I think that was very necessary to win at least some of the trust back that we lost because of QatarGate. But I’m not sure it’s going to be enough. And I also want to bring us to the title of today’s debate, which is about EU institutions. It’s not only about Parliament, and I think an equally big scandal, if not even bigger, is that tomorrow and the day after, we will have a foreign agent sitting in a very opaque body, the 27 heads of state and government actually representing Russia’s interests when we decide about Ukraine’s future. For me, it’s really crucial that we understand that we have a new gate happening, RussiaGate, if you want, when roubles from Russia roll into Budapest for blocking our support for Ukraine. This can’t continue and we have to work on it. So let’s win back trust by reforming all bodies of the European Union.
Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-11-21

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, this is not a regular debate. This is not a regular proposal that we are making. This is a very foundational proposal that is happening. And I am very proud and happy that I can actually live in this moment where we, as the European Parliament, trying to change the European Union. And we really have to fix the European Union because it is under attack. 
We might not see the cracks in the wall, but I can definitely hear the hammering and the banging of the far right, really trying to undermine this Union as we speak. And if we look beyond this place where we already hear this and we look outside and we see, for example, in foreign policy, Viktor Orbán shaking hands with Putin, while Putin is at the same time attacking Ukraine and killing Ukrainian citizens, it is becoming very obvious. 
When we look west and we see the US again in the grip of the far-right populists, we know that we have to really do something. So I appeal to you, colleagues, to live up to this responsibility, to understand the history, the historic moment that we currently live in and vote in favour of changing the European Union, of fixing the European Union so that it is able to act and live for the next 50, 100, 200 years.
(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question)
Proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-11-21

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE),  blue-card answer. – I’m very happy that maybe soon the blaming of Poland can end. I think that’s a very positive development. From my perspective, the question is really of how we can ensure that we are able to act on a European Union level. There might be examples when other Member States have also been blocking and vetoing things that are in the common interest of the European Union.
But I think what’s core is that we have to make sure that we are able to act on the European Union level. This is not about disempowering national parliaments; it’s making sure that the things we decide on the European level are decided by a European government that is backed by a European Parliament, and this is where we have to go.
Continuing threat to the rule of law, the independence of justice and the non-fulfilment of conditionality for EU funding in Hungary (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-11-21

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, dear colleagues, the rule of law is non-negotiable. Our laws and values are not worth the paper they are written on if they are systematically broken. And I want to be very clear with our colleagues from the far right: this is not about political differences. It is not about having different opinions on certain issues. It is about undermining the exact stage where democracy is happening. And this is not sacred. This is dirty. It is dirty to steal public money and to give it to your friends. It is dirty if you shake the hands of a dictator that is currently bombing in Ukraine. It is dirty if you have unfair elections where you manipulate your citizens to vote for you. This is dirty and this is not politics, this is not democracy – it is the undermining of democracy.
And therefore, I want to thank the Commissioners for being quite strong and upholding the rule of law by cutting the funds and making sure that this also stays the same until Orbán decides to actually be positive for his own people, for the Hungarian people, who are not the same and unlock these funds by following simply our rule of law. It is not so complicated.
And I would also ask our dear countries to review their bilateral relationships also economically, also in Germany, to see whether we have to be even stricter with the Hungarian Government now.
Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report 2022 (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-10-18

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, wasted government spending has a similar effect as tax avoidance or tax evasion. It reduces the positive impact of the EU budget and it erodes the trust that we as a European Union are a guarantor for transparency. So, the work of the Court of Auditors is really very recommendable and important to keep this trust, and it should be the pro-Europeans of this House who point out the issues with the budget. 
Now to the COVID-19 recovery fund. One thing has to be clear. The fund has already been a huge success because it created stability in a financial market situation which was complex, and we have been basically saying that no country will be left alone facing the COVID-19 crisis. So, that doesn’t mean that there are also some issues. When we look, for example, at the repayment, it’s absolutely clear that we need European own resources, a plastic tax, a minimum corporate tax to be able to finance the debts that we had to incur at this crucial time of our European history. 
I also want to make it very clear, Commissioner, that it would be very important that you look at your processes to see where there are issues that the Court found, so that when we set up the next permanent fiscal capacity, we do it with these learnings in mind.
New European innovation agenda (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-10-18

  Damian Boeselager,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Viele hier scheinen im Hinblick auf den US Inflation Reduction Act die jahrzehntealten ordnungspolitischen Maßnahmen über Bord werfen zu wollen. Innovation und Wettbewerb werden in der EU immer öfter aus den Ministerbüros gedacht, und es wird die Vorstellung verbreitet, dass der Staat tatsächlich in der Lage ist, neue Märkte und Produkte zu gestalten.
Die Kommission hilft hier fleißig mit. Von den 60 gestellten Staatsbeihilfeanträgen wurden 58 genehmigt. Aber das kann nicht unser Ansatz für eine gelungene Industriepolitik in Europa sein. Denn erstens ist es ganz oft eben ein nationaler Ansatz. Wenn wir uns das anschauen, die Chipfabrik in Deutschland mit fast 10 Milliarden Euro, das kann sich einfach ein kleineres EU-Land nicht leisten. Da müssen wir vorsichtig sein. Der Binnenmarkt muss zusammenhalten.
Das Zweite ist, dass ich Ihnen als Gründer eines innovationstreibenden Start-ups in der Politik sagen kann, dass es sehr schwierig ist, aus Ministerbüros heraus tatsächlich vorauszusehen, wie die Zukunft aussehen wird. Und es ist auch so, dass wir einfach wieder mehr darauf vertrauen müssen, dass unsere Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmer funktionieren können, dass unser Binnenmarkt funktionieren kann, wenn wir in Forschung und Entwicklung investieren, wenn wir darin investieren, die Kapitalmärkte in Europa tatsächlich zusammenzuführen und zu harmonisieren, und wenn wir das Wettbewerbsrecht auch wieder richtig durchsetzen. Lassen Sie uns also nicht einfach nur in die Investitionspolitik reindenken aus Ministerbürosicht, sondern tatsächlich eben auch wieder ordnungspolitisch denken.
General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024 - all sections (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-10-17

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, I am sometimes thankful for the speeches from the far right, because then when I think of the exact opposite, I know what I have to say. This is true for the budget as it is for everything else.
A colleague from the far right in this debate said that we should cut funds because we give too much money to Ukraine. The opposite is obviously true, and it makes me absolutely sick to see a Prime Minister of an EU country currently shaking hands with Putin, who is at the same time attacking and killing Ukrainians.
Another one said that we need to cut funds because the corona recovery money is flowing at the same time. That reminds me of the beautiful fact that we had Polish elections, and hopefully soon the justice system will be reinstated in Poland, and then EUR 35 billion can actually flow to the Polish citizens in the dual transition – the green and digital transition.
Another one said that we should increase cohesion funds. We should not fall into this trap. We need common investment in Europe for the big strategic priorities of the European Union. For that, I will support the rapporteur in his negotiations with the Council so that we get a strong Europe, a strong budget to fight for our future.
Establishing the Ukraine Facility (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-10-16

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, the Ukraine facility is a sign of historic support for Ukraine and I’m proud to be part of the negotiation team.
It’s historic because we sent two strong messages. The first one is that our commitment to Ukraine is long and long term. The Ukraine facility is an institutional design for a long-term tool, that is why it’s so important not only how much we spend, but also how we spend the money. And I’m happy that some of our ideas were taken up here, especially when it comes to defining a minimum share for SMEs, because we do need Ukraine to build new businesses, introduce innovations and push forward the green transition instead of just putting helicopter money on state-owned enterprises.
And the second important message – and I think that’s also key to underline – is that good institutions matter. We’ve learned from the Marshall Fund that good governance, checks and balances and transparency matter, especially in a country that hopefully sooner rather than later will join the EU. We have therefore strengthened institutions such as the Rada Verkhovna, where we have involved local actors, civil society, and we asked for a list of final beneficiaries to be able to follow the money.
Colleagues, I also want to say that reconstruction will need many additional funds. Let’s face it, 50 billion over four years will not be sufficient to support Ukraine until the end of the war and for the reconstruction. But we started by setting this programme up long term, and I am happy that we do that, because in the end – I mean, some colleagues and I, we went to Ukraine recently – what Ukrainians are enduring for democracy is really hard and I think giving some support here is the least we can do.
Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-10-04

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, we do need a deal and we do need a system very fast, because otherwise we will hear this kind of fear mongering from the right that we heard earlier, not even shying away from Nazi terminology. This is something we have to get over. There is no far right party that didn’t rise on the topic of migration and asylum. I think that’s very clear. But it does matter what kind of deal we get, what kind of system we get. And here I just want to say that while I’m happy that maybe we have a crisis position soon, it also matters what’s in that position. And to be honest, what the Member States are currently proposing doesn’t really work. I mean, let’s look at it. Jailing people and children in the camp would have not helped Italy in Lampedusa, nor would it have helped the asylum seekers. Extending the time of jailing wouldn’t have helped. Transferring some cash to Lampedusa from other Member States wouldn’t have helped. So we need to look at the actual system that we want and that actually works. So a system that works would have fast decentralised procedures, a system that works which, understand that we are one union, and that we need to distribute people across the Union to not have borders. A system that works would have understood that integration challenges and opportunities need to be solved within integration and not by reducing the amount of migrants or asylums that we get here. And a system that works would have a functioning search and rescue system, a system that works wouldn’t put anyone in camps, especially not children. We are better than that. And a system that works wouldn’t follow negative rhetoric, but understand that 75 % of people actually getting asylum decisions at the moment in Germany are positive. So let’s work for a system that works rather than just closing any deal. 
(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question)
Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-10-04

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE),  blue-card answer. – So I think what I was trying to say and what I said is that every far right party in Europe has grown on the topic of xenophobia and migration and asylum, and that is the truth. I also condemn anyone that uses easy populist solutions of saying, you know, the others are evil and we should keep them out. And it doesn’t matter what kind of party family they’re from. But it’s definitely true that every far right politician sitting here has used this rhetoric and even went so far as to using Nazi terminology in this House. And that is not okay and that’s not acceptable.
Interim report on the proposal for a mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-10-03

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, colleagues, we have said that there are many challenges that the European Union is facing – amongst them, a crazy dictator putting tanks into Ukraine and neighbouring countries that hopefully soon will be a candidate, and obviously the global competitiveness challenge due to the overdependence of supply and demand on China and the need to create, massively, green jobs and phase out brown ones. 
But all these challenges need cash, need funding to be addressed, and if we look at what has been proposed by the Commission with the placet of the Council, it is not enough. I mean, 50 billion for Ukraine is a good start, but it will not be sufficient to even cover the pensions and wages if the US doesn’t live up to its part of the deal. This will not be enough to trigger reconstruction. When it comes to a common investment strategy, I’m sorry, but we know that Germany alone spent around 10 billion for one single factory in Magdeburg, so it cannot be enough to just have, you know, 6 billion out there to strategically invest. This will not be good for the single market. 
Let’s get real. We need to address the challenges of our time. For that, we need a budget that is actually worth it.
Parliamentarism, European citizenship and democracy (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-09-14

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, colleagues, I want to thank the rapporteurs for a strong draft and I want to agree with Mr Karas, the thing that the populists fear the most is a functioning parliamentary democracy. 
And what is a parliamentary democracy? It’s not so complicated. If we were just 100 people in a room, we could potentially still decide together. But since we are many more millions of people, we delegate our power to a couple of people to take decisions. To be able to take decisions, meaning I can bring in new ideas. That’s the right of initiative. I can decide on the government that is actually governing these decisions that proposes new ideas. And I can decide about how the money is allocated, the cash, and that’s budget authority. You bring these three points in your report, and I think they’re very, very crucial.
In addition, I really like that you also look into what happens in between elections and there are good ideas of citizen participation that we can learn from. And it should also be clear that if I move to another EU country, I have the right to also participate in the democracy that is there – national elections, regional elections, and of course, the European elections.
SME Relief Package (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-09-13

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, dear colleagues, Volt – the political movement that I represent – is technically a start-up, maybe by now a scale-up. And we are very much aware what it means to deal with compliance requirements, trying to find affordable lawyers and fight artificial market barriers.
Colleagues, we all talk and we love to talk about the backbone that SMEs are for our economy. But we really need to look into the details of the laws to understand what we can do to help them. We need to make sure that they do not need lawyers and legalists to be able to understand what the law looks like.
I can give you some positive examples where we have managed to do this. For example, in the Data Act, we ensure that some compliance criteria don’t need to be fulfilled if you’re a small company. And also in the Ukraine facility, we are trying to currently channel a lot of the money also to the SMEs to ensure that we help them. Why? Because SMEs are not only the backbone of our economy, they are also the backbone of our society and they are the ones asking for democracy and for free societies. So we should really help them strive.
Composition of the European Parliament (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-09-12

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, so we rubber-stamp this proposal by the Council with the 15 extra seats, the deletion of the transnational lists and the invalid budget effect. Okay, we can do that.
But I think we have to see that we have learned two things: first, that the Council can be extremely fast if it wants something; and second, that we in Parliament can be extremely weak even if we have negotiating power.
Why? What I mean is: what if the Council also acted quickly on the electoral law? We have been waiting for one year to even hear from you on this regard. The transnational lists should be decided there and I am happy that we will have a chance to do that.
But this also applies to treaty change. From my perspective, this Parliament already triggered Article 48 more than a year ago as a follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe.
And what about us? We can say that a consent procedure is not a strong procedure, but the MFF is also a consent procedure, on the seven-year budget, and there we have a full negotiation team actually fighting.
The approval of the Commission President is also a consent procedure. So let’s learn how to be stronger and how to really defend our citizens’ interests rather than to bend to national party leaders.
Amendments to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-09-11

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE),  blue-card question. –Mr Benifei, I just have a very short question, which is in regards to the freedom of the mandate. People who criticise the new rules often say it would somehow infringe on the freedom of the mandate. Can you understand that argument?
Amendments to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure with a view to strengthening integrity, independence and accountability (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-09-11

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, colleagues, it’s really high time that we come forward with this report. It has been months since Qatargate happened and we haven’t done much. So I’m very happy that now with the majority of the groups, we actually come – thank you, Gabi – forward with this report. 
I just want to say it very clearly – transparency does not conflict with the freedom of the mandate. We have nothing to hide and we have a lot of trust to win back. So it’s good that we show what kind of side income we earn, what kind of meetings we have, because we have nothing to hide, and how we spend our money, because we have nothing to hide. Transparency is not in conflict with the freedom of the mandate. 
I am proud that I could contribute to a more transparent House, and I wish that we all vote in favour of the most important report that we will vote now. Let’s live up to the trust that we need in this House because why should people follow laws if they don’t trust the process that actually makes them? Let’s live up to it. Let’s vote in favour of this report.
Global Convergence on Generative AI (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-07-13

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, it is true that, when we started using ChatGPT, I think we all realised it is a bit like this book On Bullshit, by Harry Frankfurt, the great philosopher, who showed us that, you know, the bullshitter doesn’t really know what the difference between truth and lie is, and he’s much more dangerous actually, than the liar because of that. But to be honest, the more I used it, the more I understood its potential.
It helped me actually write a code to, you know, write my own chatbot in Python, commit it to GitHub and then like upload it to Heroku to somehow make it work. I couldn’t do this without the help of, basically, ChatGPT writing that code for me. So what do we learn from this?
I think we need a couple of principles out there to help us really work with it. The first one is that we should make sure that large models are safe to use and not biased. We should educate our kids, but also our politicians to be able to understand what this technology is. We need authenticity labels to understand what kind of content is AI created. We need to make sure that those who own the data benefit from it or have the right to safeguard it.
We need to tax locally to stop concentration of wealth. We need to make sure that public data is used for public good. We need to make sure that we have a start—up friendly ecosystem to be able to have good AI models here, and we need smart enforcement in global coordination.
The need for EU action on search and rescue in the Mediterranean (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-07-12

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, colleagues, I just want to go back to what actually happened, which is that almost 600 people died. I think we hear a lot of talk about asylum, about smuggling and so on, but we should really picture what that means. I mean, here there are around 700 people if the room is full, and what that would mean if almost 600 of them would die. I think it’s important to picture, for a couple of moments, people actually drowning in the bottom of a boat. 
Then we talk about search and rescue, and I ask myself why do we actually call it ‘search and rescue’? Eric, you described it quite well. They were first ignored in this boat and then they were not rescued but they were towed away, which is why the boat very likely capsized. So we shouldn’t call this ‘search and rescue’. We should call this something like ‘ignore and risk their lives’. 
Costas, you said that’s a crime. Yes, it’s a crime – and the crime is not that we’re not following up with smugglers, the crime is that we’re not doing enough to save these lives, that we are stopping NGOs from going there. And yes, that is an Italian problem as well as it is a Greek problem. 
I really believe we need the EU—led search and rescue mission, we need to monitor what happens and we shouldn’t forget the lives of these people that are lost.
Tax the rich (topical debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-07-12

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, I have to say, when I listen to this debate, I’m always amazed by how much tax as a debate is ideologised – how populist it can become – because if I listen to the right, it’s often about safeguarding the wealth that is there, not destroying the wealth. And on the left side, I often feel that, you know, the rich are the evil people.
I have to say that, from my perspective, tax is always an infringement of rights. And if I then look at who are we infringing upon – because we do want to have the public goods that we are having and we have to finance them – I would actually also say that we definitely need to radically decrease income tax, labour tax. It’s too high. At the moment, it’s really hard to afford to buy your own flat, to afford to even come through the month in a good way.
And I believe we have to look at the tax revenue. And if we look at it, I mean even The Economist – which is not seen as a very leftist paper – said that the tax that actually has the least negative incentive is the so-called death tax, inheritance tax. So let’s try to really ensure that we don’t have generational wealth so much, but that everybody has a new and good chance by decreasing income tax and increasing inheritance tax.
Recommendations for reform of the European Parliament’s rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and anti-corruption (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-07-12

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, I just want to remind us of what happened exactly six months ago. Six months ago, in a small household in Portugal or in Bulgaria, every child on their phone, on Instagram and so on heard about the European Parliament. That’s really cool. We bridged the communication gap really to everyone!
Sadly, what they heard is that we have bags of cash in our pockets, and we have not been able to win back that trust that we lost back then. We have not been able. This report is going in the right direction, but it’s not going to do that either. So, the key question for us has to be: what can we do to win back trust? Especially since in one year we have elections again and, if we don’t win back that trust, people don’t go to vote or they vote for the radical people who say, ‘Oh, they’re all evil anyway. They’re all corrupt.’
For me, the key question is: what can we do? We can show who we meet publicly, because we don’t have anything to hide. We can show how we spend our public funds that are given to us, because we don’t have anything to hide. Let’s be transparent about the way how we work, and then we can maybe win back some of the trust.
Externalising asylum applications and making funding to third countries conditional on the implementation of return agreements (topical debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2023-05-10

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, this is now the second plenary in a row where we hear this far-right kind of fearmongering about migration. And it’s clear because, in the end, this is the only topic that actually drives your voter base. You take a highly complex issue and you trying to propose inhumane, complex and unpractical solutions. I have seen it with the AfD: it was a dying party but then they took the issue of migration and try to grow on that.
But we have to be honest to our citizens: the real solutions don’t lie there. We already fund third countries like Libya – actually militias over there – to build camps, to host people there. And we see murder, we see rape and we do not see a humane solution. So if we want to really defend the European way of life, our European values, we have to find solutions that are actually in accordance with that. So let’s find a European asylum system with a European asylum application. And then I’m sure the far right will deflate like a popped balloon.